Stockwater Exit: Large section of Pudding Hill race network to close

A large section of the Pudding Hill stockwater race network will close next year, as part of Council ending its stockwater delivery service.

While water from the intake on Pudding Hill Stream will still flow into Mt Harding Creek, no water will make it into the local race network once Scarness gate and Drayton’s gate are permanently closed.

The Pudding Hill race network is about 220km, including a 6.8km section of Mt Harding Creek, and has served 181 properties.

Deputy Mayor Richard Wilson said it was a significant decision by Councillors this week to agree to the closing of a race network that had been fed from Pudding Hill Stream since 1881.

“But the reality now is that few properties want or need the race, but all of them must pay for its upkeep. Closing the Pudding Hill race network is the first of some big decisions that Council will make about the future of 17 intakes across its entire stockwater race network in the coming 18 months.”

Investigations into the potential closure of the Pudding Hill intake started in 2022, well before the 2024 Council decision to exit the entire stockwater activity. That early work was absorbed into a Stockwater Exit Transition Plan.

A survey in 2023 showed strong support for closing the network, with 70% of the paying users supporting closure and only 48 properties indicating they would require an alternative source of stockwater if the network was closed.

Cr Wilson said Pudding Hill was a complex intake because of its interaction with Mt Harding Creek, which had operated as a main race to deliver water to the smaller races in the network.

“As part of the decision by Council this week, officers will now talk with Environment Canterbury about the possibility of using water from the intake to augment the flow in Mt Harding Creek. This environmental augmentation work will not be done by Council, but we are happy to facilitate this discussion by all those who want water to stay in the creek for ecological and aesthetic reasons.

“We thank all those property owners who are genuinely engaging with Council over the future of stockwater intakes. Doing nothing is not an option and the decision this week signals we are getting on with the work.”

Council will cease rating for stockwater on the section of the Pudding Hill network being closed from 30 June next year, with the operation of the network finishing on 30 September when the two side gates are shut off. The Pudding Hill intake will continue to operate as normal in the meantime, with flows continuing into the Methven Auxiliary race network – the Methven Auxiliary intake flows will be reduced to compensate.

Council will now write to property owners on the race network to advise them of the closure. Those properties who still need stockwater will be encouraged to talk with Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation about accessing water.

Council and BCI have a signed agreement that the irrigation company is willing to work towards offering a service, with the cost of providing that service between landowners and BCI.