Water availability community meetings
< Water availability
community meetings in Canterbury The availability of water
- pumped from wells, rivers and streams - and a climate
forecast for the summer will be discussed at a series of
community meetings hosted by Environment Canterbury,
beginning Tuesday, November 6. Five community water
meetings will be held in Central and Mid Canterbury and for
the first time, in South Canterbury, reflecting the growing
demand for groundwater region-wide, said ECan acting
director investigations and monitoring Ken Taylor. All
meetings are open to the public with time for questions.
ECan groundwater and surface water scientists, consents and
other ECan staff will present the most up-to-date
information on the water resource as it affects consent
holders and the environment. As in previous years, the
annual “State of the Canterbury Region Water Resource
October 2007” is the key document, but other issues to be
addressed include a summary of the recently-released dairy
shed effluent compliance report. The Dunsandel and Chertsey
meetings will also hear an update of ECan’s collaborative
Living Streams programme. Meetings are scheduled
for: 7 pm - 9 pm Thursday,
November 8 1.30 pm -
3.45 pm Thursday, November 15 The report, “State
of the Canterbury Region Water Resource October 2007”,
will be available from Tuesday, November 6, on ECan’s
website www.ecan.govt.nz
Tuesday November 6
1.30 pm to 3.45
pm
Dunsandel Community Hall, Hororata Rd,
Dunsandel
Chaired by ECan Rakaia councillor Angus
McKay
(specific to Rakaia-Selwyn and Selwyn-Waimakariri
groundwater zones)
West Melton Community
Centre, State Highway 73, West Melton
Chaired by ECan
Selwyn Banks Peninsula councillor Eugenie Sage
(specific
to Christchurch-West Melton groundwater zone)
9.30 am - 11.30 am
Hinds Community Centre,
Rogers St, Hinds
Chaired by Cr Angus McKay
(specific
to Mayfield-Hinds and Valetta groundwater zones)
Chertsey Community Centre, Chertsey Line Rd,
Chertsey
Chaired by Cr Angus McKay
(specific to
Chertsey, Ashburton River, and Ashburton-Lyndhurst
groundwater zones)
1.30 pm - 3.30
pm
Greyway Lounge, Timaru Racecourse, Racecource Road,
Washdyke
Chaired by ECan South Canterbury councillor Mark
Oldfield
(specific to Pareora, Otaio, Makikihi and Hook
groundwater zones).
“These community meetings are an
important forum for talk between the water-using community
and ECan water resource managers and scientists,” said Ken
Taylor. “ECan needs to get some general messages out at
the start of the irrigation season and we also need to hear
back from the farming community what their concerns are and
ways we can work better together. We’ve had good feedback
from these meetings in the past.”
ends