Tarras residents spelled out their concerns this week to the Otago Regional Council about the economic effect of any minimum flow restrictions imposed on the Lindis River.
The council held the second meeting earlier this week in a series of workshops with the community to discuss river values and various minimum flow options.
The meeting was attended by about 40 people, and a subcommittee of local residents will work with the council on its plans, council resource planning director Fraser McRae said.
"There was a lot of discussion around the possibility of a reduced water supply and the impact that would have on irrigation," he said.
The main discussion revolved around different options for minimum flows and how they would affect the different values given to the river.
"The community certainly provided information around the value of the water to the farming community and how much production they could get from the water, under various management regimes," Mr McRae said.
The status quo - the river dry at the height of summer as it was "fully taken" for irrigation and domestic use - could not continue, he said.
Tarras farmer Dan Perriam said it was a good meeting and he thought the council had received the message about the economic value of the river needing to be looked at more closely.
"We're all very concerned about what any changes to the river flow might mean for our livelihood and our community."
"The Lindis is the lifeblood of Tarras."
Although the council had done considerable work on the value of the river as a fishery, less had been done on the economic consequences to the community if a minimum flow was imposed, Mr Perriam said.
Farmer Beau Trevathan, of Tarras, said some properties in the district were home to the fourth generation of farming families and the river had been used for domestic water, irrigation and recreation for a century.
"It's not broke, so why try to fix it."
Mr McRae said the river was important for the maintenance of a trout fishery, as it was an important spawning and breeding ground for the fish in the upper Clutha and in Lake Dunstan.
There was "no suggestion" of a minimum flow being decided right now, he said.
"We're still talking about that and eventually when we get to the point where a minimum flow regime is proposed, it will become part of our regional water plan and go through further consultation processes."
