5. Issues to be addressed
This Plan addresses issues relating to water allocation in the Waitaki catchment. Water allocation has relationships with other aspects of resource management, including landscape, water quality, soil and bank erosion, wetland fencing and siltation, operational management of beds and rivers, and the management of floods. This Plan does not provide comprehensively for such matters. This Plan has been prepared with the assumption and expectation that there will be parallel management provisions that address these related aspects of resource management that fall outside of the issues that are addressed in this Plan.
This section of the Plan identifies the particular issues to be addressed in the Plan including its geographical coverage, water allocation issues addressed, methods used and administrative issues addressed.
Waitaki catchment definition
This Plan only addresses issues that arise within the Waitaki catchment that is defined in the Waitaki Act as:
(a) the area of land bounded by watersheds draining into the Waitaki River; and
(b) includes aquifers wholly or partially within the area of land.
The Waitaki River means the river known by that name, the confluence of which with the sea is shown on grid references NZMS 260-J41 (2002 version) J41:2364-5584.
The boundaries of the catchment are shown on Map 1.
The Plan applies to the taking, using, damming or diverting of water from water bodies within the Waitaki catchment, whether the water is used within or outside the catchment. Other matters should be addressed through the relevant statutory planning instruments of the regional and district councils.
Water allocation definition
This Plan provides for the matters set out in section 13 of the Waitaki Act. In preparing this Plan, water allocation is defined as addressing the taking, using, damming and diverting of water in relation to the following matters:
- a whole-catchment approach
- environmental flow and level regimes
- the mixing of waters
- the allocation to activities
- efficient and effective use
- water metering
- transfer of resource consents
- restrictions during times of low water availability
- replacement of existing consents.
This Plan addresses the following matters to the extent necessary to provide for water allocation as defined in this Plan but does not make comprehensive provision for them. Objectives, policies and methods (including rules) contained in the relevant Canterbury Regional Council statutory planning instruments that address the following matters apply in the Waitaki catchment with any necessary modification to give effect to the provisions of this Plan:
- landscape
- water quality
- soil and bank erosion
- afforestation in flow-sensitive catchments
- wetland management - fencing and siltation
- operational management of beds and rivers
- management of floods
- forestry as a landuse
- interference effects between bores - well interference
- dam safety and high water levels, including maximum lake levels
- ramping rates
- passage of fish past structures
- fish screening of intakes.
The application of methods other than rules
This Plan does not specify methods other than rules to implement the water allocation policies. Other methods included in the relevant statutory planning instruments remain available to be implemented by the Canterbury Regional Council in the Waitaki catchment. These include:
- advocacy
- information and promotion
- compliance and enforcement
- investigations
- "Resource Care" initiatives
- water users groups.
Administrative issues
The following provisions in the Proposed Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan adopted by the Canterbury Regional Council on 28 March 2002 and publicly notified on 1 June 2002 for submissions, including variation 1 to that plan, adopted by the Canterbury Regional Council on 27 May 2004 and publicly notified on 3 July 2004 for submissions, apply in the Waitaki catchment with any necessary modification to give effect to the provisions of this Plan:
- information to be included with an application for a resource consent
- the processes to be used to deal with issues that cross local authority boundaries, and issues between territorial authorities and between regions
- the procedures used to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the policies, rules, or other methods contained in the plan, including environmental monitoring
- financial contributions and bonds.
This Plan does not include provisions relating to consent duration. The provisions addressing this matter included in the relevant statutory planning instruments that apply to the Waitaki catchment remain available to be implemented by the Canterbury Regional Council.
Identification of issues within the catchment
Table 2 provides an overview of issues relating to the requirements for water and potential water allocation issues within the Waitaki catchment as a whole, as well as in specific localities within the catchment. Map 2 illustrates the localities referred to in the table.
The table reflects that the taking, using, damming and diversion of water can reduce or alter surface water flows, groundwater, wetland or lake water levels and may adversely affect the availability of water necessary to meet other requirements. There is also competition between different users of water (both in-stream and out-of-stream activities), within the same activity, and between present and future water users.
Table 2: Identification of water allocation issues within the Waitaki catchment
View identification of water allocation issues within the Waitaki catchment (large table)