MEDIA RELEASE
1 March 2012

Time running out to have say on local water issues

People interested in having their say on the Orari-Opihi-Pareora (OOP) Zone Committee’s draft Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) have until Friday 9 March to provide feedback.

OOP Zone Committee Chair Dermott O’Sullivan said people need to act now to make sure their views are taken in to account.

The draft ZIP recommends actions, responsibilities and time-frames for activities to help achieve the principles, targets and goals set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) for the Orari-Opihi Pareora zone.

Once finalised, ZIPs form the basis for the design and realignment of council work and planning programmes for freshwater.

“The Orari-Opihi-Pareora draft ZIP has been developed following numerous committee meetings and extensive stakeholder and community engagement to gather information about the region’s water resource.

“The recommendations made in the draft programme of work are designed to enable present and future generations the greatest environmental, cultural, social and economic benefits from the region’s water.

“The underlying philosophy of the CWMS is that local communities should be making decisions on local water management and this is a great chance for local people to have their say.

“We want to hear what the community likes and doesn’t like about the recommendations and whether there are other things they think should be included,” he said.

In February four well-attended public meetings were held around the zone to give people a chance to talk with zone committee members and have their views heard.

Dermott O’Sullivan said the committee was pleased with the interest shown by the community in local water issues.

“We were very happy with the response we received at the meetings. Participants came from many different backgrounds and represented a wide range of interests ensuring we gathered a diverse range of feedback.

“The participants were very engaged and left the zone committee with plenty to discuss as we look to finalise our ZIP in the coming months,” he said.

Some of the common themes raised at the community meetings included water efficiency and on-farm storage, water quality and the importance of monitoring, as well as biodiversity values and the importance of flows in braided rivers.

Participants also discussed possible ways of managing some of the issues raised at the meetings. The zone committee will discuss the community feedback at its next meeting (open to the public) on 19 March.

Preliminary public meetings were also held across the zone in October last year to discuss water management priorities. The feedback from the meetings helped guide the committee’s draft ZIP for water management.

The OOP draft ZIP contains around 40 recommendations to Environment Canterbury, the Timaru and Mackenzie district councils, and other stakeholders.

It includes recommendations to reflect the committee’s overall priorities to:
• Support and facilitate catchment level initiatives, to protect and enhance water quality and biodiversity, on which so much else is dependent
• Optimise the use of the water resource we currently have, and secure additional reliable and economically viable water supplies to meet the needs of a water short-zone.
Community members have until 9 March to provide their feedback on the OOP draft ZIP.

This can be done by visiting www.ecan.govt/canterburywater . A limited number of draft ZIPs will also be available at the Environment Canterbury (Ellesmere Centre, 24 Edward Street, Lincoln) or the Timaru and Mackenzie district council offices.

ENDS

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