History / Consultation

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1883: In a paper on Canterbury rural water, G F Ritso wrote:
“No doubt, in a few years, works will be constructed for the purpose of using the waters of all principal rivers for irrigating the plains, thus making water meadows which will fatten probably five or six sheep, or a proportionate number of cattle to the acre on land two acres of which will barely support one sheep.”

1936: The Malvern County Council, influenced by a race supply failure and construction of the Rangitata Diversion Race (built at taxpayer expense and handed over to the farmers of Mid Canterbury) started lobbying Public Works Minister Bob Semple.  By 1949, after being kept on hold for 13 years, and in spite of other Canterbury councils joining the cause, the answer was finally in the negative – no government scheme for the Central Plains.

May 2000: the Central Plains Water Enhancement Steering Committee, a joint committee of the Christchurch City Council and the Selwyn District Council, was established and funded to assess the feasibility of water enhancement schemes for the Central Plains.
The Steering Committee commissioned a number of reports to investigate:

• The likely environmental, economic and social impact of an extensive water enhancement system in the scheme area;
• Whether such a water enhancement scheme is feasible; and
• Whether such a water enhancement scheme is affordable.

On the basis of the feasibility study and other reports, the Steering Committee concluded that the scheme is feasible and affordable. The Steering Committee, after taking professional advice, was also of the opinion that it should be possible to obtain the resource consents required for the scheme.

December 2001: Consent application lodged by the Christchurch City Council and Selwyn District Council (acting as the Central Plains Water Enhancement Steering Committee, jointly with the Ashburton Community Water Trust) to take 40 cumecs from each of the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers.

January 2002: Feasibility Study completed. Concluded that a scheme based on water harvesting and storage was feasible and affordable.

April 2003: Steering committee replaced by the Central Plains Water Trust.

Sept 2003: Central Plains Water Limited (CPWL) formed.

December 2004: CPWL issues a prospectus to raise finance to fund the resource consenting process. It is oversubscribed and successfully raises $4.7 million.

June 2005: CPWL lodges a ‘take’ consent application for the upper Waimakariri intake site.

November 2005: CPWL lodges its ‘use’ consents application and AEE with Environment Canterbury and Selwyn District Council.

November 2005: Minister for the Environment advises CPWL that its application to become a requiring authority has been approved.

Consultation

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• Consultation Overview – November 2005 – April 2006 | 20kb Pdf
• Consultation Overview – 2000 to 2005 | 42kb Pdf
• In 2000 a joint committee was established by Selwyn District and Christchurch City Councils to investigate the opportunity to use water for the benefit of the wider community.  As part of an initial feasibility study, the committee undertook extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholder groups.
• One of the first initiatives by the Central Plains Water Steering Committee was to establish a potential water users group, following six woolshed meetings within the proposed scheme area.  Consultation revealed strong interest within the area for the proposed scheme and this group later became the Ritso Society, a group which has continued to be instrumental in furthering the scheme.
• Following consultation with other interested stakeholders a consultative working party was established in mid-2000. This included representatives of groups that included potential water users, conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts, township committees, host communities, existing irrigators, tangata whenua and people living to the east of the proposed scheme where aquifer recharge from the scheme could be an issue. 
• There were two strands to the consultation – one focused on the interest within the farming community for a community based water enhancement scheme and the principles on which such a scheme should be based.  The other sought to identify potential issues and how those issues might be addressed in a sustainable way.
• The consultative working party identified key issues from an environmental, social, economic and cultural perspective.  These issues were fed back to the scheme’s technical experts and the Steering Committee to assist in decisions on the development of the scheme.
• In 2003 the Central Plains Water Trust sought to raise funds to enable the scheme to apply for the resource consents needed to proceed. This required further consultation with the farming community and involved numerous meetings and focus groups to clarify scheme details, funding options and other preferences.
• Central Plains Water Limited was established in late 2003 as a commercial entity to raise sufficient share capital to obtain the resource consents. In 2003, during the fund raising phase, members of the Central Plains Water Trust met with farmers in the Waianiwaniwa Valley to discuss the scheme and the potential impact it would have on their farms.
• The ongoing technical investigations are addressing valid issues previously identified by key stakeholders. Central Plains Water technical representatives are attempting to mitigate concerns that have arisen as a result of consultation. 
• The objective of the consultation is to find a balance between enabling sustainable use of the scheme, while, where possible, avoiding or mitigating any adverse effects of the scheme.  Many of the scheme’s principles have been influenced by the consultation process, for example:
  • the bottom of the storage dam will not be allowed to dry out to offset potential dust issues and maintain recreational activities
  • the principle of a Farm Management Accord (now termed the Sustainable Management Agreement) that addresses potential water contamination issues
  • the use of gravity to move water where ever possible
  • the establishment of an annual $60,000 Environmental Trust Fund to support and encourage various environmental enhancement initiatives (eg. Riparian planting and habitat restoration) within and ‘downstream’ of the CPW scheme area.
• Other opportunities to mitigate the effects of the scheme include:
  • enhancement work at Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere)
  • introducing wetland areas
  • establishing high environmental standards that require efficient use of water
  • measuring all water takes
  • creating opportunities for water based recreation on the reservoir and on other structures associated with the scheme
• Consultation will continue throughout the consent process and there will be ongoing opportunities for Central Plains Water to meet with stakeholders to address issues and concerns prior to the hearing

© Copyright Central Plains Water Ltd 2004