Saturday, May 2, 2009

Nevis valley dam is damned

Nevis Valley

More damn dams.

"The Department of Conservation (DOC) is under fire for supporting a hydro-power scheme in one of the South Island's most sensitive valleys.
An agreement was made 13 years ago with Pioneer Generation, which wants to build a power station in Central Otago's Nevis River valley.
Opponents say DOC should never have made an agreement over a landscape that the Central Otago District Council classifies as of "extreme sensitivity".
They believe the deal prejudges the outcome of a tenure-review process being overseen by Land Information New Zealand (Linz)."

"Linz says it is unaware of any agreement on the power scheme, a response that Fish & Game Otago chief executive Niall Watson finds "astounding"."

"Fish & Game and DOC are at odds over the future of the Nevis River valley, close to Lake Wakatipu between the Hector and Garvie mountains, and the tenure-review proposals for the Ben Nevis and Craigroy stations.
Leaseholder Pioneer Generation plans a 40-megawatt hydro-power scheme, which would involve building two dams and flooding eight kilometres of river in part of the 7891 hectares of valley floor proposed for freeholding.
Fish & Game says that stretch of river is the most valuable and accessible for angling.
It contains a large proportion of the historic Nevis goldfield, and also rare native fish and plants."

If it was me i would put the interests of the ecosystem, for instance the rare fish and plants above being able to catch a fish. But whatever does the trick and stops the dam is good.

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