Water in spotlight

A controversial water management charge gets another hearing this week.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) will hold meetings over its proposed targeted rates for water consent holders, after the plan was deferred for a year.

ECan's draft 10-year community plan proposed to recover 30 per cent of water monitoring costs from consent holders. Currently, the annual $7.1 million cost is covered by general rates.

But more than 600 submissions were made against the proposal, with several farmers labelling it a "water tax".

Federated Farmers Mackenzie president John Murray said he believed the charge was illegal.

"They haven't been able to prove that the water-monitoring benefits only the consent holders," he said.

"Many of the benefits of irrigation go well beyond the farm gate. Farmers in the Mackenzie are struggling as it is without another charge being put on top."

Tom Henderson, of the Opuha Dam users group, was skeptical about the proposal.

"I am waiting to see how this pans out. The devil is very much in the detail, so we will have to be mindful of how it's going to be applied."

ECan has budgeted more than $20 million for water management and monitoring over the next year.

Meetings will be held in Waimate and Timaru this Thursday, and at Twizel on December 7. Submissions close on December 15.