23 July 2014

Have your say on local water quality

The Upper Waitaki Zone Committee is inviting community members to attend one of two workshops in Tekapo and Omarama to discuss the future of water management in the zone.

The workshop is the first of a series and it will focus on the different land use development scenarios in the Upper Waitaki.

Zone Committee Chair Barry Shepherd said the committee is keen to get local help to set water quality limits to deliver the goals of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

“The underlying philosophy of the CWMS is that local communities should be making decisions on local water management.

“The community has told us it wants to protect our water quality and there are regional and national requirements to meet and nutrient levels to set to achieve this.

“It is critical that we get this right to protect our lakes and rivers while at the same time providing for economic growth from our land and water, so please come along and share your thoughts,” he said.

These first workshops will assess the current state of the Upper Waitaki and how that might change when all granted consents are implemented. It will include a technical presentation followed by a session for the community to give feedback on what they have heard.

Subsequent workshops will focus on future development scenarios. The committee is testing various scenarios to help it explore the consequences of land-use changes and develop water management solutions to deliver the community’s aspirations for water. These will include catchment-specific water quality limits.

The scenarios were refined after the last public workshop (held late last year), to ensure they are realistic, and any assumptions made ring true with the community.

For more information on sub-regional planning in the Waitaki visit: www.ecan.govt.nz/waitaki

Workshop details

Tekapo Community Centre
Wednesday 30 July, 4pm - 8pm
(Light dinner included)

Omarama Community Centre
Thursday 31 July, 4pm – 8pm
(Light dinner included)

ENDS

© Scoop Media