McCaw’s Mt Harding Farm is cross-sectioned by stockwater races he hasn’t needed for over 10 years, but pays rates for as well as having to fence them off. The farm is home to Drayton’s gate, where water from the Pudding Hill intake meets water from the Methven Auxiliary intake from the Ashburton North Branch. Mt Harding Creek, winding its way from the foothills of Mt Hutt to the Methven township, has been used to connect the stockwater network. McCaw said the decision to partially close the Pudding Hill Intake network, and allow the water to flow down Mt Harding Creek, was a “pragmatic step”. McCaw said Mt Harding Creek is a natural waterway in the “highly modified environment” of the Canterbury plains.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 28, 2025 22:31 UTC