ECan

A move by Fonterra to improve water quality in lakes, rivers and streams has been welcomed by the Otago Regional Council and Environment Canterbury.

The words "back office" and "sharing" have generated fear among public service employees in recent times, but Otago Regional Council chief executive Graeme Martin says it should not when he talks about links with Environment Canterbury.

Environment Canterbury is proposing no increase in its overall rates take for the next financial year.

Environment Canterbury has appointed a new chief executive, Bill Bayfield, who is at present chief executive of Bay of Plenty Regional Council and will take up the new position in June.

A committee which will help Environment Canterbury (ECan) manage water in the lower Waitaki catchment and Waitaki district will be chaired by Glenavy farmer Robin Murphy.

People in small boats on Waitaki lakes and rivers are being advised to practice getting used to wearing life jackets this summer before a new bylaw is introduced on April 1.

A new committee which will help manage water in the lower Waitaki River catchment and Waimate district, has been allocated $100,000 per year for five years to help fund biodiversity projects.

The latest National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research report on the state of our lakes bears disappointing tidings.

Swimmers and other rivers users have been warned to watch for toxic algae growths in Canterbury rivers following recent periods of warm weather and declining river flows.

New deadlines have been set so an Environment Canterbury (ECan) hearings panel can make a decision on 110 resource consents applications for water, mainly for irrigation, from the upper Waitaki catchment above the Waitaki dam.