KEY POINTS:
The extinction of the long-fin eel population would be hastened if Meridian got permission to build a hydro dam on a West Coast river, Green MP Metiria Turei said today.
Resource consents were being notified today by the West Coast Regional Council for Meridian's proposed 85MW hydro dam on the Mokihinui River, she said.
The river was ranked seventh most important for its natural values. Its catchment was important for biodiversity.
It was a very important habitat for 12 species of native freshwater fish including four that were nationally threatened and in population decline such as the long-fin eel, Ms Turei said.
"These eels and fish are protected by the inaccessibility of the Mokinui gorge. The 85m high dam will flood the gorge creating a 14km long lake, removing natural protections and the ability of the eels to migrate to and from the ocean. This development will undoubtedly hasten their extinction."
Meridian Energy wants to erect the dam as part of a hydro-scheme on the Mokihinui, 40km north of Westport and 3km upstream from Seddonville.
It says the scheme will supply enough power for up to 45,000 homes.
It hopes to start building in 2010 and begin operating the scheme three years later.
A spokeswoman for the West Coast Regional Council today said Meridian's application for the Mokihinui Hydro Power Scheme had been publicly notified with submissions closing on April 23.
- NZPA
