Public Address | Cafe | Southerly: The End of Lake Ellesmere? https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/ en-us Copyright (c) 2026 Public Address David Haywood https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=5605#post5605 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=5605#post5605 It seems a reply to some of these comments is well overdue from me...

Firstly, thank you Felix and D M Robertson for your suggestions — very helpful!

Responding to some of the other contributions...

Clem Smith wrote:

Your friend who suggested that the lake should be drained was hardly…

]]> Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:36:22 +1300 Leila Claypoole https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=5602#post5602 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=5602#post5602 Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:59:53 +1300 Yamis https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4715#post4715 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4715#post4715 I heard they were draining Lake Ellesmere to turn it into a 400,000 seat stadium to be opened in time for the 2045 Rugby Leagunion World Cup.

Bottled water will be imported from Antarctica and be available at stadium temperature for 27 dollars a litre and cows will mow the…

]]> Fri, 15 Dec 2006 23:35:01 +1300 D M Robertson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4714#post4714 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4714#post4714 For some historical context see Waihora: Maori Associations with Lake Ellesmere. By W.A. Taylor. Leeston [N.Z.] : Ellesmere Guardian Print, [1944].

http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/Publications/Waihora/
recently digitised by Christchurch City Libraries

]]> Fri, 15 Dec 2006 21:16:25 +1300 Clem_Smith https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4636#post4636 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4636#post4636 David,

Your friend who suggested that the lake should be drained was hardly worthy of the breathless implication that he/she had said something original. Rather he was merely spouting the prevailing orthodoxy which has resulted in over ninety percent of our wetlands being lost. It is up to people like…

]]> Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:25:33 +1300 Felix Marwick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4634#post4634 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4634#post4634 David,
as one who has journalistically poked around the Canterbury water situation for several years (before moving on to other pastures) I wish you the best with your endeavours. The trade off that has, and is, occurring with the farming interests is fascinating to observe. Add an ever changing scientific…

]]> Thu, 14 Dec 2006 20:50:03 +1300 David Haywood https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4113#post4113 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=4113#post4113 Jason Lea wrote:

Now is the time for the reserve bank to step up and make sure our money is edible.

Excellent point Jason — I have often thought the same thing.

Wammo wrote:

Apparently Christchurch is one of a few cities in the world that does not need to…

]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:57:37 +1300 Jason Lea https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3993#post3993 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3993#post3993

they'll discover you can't eat money.

Now is the time for the reserve bank to step up and make sure our money is edible. They were short sighted with the recent change to our coins.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2006 11:00:37 +1300 Kiwiiano https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3600#post3600 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3600#post3600 The "let the lake bed be converted to dairying" reminds me of the (reputedly) Ameri-Indian saying:

When the last tree has been cut down,
when the last river is poisoned,
when the last fish is killed,
they'll discover you can't eat money.

]]> Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:35:11 +1300 Jackie Clark https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3577#post3577 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3577#post3577 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 07:54:05 +1300 Che Tibby https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3559#post3559 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3559#post3559 OK, at a different computer.

i saw that campbell live interview. that numnut insisting that the only reason NZL had a decent environment is because of farming made my jaw drop. my first thought being, other than the nitrate poisoning of the rotorua lakes you mean...

a similar farming-is-good-for-the-environment what-the-fcuk-do-you-townies-know…

]]> Sat, 02 Dec 2006 09:39:48 +1300 Rob Stowell https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3533#post3533 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3533#post3533 Thanks for the great read. It's particularly striking how green the lake looks from space...
Water is a huge looming crisis for Canterbury. (Tho' ironically, a filled in lake ellesmere would be some of the best, most suitable dairying in the province.) Ecan have simply not done their job with…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:10:01 +1300 Emma Hart https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3527#post3527 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3527#post3527 I've lived on the Plains since I was four, and regularly driven the road between Christchurch and Timaru several times a year.

There wasn't enough water there for SHEEP in the 80s. Dairy farming is just unsustainable. It's already affecting other businesses in the area, from tourist cafes that can't…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:27:07 +1300 Wammo https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3523#post3523 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3523#post3523

in 20 years time, all of the aquifers will be buggered and it will be all over. no lake, no cows, no water and no human ecosystem.

In a recent interview on Campbell Live about water in Canterbury the Federated Farmers president showed very little concern about long term issues…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:56:40 +1300 stephen walker https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3520#post3520 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3520#post3520 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:40:14 +1300 Paul Capewell https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3513#post3513 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3513#post3513 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:19:15 +1300 David Haywood https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3487#post3487 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3487#post3487 Russell Brown wrote:

Trust you didn't mind me opening a discussion on your post

No problem, Russell.

Incidentally, more information about general water issues in Canterbury can be found at the Water Rights Trust website.

And some interesting information on sustainable farming in New Zealand can be found in…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:10:50 +1300 Che Tibby https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3485#post3485 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3485#post3485 i'm a pig islander and therefore ignorant, but i have to break my recently imposed PA system-silence to register my disgust at the idea of more freaking cattle.

this is the same state of mind that puts wool-coated animals in the desert (and yes, i'm looking at you Australia...).

kyoto'll…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:02:54 +1300 Judi Lapsley Miller https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3484#post3484 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3484#post3484 Thanks for posting the link to the article – a fascinating read. I particularly liked how you intertwined the human interest story and the environmental story.

Also wondering if in the future, rising sea levels may cause sea water to wash into the lake rather than v-v...??

And will the…

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:00:44 +1300 Russell Brown https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3479#post3479 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3479#post3479 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:58:45 +1300 Public Address https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3478#post3478 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/southerly-the-end-of-lake-ellesmere/?p=3478#post3478 Discussion from blog post.

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:58:45 +1300