Sub-regional planning and Hurunui River health key focuses for zone committee

The Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee will meet at 3pm on Monday, 21 September, in Cheviot for its monthly water management meeting.

Prior to the meeting the committee will host a workshop (open to the public) to discuss its water management priorities and how to address them as it begins to work with the community sub-regional planning in the zone.

The proposed Hurunui Waiau zone sub-regional section to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan is expected to be notified in 2018. Plan development will start 12 months prior to this and technical work will begin around July 2016.

The sub-regional process is likely to involve review of the Hurunui and Waiau River Regional Plan (HWRRP) and changes to its policies, rules and limits. As part of its development the committee will work with local people to develop solution packages which deliver the community’s aspirations for water management.

The committee’s full meeting will begin with updates from the Hurunui-Waiau Zone Team, the Regional Committee, and dryland farmers.

The committee will then receive a summary of water quality in the Jed River including a summary of results from a recent ESR research project and this will be followed by an update on the steps leading up to 2018 Hurunui Plan review.

The committee will finish the meeting with a report on the state of the zone’s rivers, including nutrient loads in the Hurunui River, and this will be followed by updates from Fonterra and Dairy NZ.

The Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee is a joint committee of Environment Canterbury and Hurunui District Council. It includes five community members, two Rūnanga representatives, and one each from Hurunui District Council and Environment Canterbury.

ENDS

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