Another draft water management plan is out for the lower Waitaki River - should we care? David Bruce says we should.
The lower Waitaki River downstream of the Waitaki dam has become one of the most studied and argued-over rivers in New Zealand - and now it has come under scrutiny again.
An Environment Canterbury committee has released a draft programme that looks at the future management of water resources in the lower river and the Waimate district - the latest in a series of plans and proposals that date back to the 1970s, and probably even further back to the first hydro power schemes on the Waitaki River.
The draft has been prepared by the Lower Waitaki South Coastal zone committee, one of 10 zone committees set up by Environment Canterbury (ECan) throughout Canterbury under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
Each committee is responsible for a collaborative approach involving its members, who represent a wide range of groups and communities in their zone, and the communities themselves, to develop a zone implementation programme.
The flexible 10-year programme, reviewed regularly, brings together actions and tactics to cover issues facing streams, rivers and catchments in each zone, ranging from specific programmes to proposals to address wider issues such as improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity, the reliability of the water supply for a wide range of uses and the efficient use of water.
A draft at this stage, it has been released for public comment, with submissions closing on November 25.
Once submissions have been received and considered, the committee is expected to approve the final programme in December for submission for approval to ECan and the Waitaki and Waimate District Councils early next year.
In terms of the lower Waitaki River, the committee has had plenty of research to draw on, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s when the then Ministry of Works investigated a power scheme on the lower river.
That research stepped up in April 2001, when Meridian Energy Ltd announced plans for its $1 billion Project Aqua power scheme - a 60km-long canal with six power stations on the south side of the river between Kurow and just above the State Highway 1 bridge at Glenavy.
To support applications for resource consents, Meridian carried out extensive research into the lower river, ranging from its flows through to the the scheme's potential effects on the environment.
Meridian cancelled that scheme in March 2004, after the government appointed a special board to prepare a water allocation plan for the whole catchment.
More research followed for the board, then Meridian proposed an alternative, tunnel-concept, power scheme for the north bank between the Waitaki dam and Stonewall. This scheme is still under consideration.
At the same time, the Meridian Energy Ltd-South Canterbury Irrigation Trust Hunter Downs irrigation scheme for the Waimate district was proposed, prompting more research into water resources and the effects of irrigation in the Waimate district.
The draft zone implementation programme has taken all that a step further with a plan that has involved extensive consultation with communities, stakeholders and Ngai Tahu.
The main features of the programme are:-
• Improving water quality, particularly that of lowland streams.
• Improving and enhancing local biodiversity. Securing a reliability of water supply from the Waitaki River and protecting its cultural significance to Ngai Tahu.
• Restoring and enhancing the Wainono lagoon and tributaries from the hills to the sea.
• Supporting the Hakataramea catchment community in its efforts on water quality and quantity.
The programme sets out key principles, outcomes and recommendations to achieve the desired results for the zone. One example is the Wainono Lagoon - a shallow lagoon on the coast of Waimate, particularly significant to Ngai Tahu and recognised as nationally significant - and its catchment.
The aim is to improve water quality and the general health of the lagoon by a catchment-based approach. Already, it has received special funding for Wainono.
Some specific actions include:
• Supporting and implementing a Wainono restoration programme (pest plant and animal eradication, water quality and flows, wetland establishment, enhancing mahinga kai, recreation, nutrient limits, native planting and increasing the lagoon's protection buffer).
• Supporting the Friends of Wainono programme.
• Improving information.
• Restoration projects.
• Further investigations into water quality and the health of the aquatic ecosystem.
Another example of specific projects is in the Hakataramea catchment, ranging from establishing a catchment management group through to having more weather stations, gaining a better understanding of the water quality, setting nutrient limits and improving the flow of the river.
The overall programme is "a living document". While a 10-year programme with recommendations principally for the next three years, it will be reviewed and updated as required or if situations change.
But the first step is to find out what people in the zone think of the draft - and they should be interested.
The draft plan
What is it: A draft zone implementation programme for the lower Waitaki River and Waimate district.
In plain language: A water management plan prepared by the Lower Waitaki - South Coastal Zone Committee.
What area: The Lower Waitaki River and catchment downstream of the Waitaki dam, all of the Waimate district.
What it does: Identifies five key priority areas.
Who prepared it: A committee established by Environment Canterbury, Waitaki and Waimate district councils under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
Who is the committee: Representatives from the community, stakeholder groups, Environment Canterbury and Waitaki and Waimate district councils.
What happens now: Public comment on the draft programme closes on November 25.
