A quarter of our annual rainfall in 36 hours
Brent Fisher is a third-generation farmer based outside of Christchurch at Motukarara (1,000-acre hill block rising to 350m) and Greenpark (1,275 acres 2m above sea level). He farms with his wife Anna and children and operates the Silverstream Charolais and Hereford stud.
In our part of the world, we recently had a significant rainfall event which presented some challenges. Fortunately, in our case we were well warned and prepared but there is always going to be a clean-up after and some cost. The headlines scream climate change of course but they forget that 57 years ago in April we had the Wahine storm which by all accounts was far worse than this year.
The spring water from the Lincoln township makes its way into the L2 stream which makes its way out to Lake Ellesmere.
My grandparents settled on a block of land along this stream in the 1930s and called it Silverstream.
My grandfather was instrumental in lobbying the council to have this stream dredged because in his words, “You only had to go outside to have a piss, and you would cause a flood.”
I was brought up on this property and can well remember the dragline coming through to clear the silt which would inevitably build up. In recent years the stream has been maintained with a weed cutter which certainly does a great job but over time the silt naturally will build up and reduce the capacity to handle large volumes of water.
My parents lived alongside this stream until 2007 when they sold and shifted to Lincoln. At that time the population was a little over 3,000 and is now in excess of 12,000 plus a massive subdivision taking place on an ex dairy farm with another 2,100 sections going in.
Even before my father shifted to Lincoln, he would often say the growth of Lincoln would see the L2 stream come up noticeably higher and quicker in a major rainfall event than it previously had. Where rainfall once fell on farmland it would slow any runoff. The many new roads and roofs and compacted new sections tend to not slow rain down at all. Instead, the rain hits these surfaces and then makes its way into the stormwater systems at speed. A Selwyn councillor pointed out that with Lincoln’s continued growth, the flooding of properties along the L2 is going to be the new normal. But Environment Canterbury general manager of hazards said there was no evidence to suggest that the increase in subdivisions was speeding up the flooding. When they hand out degrees to these people there is clearly no requirement to think logically.
“A Selwyn councillor pointed out that with Lincoln’s continued growth, the flooding of properties along the L2 is going to be the new normal.” – BRENT FISHER, MOTUKARARA, CHRISTCHURCH
In the lifetime of my fit and able 80-year-old mother, the world’s population has gone from 2.5 billion in 1944 to in excess of 8 billion today. We have an obsession with climate change. Unless we are prepared as a race for a mass cull of humans, we must inevitably concentrate our efforts into mitigation.
We will never make one scrap of difference with methane inhibitors, and we should not waste our time and money with the leeches who purport to think they can make a difference through outfits like ‘AgriZero’. Instead, we need to make sure we have genuine leadership that thinks practically and looks at ways we can mitigate the issues that increased population will no doubt continue to create.
