On Sunday this week Prime TV will be screening the Mokihinui episode in Craig Potton’s ‘Rivers’ series at 7.30pm. I haven’t seen that yet but am really looking forward to it. These films are really important I think, because they give New Zealanders who, for the most part, will never go to the Mokihinui Gorge the opportunity to see what is at stake here. No wonder the Department of Conservation concludes “the public conservation land within the Mokihinui River has such high value that it is most unlikely to be suitable for exchange at all”.

This business of exchange is crucial. In order for the dam to proceed, Meridian must achieve both resource consent and the permission of the land owner. On the first of these Meridian has achieved a consent, but this is now being appealed to the Environment Court by a number of organisations including the Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird and Whitewater NZ, and the appeal is set down to be heard in the second quarter of next year. However, as to the landowner’s permission, Meridian has withdrawn its original application. There is no way that they could be granted permission to flood such high value conservation land so what they instead will need to try to do is “swap” other land for the area they wish to flood and convince the Minister that such a swap has a net positive conservation effect.

The reality is that nobody can think of any land with higher conservation value that is not already protected which could be swapped for the Mokihinui land. So I have been calling on the Minister to save everyone the time and considerable expense of the Environment Court process by establishing first whether there is any way that a land swap is possible. She has declined to rule out any land swap, saying she will wait and see what application she receives, but today I was asking her to speak with her colleague the Minister for Sate Owned Enterprises (like Meridian). If (our) company were to make its application for a land swap before the Environment Court hearing then there would be advantages for all concerned, including Meridian. Better yet, they could abandon the idea altogether!

So check out the Mokihinui films. This is a special place, that we love and treasure. It should not be destroyed for electricity generation, especially when a perfectly good alternative is just down the road. If you want to save the Mokihinui and our other last wild rivers, then you can help by collecting signatures for our petition or by encouraging others to send ecards to the Prime Minister.

A special tribunal has agreed to a variation on the Kawarau Water Conservation Order that would prohibit the damming of the Nevis river , a tributary of the Kawarau.  The variation was sought by Fish & Game back in 2008.

One of the key factors in the tribunal’s decision was the recent discovery of a rare species of galaxiid known as the Gollum Galaxias in the Nevis, the only place it has been found in Otago. Galaxiids are small native freshwater fish that are in decline nationally due to loss and degradation of their habitat.  And they are pretty cute, check out Gollum!

Gollum Galaxias, image by Richard Allibone

The Nevis is unique. It falls steeply through remote Central Otago tussockland and through a series of spectacular gorges, making it one of the South Island’s most popular kayaking rivers.

Kayakers on the Nevis, image by Anthony Longman

It has been eyed up for a hydro dam by Pioneer Generation for years, but now thanks to the efforts of Fish & Game, and of course the Gollum Galaxias, it will run free forever.

With Water Conservation Orders under attack in Canterbury, and a dam on the West Coast’s Mokihinui river being granted resource consent, it’s nice to hear some good news for our wild rivers!

Metiria Turei: Is the Minister concerned that Meridian has suppressed a report that it commissioned from Landcare Research entitled Calculating Biodiversity Offsets for the Mokihinui Hydro Proposal, which basically states that there is no way that Meridian can mitigate the destructive effects of the dam on the river, the biodiversity loss, and the elimination of native species?

Hon STEVE CHADWICK: I am aware of the reports that Meridian commissioned, and that it did commission that research. However, I have not seen that research, so it is inappropriate for me to comment, at this stage…

Metiria Turei: Does the Minister agree that the protected wilderness rivers are not renewable, that species in decline are not recoverable, as her Government continues to destroy their habitat, and that New Zealanders who appreciate the outdoors and our unique native species-

Rt Hon Winston Peters: That’s not right!

Metiria Turei: – even ones like that member – will not accept large hydro dams like that proposed on the MÅ?kihinui River?

Hon STEVE CHADWICK: I agree that the Mokihinui is a river gorge ecosystem of regional and national importance. The department is preparing an assessment of the specific values and the impact of that river.

The report that Metiria uncovered says:

Several major management actions that would be required to offset the residual impacts on biodiversity appear unattainable, reflecting the high biodiversity value of the impacted area, [and] the absence of realistic alternative riverine systems that could be restored to offset the significant residual biodiversity loss.

Metiria said last week:

This river is quintessentially wild and ecologically special – the type of river that captures the imagination of New Zealanders. It is sacrilege to destroy this gorge and ecosystems.

This hydro dam will require Meridian to flood the Mokihinui Gorge, which is home to endangered bats, kiwi, snails, kaka and whio. It will also prevent many fish from swimming out to sea to breed. 12 of those fish species are natives, and four of them are endangered. And, of particular interest to Metiria and Russel are the long fin eels.

Long fin eels live for about 100 years if they are allowed. They swim all the way from their river in New Zealand to deep sea trenches off the coast in Tonga where they breed. The children then make their way slowly back to the same river from where their parents came.

The Ministry of Fisheries has no available estimates of the current biomass of long fin eels. It says

[T]here are no stock assessments, or reliable data or time series on which to base specific recommendations on catch levels.

Given the biology of eels, there is a high risk that the current exploitation levels for longfin eels in particular, coupled with past and present anthropogenic impacts, are not sustainable.

The West Coast Regional Council has given notice that it is considering resource consent for this dam and is accepting public submissions until April 23.

Forest and Bird opposes the dam and points out that the Department of Conservation rates the Mokihinui River as the seventh most important river in New Zealand because of its natural heritage values.

You can join Forest and Bird’s campaign to oppose the dam and find a great deal of resources on how to make a simple submission to the Regional Council opposing the dam on their website.