Water plan will force changes on ECan

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is facing major changes to the way it operates due to a massive plan it has helped develop.

The draft Canterbury water management strategy, which will be released today, wants to take away from ECan many of the decisions on managing the region's water.

Instead, it proposes committees for each of 10 suggested water zones comprising between 10 and 20 locals representing the regional council, relevant district and city councils, Ngai Tahu and other interested parties.

"This will be the level at which many decisions affecting water management can be made efficiently and effectively," the draft strategy says.

Above that, a regional water committee is recommended, with a similar composition, to handle issues across the zones.

Water consent issues account for more than half ECan's workload.

Just a month ago, the Turnbull Group of economic, engineering and environmental consultants recommended scrapping regional councils.

The group proposed a commission to oversee water initiatives, along with publicly owned water companies to provide rural and urban services in "a commercially responsible" way.

The water organisations would operate within similar geographical areas as regional councils and would be accountable to the Government and the proposed commission.

Strategy steering group member Murray Rodgers, the chairman of the Water Rights Trust, said the proposal, if accepted by the Government, would make a "huge difference" to ECan's workload and change the nature of what it did.

"ECan has a continual parade of issues it is adjudicating on through the courts.

"It is getting bowled over because the Resource Management Act is being interpreted in a way by the Environment Court that is not consistent with the long-term sustainable initiatives.

"At present, ECan is simply not making the grade and this is why they are subject to a lot of brickbats. In my view, they are copping them without full justification."

He said there was a future for ECan under the strategy.

"Whether performed by ECan or some other body, ECan is where the expertise resides at present. Vested interests from rural politicians to keep the status quo have slowed it down and hampered the approach by ECan to fulfil its functions.

"There will be other things they will need to do.

"To get this off the ground, there's a lot of work in just setting up the zonal structures the committee structure and getting others in place to take accountability for implementing the plan in their particular area."

Steering group member ECan councillor Eugenie Sage said the strategy would "strengthen and consolidate" ECan's role in water management.

"It has the scientific resource base, the skills and capacity to continue with this work. Where the zonal committees fit in is providing a high level of advice and community engagement.

"This is only a draft, which is yet to be presented to each of the territorial authorities and formally to ECan itself. As it makes quite clear, there is still to be engagement with stakeholders though it builds on a huge amount of consultation already."

Acting ECan chief executive Ken Taylor said Sage and Rodgers were both right.

"It's not a threat but it is a massive challenge a challenge for all parties.

"It seems a slightly different role for ECan, still very much at the centre of water management but with a different emphasis.

"You still have to monitor the environment, issue the consents, plan, set bottom lines and make sure they are working," Taylor said.

"We, or an organisation that looks very like us, will be doing that. ECan has embraced this from the start."

- © Fairfax NZ News