24 June 2004
Aqua-style scheme can be stopped by Aqua-style opposition
Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is calling on the thousands of Ne
w Zealanders who opposed Project Aqua to now mobilise behind a campaign to save another river threatened by a
canal-based power scheme.
Fish and Game, Forest and Bird, the NZ Jet Boat Association, the NZ Professional Fishing Guides' Association and the
Marlborough Environment Centre yesterday launched the 'Save the Wairau' in response to Trustpower's proposal to build an
Aqua-like power scheme on the river in Marlborough. Ms Fitzsimons attended a meeting mobilising opposition to the Wairau
scheme in April and Green Party Environment Outreach Worker Deborah Martin has since toured the threatened river with
local activists.
"I call on the 6000-plus people who made submissions opposing the potential destruction of the Waitaki to now get
involved into fighting this spawn of Aqua on the Wairau," said Ms Fitzsimons, the Green Party's Energy and Conservation
Spokesperson.
"Yet again we are facing a 'just more river' scenario. Environmentally, New Zealand simply can't afford to lose any more
rivers. And if one of the principle threats to our electricity generation is lack of rain, it is hard to see how more
hydro is going to provide the energy security we need.
"This proposal is smaller in scale than Aqua, but will actually take a larger proportion of the smaller river's water.
Aqua would have taken 74 per cent of the Waitaki's median flow; this scheme would take over 85 per cent of the Wairau's
median flow for seven months of the year.
"Curiously, Trustpower is being somewhat schizophrenic in that it is investigating the far more sensible idea of a wind
farm at nearby Seddon, which could potentially generate as much power as the Wairau hydro at half the cost. Such
distributed generation, along with serious efforts to facilitate energy conservation, is the solution to the looming
energy crisis this country faces.
"The Wairau is New Zealand's longest braided river. It has a diverse range of habitats and has been recognised
internationally as the site of the largest breeding populations of two of our endangered species, the black-fronted tern
and black-billed gull.
"Quite apart from there being little water left for recreational users such as anglers and jetboaters, the small flow
will mean it will be less able to dilute run-off from farms, increasing the toxicity of the surviving river," said Ms
Fitzsimons.
ENDS