A Tale of Two Rivers - Whitewater NZ (pt3 Mokihinui River)

For more on this and other rivers in NZ see www.rivers.org.nz

New Zealand prides itself on its "clean and green" image, and maintaining that ideal means a commitment to renewable power. However, even renewables come at a price. For many, the recent and controversial consent granted to Meridian to dam the Mokihinui River is a perfect example of going too far in the name of renewable energy.

"A Tale of Two Rivers" joins a group of rafters and kayakers for a trip down the wild Mokihinui, one of New Zealand's--and the world's-- increasingly rare, untouched rivers. The fourteen-kilometre long lake that would result if the scheme goes ahead would be the largest inundation of conservation land in New Zealand's history.

But conservation has to deal with the reality of power generation. The West Coast needs more power, and generating it locally is by far more efficient than importing it from outside the region. But is the Mokihinui the right river?

What makes the Mokihinui story unique is an alternative hydro proposal a few kilometres away on the Stockton Plateau has near unanimous support from conservationists, recreational users and business leaders. Since power generation is a function of height and water volume, by taking advantage of the altitude at Stockton, this alternative scheme would generate nearly the same amount of power using much less water. This scheme has the added benefit of using water from the Stockton Mine, thus cleaning up the polluted Ngakawau River.

"A Tale of Two Rivers" combines scenery and sport with a frank discussion by local leaders who are struggling to balance the competing demands on their region. Ant Black, the brains behind the Stockton hydro scheme, discusses how Stockton can serve as a real alternative to the Mokihinui.

Environmentalism can elicit strong reactions, both positive and negative, but "A Tale of Two Rivers" demonstrates that saving a wild river need not mean saying no to development. It is saying yes to smart development.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Hydro power
• NZ
• west coast
• mokihinui
• stockton
• dam
• pristine
• hydro

[34groome]

Kayakers like you really do just "skim the surface" and ride the back of a river after having stuck your knife into the back of the Arnold. My knowlege and respect for our rivers flows right through to the riverbed and the ecosystem that drives it. To you a river is a "tap" to me it is a living entity. Angling is recreation and allows one to learn things within the river. A lifeless artificial kayak course (Arnold mitgation) is proof you have nothing to learn from waterways

Groome

[toateetv]

The majority of kayakers are also fishermen, we share a wholesome experience of the river, we respect our rivers. We should be working together to stop rivers being dammed. A lifeless artificial course is no comparisson to a living river. Personally I prefer rivers that are untouched, withnatural ecosystems native pristine valleys and where the sounds of nature dominate. The arnold river valley is hugely modified so I don't paddle it. As your favourite place you are right to defend it

[toateetv]

@34groome

I think you miss our point. This film is about how to meet the needs of the community for power (through new hydro generation) while preserving our unique natural environment. Kayakers and fishermen would both prefer that no dams were built at all but that is not a solution... We need answers!

So here is my question.. Where do you get your power?.. do you just plug in and forget about where it comes from? How should we as a community generate the power that YOU use?

[34groome]

To stand by the river (Arnold) they have just put their knife into the back of and talk of the “irrational” decision of damming the Mokihinui is ignorance beyond belief! The Arnold is of much greater value as an aquatic resource than Mokihinui. Kayakers are incredibly naive. They need to look “deeper” into the river and see past their own puny pastime and realise really what counts. Polotitions are just puppets used by proponents to justify decisions they know themselves are fundamentally wrong

[toateetv]

@34groome

I can see where you are coming from and kayakers and rafters do understand your point.. the issue we were trying to raise in this film is a more realistic one. Yes it would be great of we didn't dam any rivers. The reality is that we all use power and as such we need to have a relaistic expectation of how this is generated. In this film we were suggesting that if hydro is the answer (very debatable), we should be looking to schemes such as stockton and not Mokihinui.

[toateetv]

@34groome

You talk of an 'aqautic resource'. This suggests commercial use/value. The film is about RECREATIONAL river users.. people who paddle for fun, not commercial rafting. To try to value the river in a commercial sense based on the value of the resource ('aquatic' as you put it vs potential hydro) plays into the hands of developers and people who use the river in a wholesome way (eg fishing guiding) will always lose out to the likes of meridian power.

[toateetv]

Solid Energy recently withdrew their opposition to the HDL stockton scheme a week after A Tale of Two Rivers Screened on TVNZ6.