Four new community members have been appointed to an Environment Canterbury community committee which manages water in the Waimate and lower Waitaki River areas.
Hakataramea farmers Andrew Hayes and Mark Giles, Papakaio farmer and angler Mark Kingsbury and Glenavy and Otaio farming business owner Bruce Murphy will join existing members Robin Murphy (chairman), Brent Packman, Elizabeth Rollinson, and Kate White on the Lower Waitaki-South Coastal Canterbury Zone.
The committee is one of 10 water management committees set up in 2010 and 2011 as part of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) to develop community-led recommendations to provide sustainable benefits from our water resource.
It is a joint committee of Environment Canterbury and the Waimate and Waitaki District Councils.
The strategy's programme manager Christina Robb said the selection process focused on finding people who could see others' points of views and work together to find solutions for water issues.
During the past two years, the committee had focused on water quality and made recommendations for both the South Canterbury coastal area and for the Waitaki catchment.
The focus over the next few years would be restoring Wainono Lagoon, maintaining the high water quality in the Waitaki River, realising the gains from consented irrigation schemes and working with farmers on the actions needed to meet the water quality limits.
