The idea came up at a meeting late last month in Kurow called by the Lower Waitaki Lions.
Lions president, Chrissy Watherston, said last week "What If" was a meeting prompted by residents' concerns after the Christchurch earthquakes about how ready the Waitaki Valley was for a civil defence emergency.
It involved people from throughout the Waitaki Valley, along with Waitaki Civil Defence, Meridian Energy Ltd, police, fire and ambulance.
One of the issues discussed was the feasibility of an alert system for the valley from the Waitaki dam to the sea.
What sort of system was not discussed in detail, but one option could be some sort of siren.
Similar systems had been set up at Shag Point to warn of fires in surrounding forests and at Kakanui for tsunamis.
Towns in the valley had fire brigade sirens, although some would not operate if electricity was cut, but rural areas had no warning system, she said.
Support for the suggestion can be registered at the Kurow Museum and Information Centre.
An early warning system was needed because fire sirens only alerted people in the towns and areas of the valley did not hear them.
The system would also have to involve Meridian Energy, which owned and operated the dams.
Waitaki District Council emergency services manager Chris Raine, who was at the meeting, warned an alert system from the Waitaki dam to the sea would be expensive, but did not rule it out.
There were other less expensive options, such as some form of mobile phone text alert system.
The next step, he said, was to meet the Kurow community as part of preparing a community response plan.
If an alert system was part of that, it would have to be put to the council to consider as part of its long-term community plan, up for review next financial year.
