A new boat ramp for the Waitaki River next to State Highway 1 has been postponed by the Lower Waitaki River Management Society in a ''wait and see'' approach, chairman Ian McIlraith said yesterday.
The society had invested money in keeping open a boat ramp on the south side of the river next to SH1, but changes in the river left it unusable.
Since then, it had investigated building a ramp on the rest area off SH1 on the north side.
''Establishing a good, reliable boat ramp on the north side with easy access had been developed by the board of the society during the past year, in consultation with other interested parties,'' he said.
They included Moeraki and Waihao runanga, the Waimate District Council as the land owner and local authority, and liaising with river engineering staff from Environment Canterbury who would have overseen construction.
Last year the council removed several large trees around the parking rest area to clear the proposed entry point to the river.
At that stage it was hoped to have the boat ramp in commission before the world jet-boat marathon on the Waitaki River last October.
But weather and river conditions during the past summer thwarted progress.
Ongoing high river flows and floods caused erosion damage at the site and planned earthworks had to be postponed.
''People who watch the river are very aware of the river braids regularly migrating.
"Some locals observing the river say that it is migrating back towards the south side again.
"In the past a boat launching area on the south side by the main road bridge has been fairly reliable.
''We shall have to wait at least until some stability in river flow allows the river protection works to be restored on the north side before we would contemplate revisiting the idea again,'' Mr McIlraith said.
