Lowland Streams

June 2008 Update

At the 2008 annual general meeting of the Dunsandel Water User Group, the community asked for a commitment by Environment Canterbury to establish ‘Cluster Groups’ of water consent holders.

In the week beginning May 12, meetings were held between Environment Canterbury and these Cluster Groups. These meetings were held in five geographic areas, based on hydrological factors and similarities in water use issues.

The Cluster Groups are to:

• Empower the community to assist in achieving objectives of the Programme
• Exchange ideas and information between the Groups and ECan
• Actively work with ECan to bring about cost-effective metering and provide input into future water management within the zone
• Find answers to “like” problems within cluster
• Progress adaptive management and self-audited management

At each of the five meetings a group of consent holders volunteered to be ‘leaders’ within the Cluster Group.
The next round of Cluster Group meetings will address how consent holders’ individual allocation of water was arrived at and the conditions placed on water metering.
Consent holders will be informed in writing of the dates and venues. For more information contact Phil McGuigan, manager Resource Care: 03 372 7070, or Phil.mcGuigan@ecan.govt.nz.

Lifeline for Lowland Streams

On 21 July 2006, Environment Canterbury announced its Restorative Programme for Lowland Streams Policy. The principle purpose of the restorative programme is to return water to dry streams and to ensure environmental flows that will preserve the intrinsic values of lowland aquatic ecosystems.

A series of dry winters has reduced the flows in lowland streams fed from groundwater, and the extensive abstraction of groundwater in “red zones,” like the Rakaia-Selwyn groundwater allocation zone, lowers them still further.

Environment Canterbury is reviewing almost 600 consents in the Rakaia-Selwyn groundwater zone to reduce the effects of abstraction on the area’s lowland streams. Although this means that the conditions applied to permits to take water may be more restrictive, it will also mean long-term security of supply for existing consent-holders.

Background

Rakaia-Selwyn consent holders have been kept informed of developments in this programme through letters and there continue to be a number of opportunities to attend public meetings.

The programme aims to achieve a consistent set of conditions for all water resource consents so that all consents have:

• clear annual limits on the amount of water each consent holder can abstract;
• flowmeters and data loggers to record the amount of water being abstracted for water takes over 357,000 cubic metres/year, and to communicate that information to ECan via telemetry;
• restrictions on abstractions from shallow wells that have a direct effect on streamflows to minimise the effects on the streams (to come into affect around September 2010). 
  

ECan will be working with the community in developing a mechanism for varying the amount of water that can be abstracted according to how much water is in the groundwater system (referred to by some as “adaptive management”). It is anticipated that this management tool will be ready by September 2010.

An advisory group was appointed in August 2006, made up of twelve people with varying interests in the water resource. The group provided input on the implementation of the programme and assisted in communicating with stakeholder groups and the wider community.

A consents review team of six staff, with technical support from an external contractor, has been set up and has been working on developing water metering conditions, annual allocation limits and, where appropriate, minimum flow conditions.
 
Since 2007, we have been sending out review notices according to the dates specified on individual consents. The last set of review notices was sent out in June 2008.

After the review letter has been sent out, the review process is similar to a resource consent application. Environment Canterbury officers will make a recommendation to independent commissioners for each set of proposed conditions. It is anticipated that all consent reviews will be decided on a non-notified basis, but there will be an opportunity for consent-holders to present evidence to the commissioners if they wish.