Sustainability
- A key feature of the scheme is the resource consents will be owned by the CPW Trust, an entity established by Christchurch City and Selwyn District Council. The Trust objectives are designed to enhance the environmental, economic and social values of the communities in central Canterbury. This ensures ownership will never pass to overseas or commercial / corporate interests. Importantly, it also ensures that water users cannot act ‘inappropriately’.
- A core aspect of the CPW scheme is the concept of ‘sustainable development’. This involves meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs by:
- protecting water quality
- restoring degraded waterways
- pursuing ecological, recreational, cultural and social values.
- Accordingly, CPWL has developed a Sustainability Protocol for all farms that receive water from the scheme. This is designed to ensure that individual farmers adopt (if they have not already done so) best farming practices in relation to fertiliser application and rates of water use so as to best maintain and enhance healthy groundwater and river / stream systems.
The Protocol advocates a pro-active and preventative approach to any adverse effects of irrigation and intensification of land use. This covers:
- management of water quality and quantity
- waste and effluent management
- ongoing monitoring and independent auditing of the scheme and the effects of individual farmer’s activities
- CPWL’s Sustainability Protocol has been developed as part of CPWL’s support in a national Sustainable Farming Fund project entitled "Development of an Irrigation Scheme Sustainability Code of Practice".