The beautiful Fraser River flows quietly through Earnscleugh unseen by most. It’s been good to those who’ve earnt a living from its waters over the decades, although not always without detriment to its own health.

The Earnscleugh Irrigation Company(EIC) secured solutions to those water challenges twenty years ago and have since “fixed” the river, Company manager Tony Lepper says.

He’s pleased the days when it would run dry six out of every seven scorching Central summers, are long gone.

Now the company want the public to enjoy the Fraser’s ambient charms by creating attractive walkways and fishing spots planted with thousands of native plants.

The bulk of work and ongoing maintenance would be provided by EIC but paying for the plants was the tricky bit.

He reckons over 100,000 might be needed and that was beyond what the company could fund. “We are a co-operative, we take money from our shareholders to run the irrigation company. We haven’t got money for this.”

The river banks are overseen by the Department of Conservation as ‘marginal strip’ and DOC had already agreed to the company’s restoration plans. Fish and Game NZ and iwi were also in support of the scheme, as were the Haehaeata Natural Heritage Trust who were keen to supply the plants.

“We’ve done a plan, we’re all ready to go but we haven’t got the resources to buy all the trees,” Tony says. “We can look after them and make the tracks and it’s a real easy strip of land to do. I live out here so I see how beautiful it is everyday now, but I think bugger it, it could be better than this.” Funding requests had so far been knocked back…Otago Regional Council, Central Otago District Council and the Ministry for Primary Industries among those unable to oblige.

The company now hope people from the wider community might become involved to assist and possibly help find the right fit for a funding source so work could begin.

Because the Fraser River links onto public roads, access to the proposed walkway is not seen as an issue, Earnscleugh Irrigation Company manager Tony Lepper says.

He says the entrance to the walkway could start at a bridge on Earnscleugh Road between McPherson and Blackman Roads.

The first stage may require public access at its end point through a new apple orchard on what was formerly part of Earnscleugh Station, but further work could link the track through to Laing Road. Downstream, maybe one day, says Tony, walkers could stroll on under the willows right down to the Clutha River.

The gentle Fraser River today provides good fly-fishing for brown and rainbow trout, Tony says, It is easily waded and the area could become a family-friendly asset accessible to everyone, within a short drive of Clyde or Alexandra.

It runs at full capacity all year round and has done for 20 years since the company installed pipes to draw water from Lake Dunstan. The lower reaches carry this water to the highly productive stone and pip fruit orchards and farms.

Prior to that connection which helped the businesses secure a cheap, long-term supply, both frost fighting sprinklers and summer irrigation all came out of the natural river.

When the river ran dry, the fish died and Tony recalls those times as being “pretty ugly” and something that probably shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.

As he told the Central Otago District Council in October, he believes the project is a way of giving back to the river and an investment in a positive future.

“We are made up of 130 shareholders, we all own land here and most of us back onto the river. We owe a debt to the river for our businesses that we generate out of the water.”