Yesterday was the last day to enter the debate on Environment Canterbury’s proposed changes to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan.
Former Environment Court judge Peter Skelton said the proposed plan change 5 would introduce a method of controlling the loss of nutrients to ground water, and therefore dealt with water quality issues arising from farming and urban activities.
"The public interest in it is improving water quality, fresh water quality, which is an issue up and down the country."
There were two parts to plan change five; part A that focuses on the Canterbury region and Waitaki; and part B which applies to the Waitaki catchment except for the southern streams between the Waitaki River and Pareora River in South Canterbury.
Part A includes new region-wide nutrient management rules that address issues associated with the nutrient modelling tool Overseer, a computer programme for producing a nutrient budget that shows where different elements are in farm soil.
It will also require people farming more than 10ha in Canterbury to introduce agreed practices, and farming activities requiring resource consent will have to meet good management practice loss rates over time.
Part B will enforce water quality outcomes and limits for water bodies, and proposes a nutrient regime for achieving them and managing the effects of land use and discharges from activities such as aquaculture on water quality in the Waitaki.
The plan will also dictate minimum flows for Whitneys Creek, a small stream north of the Waitaki River, and amend specific sections of the partially operative Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan.
Hearings on submissions will be held on August 22 in Christchurch, in Oamaru on September 6, and in Omarama on October 4.
