Ashburton Lakes

Forest and Bird, Issue 306, 1 November 2002, Page 3

Ashburton Lakes

As a hutholder at Lake Clearwater, avid photographer, and perpetual student of the area, I would like to congratulate Ann Graeme on her timely article on the beautiful area of the Ashburton Lakes (Forest ¢& Bird, August 2002). It is indeed a treasure of the nation. However the threats of proposals to radically alter the area are very real. Not only is a dam proposed, but also the extraction of waters from other high country tributaries to the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers. Their flow will be channelled to the Ashburton catchment, via a series of connecting canals which will fundamentally alter the flows of other rivers, and carve swathes through a landscape that is recognised as being a significant unmodified area of glacial and preglacial landforms.

The proposed canals slice through the largest high-country wetlands that we have in Canterbury and are acknowledged in the Regional Policy Statement, the Department of Conservation Management Plan, and have Statutory Acknowledgement to Ngai Tahu regarding kaitiakitanga. Thus not only do we have threats to the ecology and sustainability of the very special species within the Ashburton/Hakatere River itself, but a composite of environmental impacts covering a much wider area. I encourage everyone with a connection to the Ashburton Lakes to remain informed and ready to provide the Ashburton Branch with support as they continue their efforts to provide protection. DEBS MARTIN, Christchurch