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Ashburton Zone Committee meeting

Monday 23 April 2012, 1:19PM

By Environment Canterbury

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ASHBURTON

The Ashburton Zone Committee will meet at the Ashburton Council Chambers on 24 April for its monthly meeting.

The zone committee will begin the meeting with an update from the Regional Committee. The Regional Committee released its draft Regional Implementation Programme (RIP) for public feedback in March and April. A series of public meetings were held around Canterbury to gather feedback and talk with locals.

The draft RIP indentifies four priority issues which need to be addressed at a regional level to meet the multiple targets in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

The priority issues are:

  • Kaitiakitanga
  • Ecosystem health and biodiversity
  • Land use and water quality
  • Regional infrastructure

 

Next the committee will receive a presentation on the Water Use Report. The Canterbury Water Use Report (2010/11) is a new report which highlights the need for consent holders to install water measuring systems and to ensure they are working properly.

Water consent holders with takes of 20l/s or more have until November to install water metering devices to meet new government regulations. Consent holders with smaller takes have slightly longer. Installing water meters will ensure Environment Canterbury has greater amounts of information on water use and provide efficiency gains for water-users.

Within the Water Use Report there is an update for each of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy zones on the progress towards installing water measuring devices during the 2010/11 year. Around 43% of groundwater wells in the Ashburton zone have metering devices installed, and only 17% of surface water.

Tuesday’s meeting will conclude with the committee receiving updates on the Ashburton River Plan and a report on the Managed Aquifer recharge trial in the Hinds catchment.

Since forming, the Ashburton Zone Committee has had briefings from technical experts, a number of field trips around the district and meetings with a wide range of stakeholders to gauge the range of views on water management issues.

The main focus for the committee has been on developing a programme of recommendations for water management in the zone. The committee finalised its Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) in late 2011 following extensive stakeholder and community engagement.

The ZIP recommends actions, responsibilities and time-frames for activities to help achieve the principles, targets and goals set out in the CWMS. Some of the recommendations will be given effect through a sub-regional plan for the Hakatere/Ashburton River – to be developed by Environment Canterbury – which will sit within the Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan.

The Ashburton Zone Committee is a joint committee of the Ashburton District Council and Environment Canterbury. The Ashburton zone extends from the Rakaia River to the Rangitata River and includes Ashburton, Rakaia and Methven.

Meeting information

Ashburton Zone Committee meeting
2:00pm, Tuesday 24 April 2012
Council Chambers, 5 Baring Square West, Ashburton

Read the agenda (pdf 222 kB)