Media advisory

27 February 2015

Waimakariri Zone Committee focuses on local biodiversity and sub-regional planning

The Waimakariri Zone Committee will meet in Rangiora on Monday (2 March) for its regular monthly meeting to address local water management issues.

The zone committee will begin the meeting by giving members of the public the opportunity to contribute, should they wish, before going on to receive updates from its working groups and the progress being made to address water management priorities in the zone.

Next, the committee will receive an update on the science workshop held earlier in February on the science that supports sub-regional planning, and how other zones have approached this process.

Following this, the committee will consider a local biodiversity project for Immediate Steps funding to restore and enhance a wetland at Pines Beach. The Immediate Steps programme supports projects that protect and restore freshwater biodiversity values in Canterbury. There is still plenty of funding to be allocated so if you have a project that could benefit from Immediate Steps funding visitwww.ecan.govt.nz/biodiversity for further information and an application form.

The committee will then be briefed by Dairy NZ on sustainable dairying, local research, and environmental work being planned for the zone.

The committee will finish the meeting with three workshops, with the first focusing on water quality modelling. The Waimakariri Zone Water Quality Modelling Project focuses on the potential changes in Nitrate-Nitrogen concentrations in ground water.

The second workshop will focus on reviewing the zone’s water management outcomes for the next five years to help deliver the priorities outlined in the committee’s water management implementation programme.

The final workshop will focus on how the committee can engage with the community this year as it begins to build towards sub-regional planning processes which will begin in mid-2016.

The Waimakariri Zone Committee, formed in September 2010, operates as a joint committee of Environment Canterbury, and the Waimakariri District Council. It features five community members as well as two Rūnanga representatives and two from councils.

The zone includes the Ashley River catchment and shares the Waimakariri catchment below the gorge with the Selwyn-Waihora and Christchurch-West Melton zones. It includes Kaiapoi, Rangiora and Oxford.

Meeting Details

Waimakariri Zone Committee meeting

Date: 3.30, Monday, 2 March, 2015

Venue: Waimakariri District Council Chambers, Rangiora

For more information or an agenda visit www.ecan.govt.nz/canterburywater .

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