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The Star 21<br />
News<br />
• By Tom Doudney<br />
MEASURES TO restrict,<br />
suspend or revoke water<br />
take consents in a catchment<br />
which feeds the ailing Selwyn/<br />
Waikirikiri River will be<br />
investigated.<br />
The river has had record low<br />
flows this summer and has dried<br />
up along large stretches, including<br />
at once popular swimming<br />
spots such as Coes Ford.<br />
Environment Canterbury will<br />
look into two possible options to<br />
help address the situation and report<br />
back to the Selwyn Waihora<br />
Zone Committee.<br />
One option is that ECan could<br />
• By Tom Doudney<br />
FALLING groundwater levels<br />
around Selwyn are keeping well<br />
drillers and pump installers<br />
busy as they have to go deeper<br />
for water.<br />
Pump technician Mike Taylor<br />
said in recent weeks he has<br />
had dozens of clients who had<br />
needed to put in a new pump<br />
or have new wells drilled due to<br />
their existing ones drying up.<br />
“Southbridge through to<br />
issue a temporary water shortage<br />
direction allowing it to restrict<br />
or suspend taking water from the<br />
Irwell, Leeston, Weedons and<br />
West Melton seem to be the<br />
main areas affected that I’ve<br />
come across,” he said.<br />
“I had one client over<br />
in West Melton where I<br />
pulled the pump out and<br />
the water level was almost<br />
3m below the pump, so<br />
it has dropped quite dramatically.”<br />
While wells had dried<br />
up in small areas in other years,<br />
it was unusual for such a large<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.<br />
Selwyn River water consents under investigation<br />
Debra<br />
Hasson<br />
SAD STATE:<br />
The Selwyn<br />
River has<br />
dried up at<br />
Coes Ford<br />
apart from<br />
a couple<br />
of algae<br />
covered<br />
pools.<br />
PHOTO:<br />
RICHARD<br />
COSGROVE <br />
catchment feeding the river. Under<br />
the RMA, a water shortage<br />
direction can be applied when<br />
area to be affected, Mr Taylor<br />
said.<br />
“We’re just having to go a wee<br />
bit deeper. If they’ve got a<br />
big enough well than we’re<br />
able to go to a submersible<br />
type pump, otherwise<br />
they’ve had to go to new<br />
wells.”<br />
An Environment Canterbury<br />
spokeswoman<br />
said wells up to 20m deep,<br />
mostly in the Selwyn Waihora<br />
zone, were being affected.<br />
there is “a serious temporary<br />
shortage of water” which could<br />
not have been predicted. It would<br />
expire after 14 days but could be<br />
renewed.<br />
ECan chief operating officer<br />
Don Rule said this could potentially<br />
affect up to 63 consents in<br />
an area south of Rolleston, of<br />
which about 46 were thought<br />
to have a strong connection to<br />
the river. It was not known how<br />
many of these consents were<br />
already on restrictions.<br />
The other option which will be<br />
looked at is a potential ratepayerfunded<br />
review of “at the very<br />
least” several hundred water<br />
take consents in the vicinity of<br />
She said while irrigation<br />
contributed to the situation,<br />
groundwater levels were very<br />
low this summer after three<br />
consecutive winters with little<br />
rainfall to replenish the aquifers.<br />
“Many groundwater takes are<br />
on partial restriction and all<br />
deep groundwater takes have<br />
restrictions on their annual<br />
volumes. This has been the situation<br />
since November 2015.”<br />
District councillor Debra<br />
Hasson recently sought answers<br />
Thursday March 16 2017<br />
the river, but Mr Rule said this<br />
would be a longer process.<br />
Such a review would enable<br />
ECan to look at whether any<br />
consents should be altered or<br />
revoked.<br />
“The focus would be on surface<br />
and shallow ground water takes<br />
initially,” Mr Rule said.<br />
“Based on my experience,<br />
consent reviews would certainly<br />
not affect this irrigation season,<br />
at best they would apply to next<br />
irrigation season and history<br />
would say even that might be<br />
problematic.”<br />
Both options would be open<br />
to challenge in the Environment<br />
Court.<br />
Dry wells lead to new, deeper bores being dug<br />
.kiwi<br />
from ECan after six shallow<br />
wells downstream from Lincoln<br />
University’s Ashley Dene farm<br />
had gone dry within two months<br />
of a new 160m bore on the farm<br />
coming into operation.<br />
ECan team leader for<br />
consents Sam Beaumont said<br />
the university had simply<br />
transferred an already consented<br />
water allocation from one bore,<br />
near the corner of Springs Rd<br />
and Gerald St, to the new Ashley<br />
Dene bore.<br />
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