Overview
Central Plains Water Limited welcomes the interim decision handed down by the commissioners on October 30, 2009 giving the company consent to take water from the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers for irrigation on the Central Canterbury Plains.
The commissioners have concluded Central Plains Water's revised proposal is sustainable and efficient and will bring significant economic benefits to the district and region.
It is testament to the quality of the Central Plains Water experts’ investigations that the commissioners are satisfied any residual issues can be adequately addressed by conditions of consent.
Canterbury has more than sufficient water to meet the province’s diverse environmental, social, cultural, recreational, and economic demands, but this water is not always in the right place at the right time.
Because it involves water storage, the Central Plains Water (CPW) scheme is designed to:
- provide a reliable irrigation supply, even during droughts
- meet the irrigation needs of farmers within the scheme area for the next 100 years
- bring balance back to the groundwater system
- provide security against climate change
- promote the most efficient, economic and environmentally sensitive farming practices
- future proof the region’s economic base
- enhance the region’s ecological and recreational resources.
Irrespective of whether the CPW scheme goes ahead, surface water will continue to be allocated from the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers to individual farmers or small groups of farmers (up to the limits established by their respective National Water Conservation Order and Regional River Plan). The CPW scheme offers an alternative to this status quo where, in addition to providing irrigation water, it will provide a range of environmental and recreational benefits that can only be delivered by a large scale, centrally managed, community scheme.
Mounting construction and resource consenting costs mean CPW represents a one-off opportunity to deliver maximum benefits to the greatest number of people.
- With a current estimated construction cost of $409 million, the proposed CPW scheme will be one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in the South Island.
- Water will be sourced from the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers.
Please see map below and click on the subheadings (left) for more overview information about the scheme.
