Meridian close to dam deal

Friday 1st November 2002

Meridian Energy is consulting with Ngai Tahu over its proposed $550 million Project Aqua to dam the lower Waitaki River and is expected to clinch a similar deal to one recently concluded by Contact Energy, which is paying the tribe $1.62 million to mitigate loss of traditional values on the Clutha River.

In return, Ngai Tahu will support Contact Energy's application to renew its resource consents to generate power on the Clutha for another 35 years. Contact also reached agreement with an irrigation company to supply water.

Meridian is also talking to affected groups, including Ngai Tahu, in preparation for lodging resource consents in the next few weeks, spokesman Alan Seay said.

Meridian is offering a raft of sweeteners to farmers and recreational users in the Waitaki Valley and is expected to make a financial offer to Ngai Tahu to mitigate loss of traditional values.

"We have our own relationship with Ngai Tahu regarding the Waitaki. But payments are not unusual. There are resource consent bilaterals already existing. They're payments we make to remedy or mitigate negative impacts," Mr Seay said.

"For example, we pay money to the Department of Conservation to fund a river recovery project on the Waitaki River. The rationale is that hydro development has had an impact on the landscape, therefore we make contributions to mitigate some of the impact."

Ngai Tahu chief executive officer Tahu Potoki said yesterday the Contact payment was a modern solution. The mitigation package would allow future generations of Ngai Tahu to maintain their association with the Clutha River, a tribally significant waterway. Eels and other fresh-water fish were a staple part of the Ngai Tahu diet and the rivers and waterways of the Clutha were a main highway into the Central Otago breeding grounds and the routes onward to the West Coast.

"Modern lifestyles and industrialisation mean these traditional activities are no longer adhered to, but this does not negate the strong sense of heritage associated with this area," he said.

"The $1.62 million package provided by Contact Energy is specifically tailored to Ngai Tahu's emphasis on education, with specific regard to the environment.

The package contains $537,500 in tertiary scholarships and a $70,000 school education package plus $750,000 for mahinga kai species management, $140,000 to document fully the relationship of the tribe with the catchment using GPS and GIS technology, and $130,000 to develop existing nohoanga [exclusive camping sites].

"Iwi are primarily interested in making sure that the language, traditions and practices that define who it is they are will survive into the 22nd century and beyond. Therefore an obvious priority is sustaining the natural environment. It must be in a reasonable state of repair or the great-grandchildren of this generation will not be able to engage with the practices and traditions handed down.

"The RMA allows community stakeholders to influence decision-making with the aim being a more satisfied community while not at the expense of progress."

But Central Otago Act New Zealand list MP Gerry Eckhoff said it was sad that Ngai Tahu believed their traditional values could be quantified in monetary terms. Other commentators have raised the possibility of corruption if the practice becomes widespread.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said people were free to negotiate their own arrangements. He also cited improvements of the Resource Management Amendment Bill as an example of how the government was streamlining the consent process.

The amendment was scheduled to be passed under urgency two weeks ago and Ms Hobbs' office issued a statement noting the influence of the United Future New Zealand in reintroducing a provision for limited notification of resource consent applications with minor effects.

But through scheduling constraints the bill was not passed and is in a logjam with other legislation for "sometime hopefully before the end of the year," according to a Beehive staffer.

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