North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 75

OTAGO DAILY TIMES

work,clearlyshowingthedevastating

environmentaleffectraisingthelake

wouldhave.Insomeareas,thenewlake

levelwouldextendmorethan5kmin -

land,destroyingallthebushtothatpoint.

UsingMark’sevidence,publicopinion

againsttheproposalgrew.Comalcowas

disturbedbythis;itsmanagingdirector,

DonHibberd,wrotetoPrimeMinister

KeithHolyoakestatinghis“considerable

concern”aboutthe“concertedcampaign

againsttheraisingofLakeManapouri”.

Holyoake,whosegovernmentseemed

bewitchedbyComalco’spromisesand

hadbecomedevoteesofwhatwasde-

scribedasa “kilowattcult”,repliedthat

“theoppositionis notquitesoformida-

bleasit hasseemedattimes”.Aswith

muchofhisjudgmentovertheissue,

Holyoakewasterriblywrong.

Hecruciallyunderestimatedconcern

amongst his own constituency – even

icalnightmare,theonce-beautifullake

nowfringedbymudandtheskeletons

ofdeadtreesthathadbeendrowned.

Tocounterthis,governmentengineers

arguedtheywouldclearvegetationfrom

LakeManapōuri’sshore,sinkingtreesin

thelakeandbulldozingstumpstocreate

newbeachesaroundtheraisedlake.It

hadeventrialledthisontwoacresinone

ofthelake’ssecludedarms,anareathe

localstoldMarkhemustvisit.

WhenMarkgotbacktoManapōuri

township,a radioreporteraskedhim

whathethoughtofthetrialclearance,

andMarkannouncedit was“pathetic”

andinnowaydemonstratedthefeasibil-

ityofclearingthelake’s170kmshoreline.

Thisdidn’tgodownwellwiththeelec-

tricitydepartment,andnotlongafter,

Markwastoldtheuniversity'scontract

hadbeencancelled.Butbythetimethis

was formalised, Mark had completed his

J

ustdaysbeforethatinaugu-
ralmeetingatNormanJones’
house,a youngbotanisthadvis-
itedLakeManapōuri,tryingto
getanswersaboutthegovernment’s
proposal.AlanMarkwastheplant
ecologistatOtagoUniversity’sbota-
nydepartmentwhena surveyrequest
camefromtheNewZealandElectricity
Department.Itwantedtoknowwhat
theeffectwouldbeonlakeshorevege-
tationif Manapōuriwasraised,andthe
filelandedonMark’sdesk.
TheelectricitydepartmentandMin-
istryofWorkshadlongclaimedraising
thelakewouldactuallyimproveMan-
apōuri’sappearance.Butthismythical
matchofprogressandpanoramahad
beenexposedasa lieatLakeMonowai,
30kmaway.In1925,LakeMonowaihad
beenraisedjust2.4mtocreatea hydro
scheme there. The result was an ecolog-

MembersoftheCabinetcommitteeonLakeManapōuritourthelakeinMarch 1970 toinvestigate
raisingitslevel.Boardingthelaunchare(fromleft),RobertMuldoon,MinisterofFinance;Les
Hutchins,whoguidedtheparty;andBrianTalboys,MinisterofEducation.Furtherbackare
DuncanMacIntyre(smokingpipe),MinisterofForests;PercyAllen(inshirtsleeves), Minister
of Works and Electricity; and Bert Walker (far right), Minister of Tourism.