KEY POINTS:
Donald Calder has owned a kayak shop by Rotorua's Kaituna River for 15 years and the foaming waters are the lifeblood of his business.
He says an electricity company's plan to build a hydro power scheme there would ruin world-renowned rapids and a "priceless" tourism asset.
"It's like saying, 'Let's get rid of Mt Cook', " the owner of Sunspots Kayak Shop said yesterday.
Bay of Plenty Electricity plans to build the plant, which would generate 13.5MW, or electricity for 10,000 homes, on part of the Upper Kaituna Scenic Reserve and private land.
The company has applied to Conservation Minister Chris Carter for a concession to use 0.7ha of the 54ha reserve to build the left abutment of a 12m-high dam, and to flood 0.5 to 1ha of the reserve.
The water level would increase by 7m at the dam, while most of the scheme, including a 2km canal and power station, would be built on land owned by a Maori trust.
Mr Carter has indicated he will approve the concession and the Department of Conservation is taking submissions on this aspect of the proposal until Monday.
Bay of Plenty Electricity is yet to apply for resource consent for the scheme itself.
The Kaituna is used by kayakers, rafters and fishers, and Mr Calder, 34, said it was among the world's top five most renowned kayaking rivers.
"If you go to any kayaker in any part of the world and ask them one river in New Zealand, they'll know the Kaituna, even if they've never been here," he said.
He said the river was unique and in a pristine state, with no dams, and deep gorges carved through soft volcanic rock.
The power scheme would "totally devastate" the part of reserve that was flooded and the section of river where water was diverted into the canal.
"They're going to leave what they call 'residual flows', which will be trickles," he said.
Thousands of kayakers paddled the river each year and it was not worth sacrificing for a scheme that was the "equivalent of putting 1500 solar hot-water units on houses".
Bay of Plenty Electricity acknowledged the scheme was small but said it was in line with Government policy to promote renewable energy that had minimum impact on the environment.
"The alternative is to go nuclear and build a power station in Auckland, which nobody would want either," generation manager John Smyth said.
He said the scheme would not impact on recreational river users "at all", as it would be built downstream from the Okere Falls and trout pools.
It was also wrong to say that the scheme would affect rapids or water levels, Smyth said. "The Resource Management Act will require that the ecology will be sustained, and the amount of the water that will be left in the river after it's been diverted ... will be sufficient."
Rafters have mixed views about the scheme.
Kaituna Cascades owner Keith Hughes said it would have minimal impact because it was below where most rafters went. "Obviously it's nice to have free-flowing rivers but people also need power."
Another rafter, who did not want to be named, said: "It's a beautiful section of river and it will be lost, but the economic benefits for [the Maori landowners] are good and the country needs power."
Fish & Game regional manager Steve Smith could not be contacted.
Rotorua's BrightEconomy Advisory Board supports the proposal, saying local energy generation is vital to the city's economic growth.
Taheke 8C, identified by Bay of Plenty Electricity as the landowners concerned, are meeting on Saturday to discuss the scheme.
