A final but flexible plan for water management in the lower Waitaki River and Waimate district has been made public by the community committee which prepared it.
The Lower Waitaki-south coastal Canterbury zone implementation programme (ZIP) has been prepared by the Lower Waitaki zone committee, one of 10 committees throughout Canterbury set up under the Canterbury water management strategy.
Committee chairman Robin Murphy said consensus decisions had been reached which best served the diverse needs of the community.
"The Lower Waitaki zone committee has worked with stakeholders and community members to develop recommendations for water management that are acceptable to a wide range of interests," Mr Murphy said.
"The underlying philosophy of the water management strategy is that local communities should be making decisions on local water management and the zone plan provides a great chance to reflect the needs of local people."
The document includes about 50 recommendations on how best to ensure future generations are provided with the greatest environmental, cultural, social and economic benefits from the region's water.
The six priority areas focused on were water quality and nutrient management, reliability of supply, the Waitaki catchment water allocation regional plan, Wainono lagoon and catchment, Hakataramea catchment needs and biodiversity protection.
There had been a "strong call for improvement in water quality to protect streams and their ecosystems", with catchment groups being a popular way of addressing many of the concerns.
The issues of gravel extraction and stormwater, stock water, drainage and flood management were identified during the engagement and feedback process on the plan, and will be addressed in the 2012 work programme.
The final plan is on the Environment Canterbury website.
