Environment Canterbury (ECAN) Failing the Law
Environment Canterbury (ECAN) ever since the previous National government sacked the democratically elected council in
2010 and replaced it with “puppet Commissioners”, has failed to implement policy as required by the Resource Management
Act says Dr Peter Trolove, president of the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers, a national rivers and trout advocacy.
“This leads to the logical suspicion that the National government and its environment Minister Nick Smith disregarded
the legal obligations of ECAN in order to pave the way for more corporate dairy farming development, which now is having
disastrous consequences of excessive nitrates damaging river ecology health and the integrity of the public’s drinking
water. It was also an unprincipled state grab and an insult to democracy.”
Dr Trolove said the delays in returning ECAN to a fully democratically elected council had been unforgivable. The six
“government puppet” commissioners were only expected to serve until 2013 but their tenure was extended by the National
government. At the time environment Minister Smith said a return to a wholly-elected council at that point could
jeopardise work under way, particularly on water reforms.
“Water reforms was a misnomer,” said Peter Trolove. “Perhaps Smith should have said it would jeopardise the
Key-government’s agenda for maximum dairying conversions?”
He said the “constitutionally repugnant” Environment Canterbury Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management
Act 2010, removed some of ECAN’s obligations under the Resource Management Act (RMA) and allowed ECAN to amend the
National Water Conservation Order Rakaia River (1988) to progress the Key- government’s agenda for more dairying.
“Nevertheless there still remained the obligation for government’s ECAN to have regard to the vision and principles of
the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, (CWMS),” he added.
Among the primary principles of the CWMS were that “water is a public resource which must be managed in accordance with
sustainability principles and be consistent with the RMA and Local Government Acts — that first order priority
considerations were the environment, customary uses, community supplies and stock water with second order priority
considerations being irrigation, renewable energy, recreation, tourism and amenity — (with) — a strong emphasis on the
integration of water and land management including the protection of indigenous biodiversity and enhancement of water
quality.”
But the reality was CWMS priorities wre ignored and matters had become worse with Medical Officer of Health Dr Alister
Humphrey a few weeks ago, warning that levels of nitrate, with strong links to cancer, were dangerously high with the
potential for Canterbury's water to become undrinkable. Peter Trolove noted that at the time of the Key government’s
state takeover of ECAN, Labour’s environment spokesperson Megan Woods now a Cabinet Minister, termed the government
commissioner - led ECAN to be undemocratic. Labour, the Greens and NZ First had promised remedial action on degraded
rivers.
“We’re looking forward to not only reinstating democracy but some instant, positive and firm action on water and rivers
by the Labour-led government,” he said.
He said the National Party’s architect of the government take-over in 2010 and suspension of elections that followed was
now “conspicuous by his silence.”