We should all be very worried.
There is planned a water scheme that will have such a disasterous impact on water quality that we may never be able to undo the damage.
The plan is to take water from both the Rakia and Waimakariri (pictured) rivers, around 40 cubic metres per second from each river, this water is to be stored in a new dam to be built and then used for irrigation.
This will allow for over a 100% increase in the land used for intensive dairy farming.
I have a couple of problems with this.
The removal of the water will affect the fishery and both rivers are world renowned salmon waters.
The amount of effluent will cause a lot of damage to the groundwater and waterways.
The effluent will put at risk the drinking water supplies for a large portion of Canterbury and as a lot of this area is alluvial the penetration of waste into the aquafers could happen rapidly and be almost impossible to undo.
There have been stories circulating about council members being threatened and I find it relatively easy to believe this is true… There are many environmental groups, the media and indeed the Government that should be very ashamed that they have been silent on this.
This is one of the biggest environmental threats we have ever faced and it seems hardly anyone cares.
