About the project

Ngāi Tahu Property and Meridian are working together on a proposed integrated water project on the Hurunui River in North Canterbury.

The project, known as the Balmoral Hydro Water project, applied for consents in December 2012 to take and use water for hydro generation, and to discharge water back into the river.

We're applying for consents to gain surety of access to water before making the significant investment required to progress further with the project.

The hydro part of the project would largely operate as a run of river scheme. This means the volume of water taken will be very close to the volume of water discharged.

Consent is sought to take up to 15 cubic metres of water a second from the Hurunui River downstream of the Mandamus River, before putting it through a number of small power stations and discharging it back into the Hurunui River around 28km downstream, about 8km below the State Highway 7 bridge (and about 4km upstream of the Pahau River confluence).

Hurunui River, downstream of the Hurunui Bridge

Latest developments

Ngāi Tahu Property and Meridian applied for consents to take, use and discharge water for the hydro scheme on 21 December 2012.

The application has been put on hold until the Regional Plan is finalised.

Why build a hydro scheme here?

New electricity generation in North Canterbury is required to:

The project also aligns with the recommendations outlined in Environmental Canterbury's Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS)

You can find out more about the CWMS at the Environment Canterbury website