How we got to this point

There has been extensive consultation over the past couple of years on the introduction of a consent-holder charge towards our scientific investigations and monitoring work.

Consultation has now concluded.

Environment Canterbury originally proposed in 2009 the introduction of what was then called ‘State of the Environment charges relating to water’.

Following an initial round of public consultation in 2009, implementation was deferred until the 2010/11 year.

An Environment Canterbury Working Group was set up in August 2009 to conduct a further round of consultation. The Working Group included three Environment Canterbury Councillors and seven stakeholder representatives (Irrigation NZ, Federated Farmers, Meridian Energy, Horticulture NZ, the Water Rights Trust, Selwyn District Council, and one individual).

The Working Group ran a series of public meetings throughout Canterbury in November and December 2009 seeking further feedback on how to implement the charges. A total of 128 submissions were received from consent holders. The Working Group provided recommendations to the Environment Canterbury Council for inclusion in the Annual Plan.

There was a further round of consultation via the Annual Plan with the opportunity for stakeholders to make submissions in April 2010.

See "Related Documents" for a copy of the Working Group report.

The reason for the funding change

The Water Science Charge (previously called State of the Environment water management cost recovery) was introduced in Environment Canterbury’s 2009-19 Long Term Council Community Plan.

The decision was the result of a review of funding – including the use of general rates – seeking a system which reflected a balance between those who benefit from council services and those who drive demand for council services.

The ratio of 70 % in general rates to 30 % to consent holders – which applies across all projects for funding water science work –  was decided after consultation and analysis by an independent expert panel made up of economists and scientists from Dairy NZ, Lincoln University and LandCare Research.

The expert review panel considered the cost of each project and the distribution of costs between the different consent classes and found 51 per cent of costs could be attributed to consent holders. For both scientific investigations and monitoring projects, a key consideration was whether consent holders either contributed to the need for the work or to what extent the work related to likely environmental effects of consent holders’ activities.

As a result of these changes, the amount of money required to fund these activities from general rates has reduced.