Posted by John Wilson on May 14, 2009 at 12:24:24 user hugo.
In Reply to: Re: Pigeon Post - fell fires posted by David Bamford on May 12, 2009 at 23:34:36:
Re David Bamsford’s comment on New Zealand having lots of water or as a previous Prime Minister (Geoffrey Palmer) said, being “very pluvial”, the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand is fairly dry despite several large rivers. Hence there are conflicts particularly in Canterbury over water use for irrigation, power generation etc, and a recent suggestion to send water from the (very very pluvial) West Coast via a tunnel through the Southern Alps. There is a rail tunnel through the Alps, the Otira tunnel, though the road route is via Arthur’s Pass, Haast Pass or Lewis Pass. There was a proposal once to export tankerloads of water from Milford Sound to the Middle East; a lot of water goes to sea there from the Manapouri Power Station.
The east coast of the North Island is also fairly dry, with parts – Hawkes Bay and perhaps Wairarapa recently being declared drought areas after three dry years. The west coast of the North Island is wetter, with Taranaki having enough rain to be a good dairying area.