Call for water submissions

Proposed changes to water management could spell the end of the "first-in, first-served" approach.

Stakeholder groups such as Federated Farmers, Environment Canterbury, and Fish & Game have been discussing the Canterbury water management strategy during the past month.

Now the public gets to have its input, with a discussion document released this week.

Ashburton Mayor Bede O'Malley said stakeholders had shown a strong move away from the old model of resource consent towards a more collaborative approach.

"There are certain aspects which will be kept, but ultimately I think it is time to move on," he said. Options discussed at the stakeholder meetings included keeping the status quo for consent applications, emphasising environmental protection, a collaborative approach between existing and future consent holders and emphasising infrastructure development

Mr O'Malley said the intensification of land use for farming and industrial purposes meant the demand for water had increased markedly.

"Our goal is to gain the greatest cultural, economic, environmental, recreational and social benefits from our water resources for future generations.

"We know a workable solution is achievable. It is not going to be simple and it won't be a quick fix solution but we are committed to this project."

Environment Canterbury programme manager Christina Robb said there had to be a strong emphasis on sustainability.

"I think the public has become increasingly aware of the need to sustainably manage our water supply."

Ms Robb said it would be interesting to see if the public had different ideas to stakeholders about how water should be managed.

"At the meetings, there was a near-consensus that the current resource consent model for water is no longer suitable. I would be interested if the public feels the same way."

Mr O'Malley said it was important the right decisions were made.

"We really don't want to be in 20 or 30 years where Rotorua is now, where they've needed to spend millions of dollars to repair their lakes.

"Environmental management has to be our top priority."

Mr O'Malley said he was impressed with the level of debate throughout the stakeholder meetings and hoped that would continue at the public meetings.

"We have given the public a relatively tight time frame to put in their own submissions, but a lot of the work has been done for them through the release of the document explaining the key issues, and the stakeholders will hopefully be able to talk to their own constituents."

Public meetings on the water strategy will be held throughout South Canterbury from May 18 to May 22.

Public submissions will close on June 5.

- © Fairfax NZ News