Orari-Opihi-Pareora Zone Committee meeting

The Orari-Opihi-Pareora Zone Committee will meet on Thursday, 13 October in Temuka.

Since forming, the committee has met six times and had numerous meetings, field trips and presentations to bring it up to speed on the water resource in the zone.

At its meeting this week the committee will receive an update from the Regional Committee and be updated on the projects which received Year 1 Immediate Steps biodiversity funding.

The committee will also be updated on the progress of its three working groups on water quality, biodiversity, and future water security.

The Orari-Opihi-Pareora Zone Committee is charged with developing a water management plan that will provide future generations with social and economic benefits from the region’s water resource.

This will be achieved by bringing together a set of water management recommendations in the form of a Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP). The zone committee is holding public meetings in October to get feedback from community members on priorities for water management in the zone. These priorities will form the foundation of the draft ZIP.

The committee hopes to make its draft ZIP available to the community for feedback in early 2012. It will recommend actions, responsibilities and time-frames to help achieve the principles, targets and goals set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

At its previous meeting the committee was briefed on the Opuha Dam scheme, the Regional Water Distribution & Efficiency Project and land management and water quality, and environmental flow planning in the Orari-Opihi-Pareora zone.

The Orari-Opihi-Pareora Zone Committee operates as a joint committee of Environment Canterbury and the Timaru and Mackenzie District Councils. The zone extends south from the Rangitata River (shared boundary with Ashburton Zone) through to the Pareora catchment. It includes all of the Timaru district and parts of the Mackenzie and Waimate districts.

Meeting information

Orari-Opihi-Pareora Zone Committee meeting
4pm, Thursday 13 October 2011 at Fish and Game Council Boardroom, 32 Richard Pearse Drive, Temuka.

Read the agenda (187 kB)