Tapping the Liquid Gold WATER BATTLE SITES Central Plains Water
scheme: involves taking water from the Rakaia and Waimakariri
rivers and storing it in a reservoir in the dammed Waianiwaniwa
Valley. The water will be used to irrigate 60,000ha bounded by
the rivers, SH1 and the Malvern foothills. Red Zones:
Environment Canterbury has labelled many blocks of land as red
zones areas that have no more groundwater allocation to spare
for irrigation. But farmers keep fighting for more water through
legal challenges. Project Aqua: The lower Waitaki River was the
site where Meridian abandoned a bid to build six new power
stations by diverting two-thirds of the river through channel
alongside the river. Canterbury has 78,162 kilometres of rivers
and 4753 lakes with a surface area of 702 square kilometres, an
area the size of greater Christchurch. The Canterbury region has
70 per cent of the country’s irrigated land and generates 24% of
the nation’s power through hydroelectricity. The aquifiers on
the Central Plains are