Waiau Rivercare Group keen to get erosion fund under way

Friday, 14 February 2020

The Waiau Rivercare Group wants Meridian Energy to match funding it puts in for a dedicated erosion control. 

The Waiau River Liaison Committee wants to start an erosion fund of $500,000 and has asked the power company to match it.

The $500,000 would come from the liaison group's special project funds gained from the interest of its reserves.

The committee had previous agreements with Environment Southland regarding funding allocated towards catchment projects but this new fund was solely for erosion.

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Waiau Rivercare Group co-chairman Paul Marshall believes Meridian had an obligation to match the committee's erosion funding as he says its activities at the Manapouri power station had an impact on the Waiau River.

​If the the fund was set up, land owners adjacent to the river would be able to apply for the fund without having to go through an annual work programme approval process, Marshall said. 

Although the recent floods created a high water flow that rose to 750 cumecs it was not as bad as the 1400 cumecs the Waiau River recorded in December, he said.

Despite a year with large rainfall through late spring and summer, the heavy rainfall did have some benefits to the Waiau River, he said.

The high water flow means didymo in the river is largely gone and algae blooms have reduced.

Committee chairwoman Nessa Legg​ said it would hold an annual general meeting at the end of February, where the erosion scheme would be the main topic of discussion.

The group had not reached an agreement with Meridian Energy over the funding but it was hopeful it could be resolved, Legg said. 

A Meridian spokesperson said company was working with Environment Southland to possibly use funding from district reserves.

The regional council established a rating district system for the Lower Waiau River in 1998 for catchment works that included erosion, the spokesperson said.

Since the rating system was established, Meridian had provided funding through a mitigation agreement that ran with its consents relating to the operation of the Manapouri Power Scheme, the spokesperson said.

Managing erosion in the Waiau River was the responsibility of the regional council, the spokesperson said.