Water and land management – good progress in Waitaki

Addressing Waitaki District Council today, Environment Canterbury Commissioner Peter Skelton outlined the good progress being made towards delivery of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) via regional and local implementation programmes.

The draft Regional Implementation Programme (RIP) is now out for public review.

The draft Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP), a key delivery mechanism for the CWMS, will soon be going out for public consultation as well.

Professor Skelton thanked the local community and tangata whenua for their efforts to date and emphasised the need for collaborative action, particularly on the challenging issues around water quality.

The zone implementation programme (ZIP) for Lower Waitaki – South Coastal Canterbury has been accepted by the Waitaki and Waimate district councils and endorsed by Environment Canterbury to form the basis for the design and realignment of council work and planning programmes for fresh water.

The Upper Waitaki draft ZIP has recently completed the community and stakeholder submission phase and will be presented to the Waitaki and Mackenzie district councils by the end of May.

Final ZIPs will be taken into account in preparing future RIPs.

Both ZIPs cover a wide range of important issues including biodiversity and environmental protection, water and nutrient management, irrigation and economic contribution.

Professor Skelton acknowledged the differences between the two zones as well as the similarities, and the need to balance environmental and economic outcomes.

“A good example is irrigation,” he said. “The potential for increased productivity and economic growth from more irrigation always needs to be balanced against the long-term gains from environmental and biodiversity protection.

“I’m confident we are well placed to meet the major challenges of the future using the collaborative approach to water and land management that’s already proven highly effective in this area and throughout Canterbury,” Peter Skelton concluded.