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The proposed $400 million irrigation scheme for the Canterbury plains - Source: ONE News -
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A surprise setback for a massive irrigation project on the Canterbury Plains means it is back to the drawing board for its supporters.
The $400 million Central Plains Water Scheme had been proposed to irrigate 60,000 hectares of farmland west of Christchurch using a dam in a tributary of the Selwyn River to create a reservoir in the foothills of the Southern Alps.
The hearing commissioner on Friday put out a preliminary minute advising Central Plains that it would turn down the key consents, namely the dam and drawing rights from the Raikaia and Waimakariri rivers.
"This is a shattering blow after all these years for Central Plains Water," says Tim Fulton, editor of New Zealand Farmers' Weekly.
"Perhaps not the final blow, but everyone's going to have to go back...and try and salvage something from this project," he says.
Fulton says the Central Plains Water Scheme may now look to Lake Coleridge. While there is a conservation order over the lake, there are drafted plans that might facilitate drawing rights for irrigation.
However, Fulton says this would be on a smaller scale.
"I have heard some mutterings that perhaps these big projects are going to struggle to get the consents they need," he says.
Fulton believes says the Central Plains Water Scheme has been heavily examined on environmental issues.
There has been concern the irrigation scheme could contaminate Christchurch's water supply and even lead to infant deaths.
A health report for the proposed scheme in 2008 claimed nitrate levels could rise in Canterbury soil if the scheme goes ahead, with health officials saying it could contaminate groundwater and even cause blue baby syndrome in bottle-fed infants.
The contamination would come from higher nitrate levels as a result intensive dairying and crop growing.
