The Upper Waitaki Zone Committee, set up under the auspices of Environment Canterbury (ECan) with support from the Waitaki and Mackenzie District Councils, has appointed Lisa Anderson and Jay Graybill as part of a process to refresh its community membership.
Mrs Anderson, who works for Lincoln University, has strong ties with the upper Waitaki farming community.
Mr Graybill is chief executive of the Central South Island Fish and Game Council and has been involved in matters concerning the Waitaki catchment since the 1980s.
Each of Canterbury's 10 zone committees have four to seven community members, an ECan commissioner, councillors from the relevant district council and runanga representatives.
Programme manager for the Canterbury water management strategy Christina Robb said the selection process focused on finding people who could see others' points of view and work collaboratively to find solutions for water issues.
''We are pleased with the quality of the applicants and we're sure we have found a good balance of community representatives who are passionate about making a positive difference in local water management,'' Ms Robb said.
The zone committee process requires two community members to put their names forward each year to provide a fresh community perspective.
Over the past year the Upper Waitaki Zone Committee had focused on working with the community to develop water quality limits for the zone. These limits would be incorporated into a Waitaki-specific chapter in ECan's proposed land and water regional plan.
Work with the community was already under way and the committee hoped to be able to test the scenarios with the community later next year.
The other community members on the committee are Barry Shepherd, Matthew Bayliss, Ann Steven, and Simon Cameron. Bill Chisholm and Mike Neilsen left the committee as part of the refreshment process.
