Community makes final plea before Lake Camp meeting

Vanessa Wright hopes council will listen to the community’s pleas and take action at the lake campground before it’s too late.

Ashburton councillors will meet on Tuesday to discuss the future of Canterbury Lakes’ shrinking waters and whether any action will be taken.

The dramatic drop in water levels at Camp Lake has sparked a community campaign to restore the diversion of its historic source, Balmacaan Creek, which has a resource consent in place until 2020.

Wright, a lakefront property owner in the Village of Clearwater, agrees with experts from Canterbury Environment and the Department of Conservation that the drop in the water level at Camp Lake is due to drought, a situation that is also facing other local lakes.

However, unlike other lakes, Wright said Camp Lake has a small catchment area and cannot be refilled without the Balmacan Creek diversion.

“Spring is coming and we need to do something to get the melted snowwater into the lake, otherwise the lake will continue to drain.

“Without the aqueduct flowing out, the lake won’t overflow — unless there’s another flood.”

She said the concern is that when there is no money coming in, the economy will stagnate.

Wright and other community members believe the regional council should take the lead in taking action to restore the stream diversion, and nearly 1,900 people have signed a petition to “Save Camp Lake.”

Lake Campground is a recreational reserve owned by the Department of Conservation but managed by Ashburton District Council.

The commission adopted a 30-year plan for Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater in 2022 that discusses how to protect the area’s environment.

Objectives include avoiding further degradation and restoring the mauri (life force) of the natural environment, protecting the area’s special qualities, and valuing the area’s social importance.

Under the plan, the commission would monitor recreational use and “take necessary action to ensure that use is sustainable and values ​​are protected.”

“The overall purpose of the plan is to ensure that appropriate action is taken in a timely manner,” the document states.

Wright said the committee must act on the plan.

Lawmakers will discuss what action can be taken at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The resolution follows a council workshop last week, where experts discussed the natural fluctuations in lake levels over time.

The recommendation made was: “If the council decides to approve the diversion of Balmacaan Creek to Lake Camp, it should require officials to submit a report to understand its costs and impacts.”

If the commission chooses to take action, Wright said the community is willing to donate time or money to help.

Restoring the diversion would require a new resource consent, according to the Department of Conservation and Environment Canada, and Fish and Wildlife Services advises new diversions would likely need to be made elsewhere in the river.

At last week’s seminar, Environment Canterbury surface water science manager Elaine Moriarty said the region was experiencing drought, which had affected lake levels.

Even with the diversions, she said, not enough water is flowing.

“It’s sad to see this happen, but it’s not an unnatural event.”

Replacing red tape with a “swipe card or pen” can solve the problem

Somers Hill farmer Duncan Humm continues to question whether resource consent is needed to resume the water diversion project at Camp Lake.

Humm, who sat in the public gallery at an Ashburton District Council workshop last week, believes resource consents will cost people thousands of dollars.

“Imagine if everyone could agree on a course of action, then that money could be better spent on actual conservation efforts.

“With the stroke of a pen and a proactive willingness, they can benefit the environment.

“No resource consent is required as the work required to reinstate the existing intake is minimal and water is not fundamentally being taken away – it is simply being diverted within the catchment area.

“As far as I know, there haven’t been any substantial negative impacts, only positive environmental benefits.”

He said the river, which had been diverted for more than 50 years, should be restored quickly without costly and time-consuming red tape.

ECan and DOC insisted that under the RMA, a new resource consent would be required to resume the transfer.

– LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.