Farewell to departing chief executive and architect of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy

Environment Canterbury commissioners, Friday, farewelled departing chief executive Dr Bryan Jenkins, who is taking up a two-year fellowship at the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, a partnership between the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University.

At the council meeting, Chair of commissioners Dame Margaret Bazley listed Dr Jenkins’ achievements during his seven-and-a-half-year tenure, noting the collaborative approach he had instigated across much of the council’s resource management work.

She noted the way he had worked with commissioners in recent months, his loyalty and support. “We admired your passion and your integrity, the way you approached your work and your sense of humour. We wish you well and look forward to working with you in future,” she said.

Former chairman and Cr at Environment Canterbury Alec Neill also spoke. He paid particular attention to the contribution of Dr Jenkins’ wife Janet to the work of the council and supporting her husband through his long hours of work. He noted that Dr Jenkins had worked hard to ensure the parties to the Urban Development Strategy stayed on track and strived to keep everyone working collaboratively. “The Canterbury Water Management Strategy has your fingerprints all over it however you have allowed others to take the credit for what is your strategy. You drove that process and you continue to drive it.”

Cr Neill also noted Dr Jenkins famed ability to be in Kurow in the morning and Kaikoura at night. “You were all over the region in the space of one day,” he said, creating more robust and meaningful stakeholder relationships. Alec Neill also paid tribute to Dr Jenkins’ many meetings and liaison with Ngāi Tahu.

Peter Te Rangihiroa Ramsden, tangata whenua facilitator for the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, and Bob Tai, Environment Canterbury’s iwi liaison manager presented Dr Jenkins with a toki, a ceremonial pounamu axe. Named “Kaiwhakaora,” meaning “The Healer,” it was symbolic of the work Dr Jenkins had done for Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere and for the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

In response, Dr Jenkins noted the challenges he faced during turbulent times and the need for flexibility when leading a council organisation. “The collaborative path is not always easy but people in Canterbury are willing to sit down and work collaboratively. That willingness needs to be nurtured.

“This organisation is very fortunate in having competent and dedicated staff,” he said. New Zealand was leading the world in looking at systems of collaborative governance, he said, and he felt there was unfinished business still to do.

He noted the “spectacular failure” of the market-driven, water-trading systems of Australia’s Murray-Darling basin with economists now calling for community-led solutions. He thanked his directorate team for their support and hard work for the past two “turbulent” years and also thanked his wife Janet for her support, noting the impacts inflicted upon family life by jobs like his.

Dr Jenkins was farewelled at a second event by a large group of stakeholders and associates at Environment Canterbury later in the day.