Ashburton Zone Committee focuses on local water quality and biodiversity issues

The Ashburton Zone Committee will meet for its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday 28 April to discuss local water management issues.

The committee will begin the meeting with an update on Carters Creek water quality issues, which the zone committee has identified as a priority. The committee will focus on how to progress a programme and on-the-ground actions to improve water quality.

Next, the committee will turn its attention to Immediate Steps biodiversity funding. The Immediate Steps programme aims for the protection of ecosystems and habitats to conserve indigenous freshwater biodiversity.

Canterbury’s ten zone committees decide the priorities for each zone and distribute the funding. At Tuesday’s meeting the committee will consider three new local projects that protect and enhance local wetlands and biodiversity values, and restore native plantings alongside a local swampland.

To date, the committee has approved more than $320,000 in Immediate Steps funding. There is still around $180,000 available so if you have a project that could benefit from Immediate Steps funding search Immediate Steps at www.ecan.govt.nz or phone Environment Canterbury on 0800 324 636. To date 25 projects have been approved by the zone committee.

Following this, the committee will receive an update on what is happening north of the Ashburton River. The area is currently scheduled to go through a sub-regional planning process in 2018/19. The update will focus on the current state of the area and how landowners are adapting to the provisions in the proposed Land and Water Regional Plan.

The committee will finish the meeting with updates from the Ashburton River Water Users’ Group, the Ashburton District Council, and the Hinds Drains Working Party on its progress to develop recommendations on minimum flows and surface water allocation.

The Hinds Drains Working Party is also investigating options such as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is working with Ashburton District Council as it investigates more efficient ways of delivering stock water to users. MAR is a set of tools designed to purposely recharge clean water to underlying aquifers for the enhancement and protection of water resource quality and quantity.

The Ashburton Zone Committee is a joint committee of the Ashburton District Council and Environment Canterbury. The Ashburton zone extends from the Rakaia River to the Rangitata River and includes Ashburton, Rakaia and Methven.

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