Last night, Meridian Energy hosted, with the Rotary Club of Waimate and Waimate District Council, a function in Waimate to present the latest details on the north bank tunnel concept scheme.
The scheme, estimated to cost more than $1 billion, would use tunnels and a canal between the Waitaki dam and Stonewall in the Waimate district to deliver water to two power stations which will generate between 1100GWh and 1400GWh of electricity a year.
The function was attended by senior management from Meridian, including chief executive Tim Lusk and renewable development general manager Ken Smales.
It was unlikely land use consent applications would be ready for lodging until later next year, Meridian's water infrastructure development manager, Nick Eldred, said.
Once those were lodged, it was not known how long it would take to process them but it would not be any earlier than late 2012 to get them secured, he said.
In September, Meridian announced it had changed the design of the scheme after further investigations.
Initial technical investigations revealed some challenges with the rock along the north bank that prompted reconsideration of the original concept of building a full tunnel scheme.
Instead of one 34km-long tunnel up to 12m wide, it now proposed a 12km tunnel from the Waitaki dam, then a 13km canal hugging the foothills north of State Highway 82, re-entering an end tunnel before discharging the water back into the river.
Since August, there had been consultation and discussion with landowners, and Meridian would be providing information about the scheme to the community at Strawberry Fare in Waimate next month.
Mr Eldred described the 12m-diameter tunnel as "ginormous" - "it's a six-storey building" - but similar-sized tunnels were being bored around the world.
Asked whether the canal would be able to be used for fishing, rowing or recreational activities, Mr Eldred said Meridian could not make any promises but it was up for any ideas.
Asked about the timing of flushing flows, he said the timing had been carefully worked through with Fish and Game, and salmon spawning seasons or grounds would not be affected.
He expected about 400 people could be employed during the peak of construction.
Waimate Mayor John Coles said the council had been working very hard on encouraging Meridian to work from Waimate for the project.
He hoped the project went ahead, saying it definitely had benefits for the community.
Mr Lusk, who spoke briefly, said Meridian must respect and "absolutely work with" communities' "bottom line".
