ORARI COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP
Minutes of the Meeting Held Tuesday 7 April 2009
Attendance: Rex Hobbs, John Mowat, Alastair Midgley, John Waugh, Judy
Blakemore, Gabrielle Ranford, George Leslie, Ad Sintenie, Laurence Smith, Bryan
LeLievre, McGregor Simpson.
Apologies: Bridget Pringle, Mark Mulligan, Fraser Ross
Meeting Opened 7.30pm
Attendees of the meeting were welcomed and thanked for their attendance and a
brief description of the agenda was provided. Three topics were to be discussed at
the meeting
1. Update on the Process Followed to Develop a flow regime for the Orari
Catchment
2. An Update on the Flow recorder site in the Ohapi River
3. An Presentation on the Effects of Forestry on water supply in Catchments
Item 1 – Update on Process to Develop an Environmental Flow Regime for the
Orari River
Resource Management Planner - Luisa Magalhães provided an update on the
process that was being followed to develop an environmental flow regime for the
Orari Catchment (see attached presentation).
It was stated that it has been decided that the flow regime will be developed as a
stand alone Environmental Flow and Allocation Plan, rather than as a variation to the
Natural Resources Regional Plan.
The technical panel process will no longer be followed, rather reports will be
commissioned to take a whole of river approach to the Hydrology, Aquatic Ecology,
Indigenous Vegetation, Landscape and Amenity Values and Tangata Whenua values
of the catchment. Contracts are in the final stages of being finalised with the following
candidates the preferred providers:
 Hydrology – NIWA
 Indigenous Vegetation – Trevor Partridge
 Aquatic Ecology – Golder Associates and
 Landscape and Amenity – Peter Rough Landscapes / GHD
Tangata whenua values will be assessed by Te Runanga o Arowhenua.
The expectation is that the Technical Reports will be finalised by June 2009, to meet
the June 2010 deadline, however there is a possibility that the reports will not be
completed by June 2009 due to high river levels. If this is the case then a meeting will
be held to discuss the process forward.
Some concern was expressed that the timeframe for gathering data was very short;
in particular that bird species would no longer be present in the river bed since they
were generally present only from October – January. It was also noted that there are
two endangered species there.
It was suggested that Doctor Eric Spur may be able to assist with the Avian
Research.
Item 2 – Flow Recorder in the Ohapi River
Senior Hydrological Officer Laurence Smith discussed the location of a telemetered
flow recorder site in the Ohapi Creek. This flow recorder provides real time recording
of flow in the river.
It has been identified that a surface water take has been installed immediately
upstream of the current flow recorder site and in addition over the summer months
the site where the flow recorder is currently located is subject to large amounts of
weed growth which can affect the accuracy of the flow recorder.
The new site is a better location. It is located further down stream so it captures more
of the consented takes and the physical location has a “natural control” down stream
which will further improve the accuracy of the recorder. The natural control is
provided by large stable rocks in the bed of the stream that act as a weir, creating a
small pool upstream (see attached presentation).
Item 3 – Effect of Forestry on Water Use
Surface Water Resources and Ecosystem Manager, Tim Davies discussed the effect
of forestation on flow rates and water yield within catchments. A thorough scientific
background was provided showing that in theory an extensively forested catchment
is likely to see lower river flows than one with no forestry. The amount of water used
by forestry depends on a number of factors but is likely to vary somewhere between
20% and 50% (see attached presentation).
This theoretical argument has been proved correct in some limited field assessments
that have been carried out by Tony Dors in the Rangitiki River and Maurice Duncan
in the North Island.
It was pointed out that since the Kakanui River has been planted in forestry there
have been a drop in water levels in the river, however care needs to be taken
because the last 10 years have been dry.
Meeting Closed at 9.30 pm