Time is running out for people to have their say on a draft
water management programme for the lower Waitaki River and
the Waimate district.
The Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury Zone Committee's
draft Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) has been produced
by a community committee under the auspices of Environment
Canterbury and the Waitaki and Waimate District Councils.
The programme was made public last month, and people given
the chance to make submissions, which close on November 25.
Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury Zone Committee
chairman Robin Murphy said people need to get in now to make
sure their views were taken into account. The programme had
been developed following community consultation to gather
information about the region's water resource.
"The recommendations are designed to enable present and
future generations the greatest environmental, cultural,
social and economic benefits from the region's water," he
said.
The committee wanted to hear what people liked and did not
like about the recommendations and whether other things
should be included.
The draft programme includes 60 recommendations on five key
priority areas - biodiversity, Waitaki Allocation Plan,
drinking water, flows, lowland streams and water quality,
Hakataramea River and the Wainono Lagoon.
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