LIVING RIVERS - Help save the Lindis (and Waiwera) River

[fraser hocks]

Hey there team. This is an amazing river and very close to my heart. It provides an amazing nursery for fish in the central Otago region. I see this (and other) rivers run dry every summer and its a travesty. Please make submissions to support minimum flows.

Regards Fraser

Reprinted from the Living Rivers emails:-
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Your opportunity to be heard on Lindis River minimum flows!

For over a century Central Otago's Lindis River has dried up each summer because of excessive water takes for irrigation based on historic mining privileges . Both native fish and trout become stranded and die annually as the water level drops and the river flow ceases.

Otago Regional Council notified 'Plan Change 5A (Lindis: Integrated water management)' on 8th August to restore summer flows in the river.

Submissions can be made by post, email or online until Friday 4th September 2015 at 5.00pm.

See Proposed Plan Change 5A http://www.orc.govt.nz/Publications-and ... anagement/for more information.
Find out more about the submission process here http://www.orc.govt.nz/News-and-Notices ... hange-3C1/

Make it easy for yourself! Use the handy online form for submissions http://form.jotform.co/form/52158975013861

The plan change is an important step in the river's rehabilitation and this is your opportunity to be heard on the matter and to influence Otago Regional Council's decision

Despite the current flow regime the river is popular with picnickers and campers during the summer season but a dry river bed from January onwards removes the opportunity for convenient and safe river recreation, and destroys or degrades habitat for fish and birdlife.

The river’s mean annual low flow or MALF (the commonly occurring low flow level in high summer) is now estimated to be 1860 litres per second (l/s) and the loss to ground water in the lower reaches below the state highway bridge, is somewhere between 400 to 500 l/s so the river doesn’t go dry naturally but there is a drop in surface flow in the lower braided river reaches

ORC's proposed minimum flow of 750 l/s (to be measured at the Ardgour flow recorder upstream of the state highway bridge) may be too little to sustain a healthy river ecosystem. Fish and Game will be submitting in favour of a 1000 l/s minimum flow as a safer alternative. That should result in continuous flow throughout summer and connection to the main-stem Clutha River. It is only 53% of MALF so a 1000 l/s flow has to be seen as a pragmatic compromise.

Find out more about the submission process here and if you need any further background reading the Proposed Plan Change 5A details the plan change in full.

Make it easy for yourself! Use the handy online form for submissions

Not sure what to say in a submission? Click for help to get started

The Lindis River is heavily over allocated resulting in it its lower reaches often going completely dry. This neither sustains aquatic life nor provides for other recreational values. Now is your chance to make a submission to help protect its values.

Check out the various flows in the Lindis River in this video. It was filmed last summer by Fish & Game staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgeayi7k_po

Minimum flow set for the Waiwera

Following a hearing in April this year Otago Regional Council has decided on a minimum flow of 300 litres per second for the Waiwera River. The Waiwera supports stocks of native fish and introduced trout and drains a mostly agricultural catchment in South Otago adjacent to the Pomahaka.

The 300 l/s flow was higher than the 260 l/s originally proposed by ORC in response to public submissions. This reinforces the importance of putting your point of view forward when the opportunity arises in public RMA processes. The Waiwera's mean annual low flow is 310 l/s so the minimum flow is 96% of MALF

[Steve]

Good one Fraser, it's a nice little river, and needs help, a clear case of over-abstraction it would seem, hopefully it can be sorted!

[fraser hocks]

Yea too true Steve. We need to make small wins on rivers like this to form a precedent for other rivers in the future. I'm super keen to see a decent minimum flow established to set a precedent for the Cardona river. It's in a similar state to the Lindis.

The Cardona turns to a dry river bed at its mid point, in summer. That spot just happens to be where the valley widens and a huge expans of lush green paddocks start.