Reserve would 'offset irrigation'

A drylands reserve park is being proposed to offset the effects of irrigation in the Mackenzie Basin.

The proposal would bring together more than 30,000 hectares of land to create a permanent reserve.

Conservation Department tenure review manager Mike Clear said the idea arose when DOC and other groups noticed the increase in irrigation in the area.

"There are now more than 18 centre pivots [for irrigation] in the area between Twizel and Omarama. Ten years ago, there was virtually no irrigation in the area. The landscape is changing rapidly.

"The Mackenzie Basin is a particularly unique landscape, and if it turns into something else or becomes overly green through excessive irrigation then we will lose the qualities which makes it so appealing to tourists who visit the high country."

He said DOC had examined a wide variety of options for possible sites. Tenure review began in the 1990s under the Land Review Act as some farmers refused access to protected areas. In 2007 all lakeside pastoral leases were removed from the review.

Mr Clear said DOC had looked at ways of using the tenure review process to bring more land together. "There have been concerns that tenure review has not done enough to protect the region's native biodiversity, and maybe this could be a way of addressing it."

South Island Forest and Bird project manager Chris Todd said the Mackenzie Basin's ecosystem was "delicately balanced". He said there were more than 56 threatened species in the area.

"Several of the species have adapted specifically to the climate. Any irrigation on a grand scale would annihilate the landscape of the area and the habitats of its native plants, insects and lizards."

DOC Twizel area manager Rob Young said the idea had been around for a while. "However, the real question is always whether it can get the resources and funding for such a venture. It would be very difficult to make much progress in the current economic climate."

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