| Background information |
| Web links |
Ministry
for the Environment: Water Conservation Orders
Fish
& Game New Zealand: Application to amend the Kawarau Water Conservation
Order
Save
the Nevis |
| MFE Timetable |
The Ministry for the Environment
(MFE) website advises that the New Zealand Fish and Game Council
and Otago Fish and Game Council applied to the Minister for the
Environment to vary the Water Conservation Order 1997 on the Kawarau
River, in respect of the Nevis River.
The Associate Minister for the Environment appointed
a special tribunal in June 2008 to hear and report on the application.
The Special Tribunal publicly notified the application
on 3 September 2008. The Special Tribunal proceeded to hear evidence
on the application from 20 May 2009 and adjourned the hearing on
25 August 2009.
The Special Tribunal have ruled that they will
hear further evidence on flora and fauna. The Tribunal have laid
out a timetable for submissions on these issues, and expects to
hear them early in 2010.
Source: MFE
website |
| In the news |
|
| 10 Jun 2009 |
Small
dam would not affect landscape
Otago Daily Times
A small hydro-electric power scheme on the Nevis
River would not change the distinctive elements that define
the landscape of the valley, the Nevis River hearing was told yesterday.
Landscape architect David McKenzie, of Christchurch,
said the area's climate and its isolation were the distinctive elements
that defined the valley landscape... |
| 6 June 2009 |
Nevis
dams threat to rarities
Otago Daily Times
Dams on the Nevis
River would increase the vulnerability of threatened species
by flooding the habitats of three rare plants, three threatened
birds and a new species of skink, a tribunal heard in Cromwell yesterday...
The New Zealand and Otago Fish and Game Councils
have applied to amend the Water Conservation Order on the river,
so damming or diversion of the river flow would be prohibited...
|
| 4 Jun 2009 |
Minister
could back Nevis dam
Otago Daily Times
The Minister of Conservation, Tim Groser, will
not stand in the way of a proposed hydro-electric development on
the Nevis
River.
The Nevis River water conservation order hearing
was told in Cromwell yesterday the Department of Conservation's
deal with dam developer Pioneer Generation meant that if the power
company gained all the other consents it needed for a dam, the Minister
of Conservation would also give consent... |
| 30 May 2009 |
No
need to sacrifice Nevis for power, says Parker
Otago Daily Times
The Nevis
River gorge, which could contain a new hydro dam. A hydro-electric
power scheme on the Nevis River would make an insignificant contribution
to the country's electricity supply, so sacrificing the river for
that reason was unnecessary, former minister of energy David Parker
said.
The list member of Parliament was giving evidence
in Dunedin yesterday in support of an application aimed at stopping
any damming of the river.
The New Zealand and Otago Fish and Game Councils
are seeking an amendment to the water conservation order on the
Nevis, to increase the level of protection and ban any future hydro-electric
developments... |
| 28 May 2009 |
Too
many 'dead rivers' for writer
Otago Daily Times
There were too many "dead rivers"
in New Zealand without adding the Nevis, Brian Turner said yesterday..
New Zealand Professional Fishing Guides Association
spokesman Harvey Maguire, of Queenstown, gave evidence hydro-electricity
development on the Nevis would affect the river's fishery and be
a "blunder of epic proportions"... |
| 27 May 2009 |
Nevis
called the pinnacle of fly-fishing
Otago Daily Times
New Zealand is the El Dorado of fly-fishing destinations
in the world and the Nevis
River is the pinnacle, according to a fly-fishing guide.
An array of elements made the "classic Central
Otago" river the best in the country for fly-fishermen, Ian
Cole, of Wanaka, told a tribunal yesterday.... |
| 23 May 2009 |
Nevis
fisheries evidence heard
Otago Daily Times
Fish was on the agenda for the second day of
the Nevis
River hearing before tribunal members Rauru Kirikiri, Carolyn
Burns and Richard Fowler..... |
| 22 May 2009 |
Fish
and Game spearhead river protection, not Doc
Otago Daily Times
Fish and Game New Zealand was taking the lead
in protecting rivers even though it was the Department of Conservation's
role, a special tribunal was told in Cromwell yesterday... |
| 18 May 2009 |
Fight
on to Stop the Nevis River being dammed
Southland Times
Pioneer Generation wants to build a hydro-power
scheme on the Nevis
River but Fish
& Game says leave it alone. However, there is more to the
river than just its ecological values.... |
| 16 May 2009 |
Heritage
v hydro debate on Nevis
Otago Daily Times
Battle lines have been drawn in the Nevis Valley
as recreational users of the Nevis
River seek to protect the landscape, heritage values and trophy
trout fishery from power companies who are eyeing the river for
future development of hydro-electricity generation. .... |
| 19 Aug 2008 |
Gearing
up to protect Nevis River
Otago Daily Times
Forest and Bird's Dunedin branch is gearing
up for a campaign to support the Otago Fish and Game Council's bid
to protect the Nevis River from damming...
Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society southern
conservation officer Sue Maturin said damming the Nevis would destroy
Otago's last remaining free-flowing river and destroy the Nevis
Valley's untamed character.
"Our wild rivers are not renewable,"
Ms Maturin said... |
| 5 Sept 2008 |
Power
company opposes protection
Otago Daily Times
Central Otago power company Pioneer Generation
will oppose an application by the New Zealand and Otago Fish and
Game Councils to the Minister for the Environment to prohibit damming
and diversion of the Nevis River.
The councils want the Water Conservation (Kawarau)
Order 1997 altered to protect the Nevis River, which flows from
its source at the southern end of the Garvie and Hector Ranges,
to its confluence with the Kawarau River about 50km northeast.
That order gave some protection to the Nevis
but did not preclude the river being used for hydro-electric power
generation... |
