MEDIA ADVISORY
20 May 2013

Banks Peninsula Zone Committee Focuses on Wairewa / Lake Forsyth
The Canterbury Water Banks Peninsula Zone Committee will meet for its regular monthly public meeting on Tuesday, 21 May, in Little River

The committee will begin the meeting by offering members of the public a chance to contribute to the meeting, should they wish.

Following this, the committee will receive an update from the Regional Committee, which considers regional issues of environmental restoration and repair; land use impacts on water quality; as well as water storage, distribution and efficiency options.

The committee will then turn its attention to sub-regional planning processes for the Wairewa / Lake Forsyth catchment – a major focus for the year. In particular, the committee is focussed on developing outcomes for water quantity and water quality limits for the catchment.

The Zone Committee established a Working Party in February 2012 to work with Environment Canterbury to develop a detailed plan for the Wairewa / Lake Forsyth catchment to feed in to its proposed Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP).

Environment Canterbury’s LWRP is one of a number of key mechanisms that will deliver the goals of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) – to deliver long-term social, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits from the water resource.

The LWRP will start with default limits for water use, water allocation, and nutrients, and then put the limits in a catchment context. The Working Party has been looking at building its understanding of the impacts of limits, identifying indicators of success, and developing a plan for involving the community in the limit setting process.

The committee will finish the meeting with an update on wetlands in the zone. The Banks Peninsula Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) for water management recommends two priority wetlands should be selected for protection and regeneration.

At the meeting, the committee will receive a report on the 12 wetlands in the zone, and consider the processes and actions required to enhance the state of the selected wetlands.

The Banks Peninsula ZIP was endorsed by both Christchurch City and Environment Canterbury councils last month as the basis for the design of council work programmes for freshwater. Its recommendations were developed collaboratively with the community to enable present and future generations the greatest environmental, cultural, social and economic benefits from the region’s water.

The Banks Peninsula Zone Committee typically meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Zone Committee meetings are open to the public.

Meeting details
Banks Peninsula Zone Committee meeting
4pm, Tuesday, 21 May.
In Little River Rugby Clubrooms, Main Road, Little River
Link to agenda: http://ecan.govt.nz/publications/Council/bp-meeting-210513.pdf

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