Te Waihora /Ellesmere Catchment Regional Water Plan
description
Transcript of Te Waihora /Ellesmere Catchment Regional Water Plan
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Te Waihora/Ellesmere Catchment Regional Water Plan
An Introduction for the Selwyn/Waihora Water Management Zone Committee
Lynda Weastell MurchisonPrincipal Planning & Consents Advisor06 April 2011
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CONTENTS
• Introduction to catchment & issues• Why a regional water plan?• What will be covered in the plan?• How will the plan affect other
activities?• Role of Zone Committee• Timeframe
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Te Waihora/Ellesmere Catchment
Big Ben Range
B. Peninsula
Waimakariri River
Rakaia River
ChCh/W Melton GW Zone
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Catchment Characteristics cont…
• Mix of ephemeral, braided and springfed waterways.
• Ground and surface water very strongly linked, hills & plains
• Influence of Rakaia and Waimakairi rivers.
• Localised rainfall recharge (except Rakaia/Waimakariri sub-areas)
• Variable mean annual rainfall: 560mm at coast to 1300-1600mm foothills.
• Estimated 346.3million m3/yr of groundwater - currently managed two allocation zones:
- Rakaia-Selwyn (215 million m3/yr) - Selwyn-Waimakariri (131.9 million m3/yr).
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Catchment Characteristics contcont…
• Land area 503 546ha (227 546ha plains & 276 000ha foothills)
• Foothills nw, impermeable rock strata – water resource is surface water.
• Plains 600m thick gravel aprons - water resource is ground water with surface gains & losses. Some surface run-off in high rainfall events.
• Banks Peninsula, impermeable rock – water resource is surface water.
• Land uses dominantly agricultural – water demand is irrigation & stock/domestic water
• Small settlements: community/town water supplies & some industrial supply
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Catchment Issues…
• Dry summer conditions and regular droughts limit potential agricultural productivity
• Demand for water for irrigation increased substantially in last 20 years (5-fold increase in resource consents issued since 1985)
• Demand for irrigation water continues, not all land areas have access to gw or reliable sw, and amount of gw allocated exceeds allocation limits.
• Both anecdotal and recorded evidence of changes in fw bodies, including:- Increased extent and frequency of drying reaches in ephemeral streams;- Increased low flow periods in springfed streams;- Reduced water quality in some water bodies; and- Loss of reliability in some shallow wells.
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Why do we need a Catchment Water Plan?
• NRRP- Provides for a catchment-specific approach (Var 10 for min flows for some
of the Te Waihora/Ellesmere catchment).- Has region-wide provisions apply in the absence of specific catchment
rules.- Region-wide provisions not suited to all catchments – eg, split
management of groundwater & surface water.- New challenges to water management in some areas, eg need to allocate
water to activities or areas.- Building a planning framework using region-wide provisions where a
consistent approach is appropriate and catchment-specific ones, where required.
- Fits CWMS model.
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Where the Plan Applies
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What the Plan Addresses
Stage 1•Immediate steps
regulatory
•what need to do now to avoid increasing adverse effects.
Stage 2•Future management of
the catchment
•Where want to get to & how going to do it:
•- With more water;•- Without more water
Stage 3•Lake & catchment
management
•- Combining it all
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What the Plan Addresses
Stage 1 •What we know & don’t know•Issues & priority•Manage additional allocation & use - now
Stage 2 •Where would we like to get to – goal scenarios?•Costs & benefits – management scenarios•What can we achieve – with & without additional water
Stage 3 •Combining the catchment•Managing additional water in catchment & effects;•Managing inputs into Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere
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How the Plan Manages WaterKey Points
• Water is one resource:- Plains; all as groundwater - Hills; all as surface water
• Focus:- Catchment down to the lake - inputs into the lake- Quantity, quality & land uses
• Simplify & rationalise – use of key/indicator water bodies- Setting flows & quality stds- Monitoring sites- Manage relative to functions & values
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How the Plan Affects Other Activities
WCOPlan cannot be
inconsistent with WCO
New activitie
s
Must comply from time plan
is notified
Plan rules can include timing.
Existing activitie
s
Expiry.Consent
conditions - operative
Plan can indicate if
& when
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Role of the Zone Committee
Scoping plan •Paper to May meeting•Tech findings & topic recommendations
Developing Plan &
Consultation•Committee may choose different level at
different stages.•Stage 1 options – May 2011.
Statutory Process •No Zone Committee involvement.
•(Individual members submissions)
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Timeframe
• Annual Plan Measures- Stage 1 – approved for notification July 2011- Stage 2 – approved for notification July 2012
Stage 1 – Timeframe pre 22/02/11 (to be revised)- Preliminary technical investigations - January 2011 - Peer review & follow up - Feb 2011- Report to Zone Committee - March 2011- Community consultation April-May 2011- Draft plan presented to ZC – June 2011- Draft plan approved for notification by Regional Council July 2011