A giant fish screen has been installed on the side of Canterbury’s Rangitata River in an effort to protect hundreds of thousands of sport fish and native species.
The $18 million technology will allow the nearby irrigation canal to take water from the river without taking its inhabitants.
The Rangitata Diversion Race is known as the lifeblood of Mid Canterbury.
CEO of Rangitata Diversion Race Management Ltd Tony McCormick told Newshub the Rangitata is used for a variety of things.
"We divert part of the Rangitata River, bring it into a canal, and we distribute that water right across Mid Canterbury where we supply stock water, irrigation and hydro generation."
In the river, there is a mixture of fish including long-finned eels, Upton bullies and salmon. It was estimated that about 200,000 juvenile salmon went into the scheme in the past 12 months.
The problem is that the two don't mix, and fish that are unintentionally diverted into the irrigation canal are unable to re-enter the river.
But that's about to change due to a giant fish screen.
"This fish screen works by redirecting any fish that come in with the water we divert and it returns them safely to the river," McCormick told Newshub.
The project has taken eight years and costs $18 million. McCormick said it is important to use the fish screen wisely.
"It's a key part of the privilege of being able to take and use water like we do, we have an impact on the river and an impact on the fishery - by investing $18 million it's a pretty good demonstration of how seriously we take the responsibility to protect the fisheries in the river."
In just over two weeks, it will all be underwater and more than 30,000 litres of water per second and fish will be flowing through the fish screen.
The screening mechanism measures 105 metres.
"It is by far the largest of its kind in New Zealand and we're quite confident it would be one of the largest of its kind in the world," McCormick told Newshub.
It will allow Mid Canterbury's lifeblood to keep flowing and the fish where they belong.
