Good process, good thinking, but are there too many layers here? This seems to be the emerging view of the draft Canterbury Water Management Strategy, with the strategy open for submissions until Friday, October 2. The final version of the strategy will represent the end of a local Govt-led initiative that has undertaken important research, held widespread public hearings, and actively engaged the many stakeholders who use the 5% of water coming out of the Southern Alps which is available for human use.

It comes ahead of the Govt’s latest attempt to get national consensus on water rights allocation, the Land and Water Forum, which has yet to hold its first collective meeting. Launching the Canterbury draft strategy, Agriculture Minister David Carter stood in for Environment Minister Nick Smith and described the draft carefully as “just a first step,” while urging the region it “doesn’t need to wait for the Land and Water Forum to finish its work.” Labour’s water quality spokesman Brendon Burns welcomes the collaboration which has produced the strategy, but warns the region to “be wary of having too many layers of administration. Not only would there be 10 Zone Committees, a Regional Water Management Committee and Environment Canterbury. There is also the Govt’s proposal for an Environmental Protection Agency.”

Hurunui Water Project manager Amanda Loeffen says she is “most interested” in the proposal to manage catchments by Zonal Committee, since it would be more likely to produce agreed local outcomes without resorting to the Environment Court. “I think it’s a great idea, but I’m concerned about the number of layers.” Also welcoming the strategy is the pioneering water rights broking firm, HydroTrader, whose existence depends on market-based mechanisms being introduced to regulate water use. HydroTrader’s Warwick Pascoe says “The talk of a brokering system that allows inefficient or unproductive uses of water to be bought out is good news. We have been waiting for Central Government to endorse water permit trading, and it appears with the draft strategy we have their buy-in. Hopefully this will lay to rest claims from a vocal minority that water permit trading is a prelude to the commercialisation of the water resource.”

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