Water woes

Seldom has a local authority received such a slating as that just given to Canterbury's regional council, Environment Canterbury (ECan), by a Government review panel.

The panel says the gap between what ECan does and what it should do is enormous and unprecedented.

ECan has "created real policy confusion and inertia" and it will not improve without central government intervention. ECan has suffered from "institutional failure" and a profound change in approach is required.

To the cheers of the many critics of ECan, former minister Wyatt Creech recommends splitting it into a water authority and another body for its other functions.

The existing elected council should be replaced by a temporary commission as soon as practicable to give breathing space while a water authority is established.

Few can deny that ECan has struggled with water responsibilities. Many consents have taken far too long to process, overall water plans have been lacking and tensions between development and environmental interests have hamstrung progress.

While the report acknowledges ECan has made some improvements, it says these are not enough.

Questions have been raised about leadership in ECan and discontent has rumbled for years, culminating in a strongly worded letter to two ministers from all 10 Canterbury mayors.

Canterbury, including the vast Waitaki catchment, has about 70% of New Zealand's freshwater resources, much of the country's agriculture and half the hydro-electricity generation.

The review was at the behest of Environment Minister Nick Smith and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide, and the Government claims it has not formed a view on the recommendations and will consult before making decisions.

So it must.

The recommendations are radical and caution and wariness are required.

They do away with an elected local authority (although elected representatives on the authority could be considered in three to five years' time) and concentrate more power in central government's hands.

They split water from land and air, those other essential environmental ingredients, and they are a model that might be applied to other parts of the country.

As Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Cairns said last Friday, the report sounded "very scary".

It is so sweeping, and the cynics might say this is deliberate, that it leaves room for the Government to move without going all the way on everything.