Upcoming Meetings

The Christchurch-West Melton Water Management Zone Committee meeting schedule.

Date	Time & Location	Agenda
Wednesday 22 May 2013	6:00PM The Boardroom Fendalton Service Centre Corner Jeffreys and Clyde Roads	Read the agenda (pdf 2 MB)

Read past committee agendas and minutes

Latest Media Releases

4 April 2013: Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee meeting
27 February 2013: Christchurch West Melton Zone Committee meeting
30 Januray 2013: Have your say on  local Water Management
13 December 2012: Have your say on Urban Water Management issues

Activities and Actions

The Christchurch-West Melton Zone Committee was formed in late 2011.

The committee is a joint committee of Christchurch City and Selwyn District councils, and Environment Canterbury.

It features six community members as well as three Rūnanga representatives and three from council.

The role of the committee is to make consensus based decisions about water management in the zone.

The committee meets each month to learn about the water resource in the zone and engage with community members to get their feedback.

The end goal of the committee is to develop a set of water management recommendations that will be submitted to councils in the form of a Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP).

Having recently finalised its ZIP and presented it to councils, the committee is now focussed on implementing its priority recommendations for water management.

Over the past few months the committee has also focussed on coming up-to-speed with some broad water management issues.

It is now starting to look at some topics in more depth including earthquake recovery, water efficiency, stormwater management and the ecological values of the Avon - Heathcote Estuary / Ihutai.

Youth whet appetite for water management

In August nine Christchurch youth aged between 14 and 24 attended a two-day hui to get involved in local water management.

The hui was organised by Environment Canterbury in conjunction with the Christchurch – West Melton Zone Committee.

The goals and values of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) require young people to be involved. Its vision is to enable present and future generations the greatest social, economic, recreational and cultural benefits from our water resources within an environmentally sustainable framework.

For this reason it is vital for young people to be involved in the process now and ensure they have the information and the interest to contribute.

On the first day of the hui participants undertook a full-day field trip to visit significant sites for water management in Christchurch and hear from local experts.

The sites included the Waimakariri River, Te Huingi Manu – oxidation ponds reserve, and the Groynes. Speakers included representatives from Environment Canterbury, CDHB, the Ihutai Trust, and Ngai Tahu.

Following the field trip the students went to Rehua Marae to reflect on the days’ activities and learn about Ngai Tahu values, before staying the night on the marae.

The next day the group was welcomed by Environment Canterbury Commissioner David Caygill and heard from the Ministry of Youth Development on how to get the voice of youth heard.

This was followed by a facilitated session on the Christchurch-West Melton Zone Implementation Programme (ZIP) and its vision for local water management. The group made a formal response to the ZIP and intend to speak to it at the next committee meeting next month,

The Christchurch youth hui is the first in what is hoped to be a series across the ten CWMS zones.

The nine students came from Hillmorton High School, Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti, CPIT, Lincoln University, and the University of Canterbury.  

Zone Map

Environment Canterbury working with...