Know your limit - check daily for water restrictions

Check our webpage daily 

The one and only source of information about water restrictions in Canterbury is our water restrictions webpage. We update flow and restriction information every day.  

Restrictions are updated for the following day at 3pm for rivers with a telemetered system and 5pm for rivers that have flow gauged or assessed by field staff.  New restrictions apply from midnight, but if your system requires manual shut off this can be done any time before 9am on the day the restrictions begin. 

Central compliance team leader Gillian Jenkins says it’s essential farmers are operating with the most up-to-date information.  

"As Canterbury farmers know better than anyone, flow conditions in our region’s rivers can change daily. We must adapt quickly and manage our usage tightly to protect our finite water sources.”  

A little extra can hurt a lot 

Restrictions are in place to protect the health and ecosystems of our waterways while sustaining the local economy.  

“Many people in our region take water from our waterways to sustain their livelihoods and support food production. We need to balance this with the need to protect our rivers from degradation – which nobody wants. Where there are multiple water takes and one or more operators exceed their allocated take, even by a small amount, the combined effect can be to prolong low flow during dry conditions which can be very damaging to the health of a river over time,” says Ms. Jenkins.  

Lesser flow rates increase the risk of higher temperatures and reduced oxygen. If a river is broad and shallow, low flow periods may make it harder for larger-bodied fish such as salmon to migrate. 

“It’s essential that every irrigator follows the rules at all times to protect our rivers and ensure that everyone else in the catchment has enough water to continue their operation,” says Ms Jenkins. 

We monitor this closely and will take action against any rule-breaking. 

Efficient management can yield big gains 

The savings that come with increasing irrigation efficiency can be significant. According to LandWISE, increasing the uniformity of water from 0.7 to 0.9 can allow 50% more area to be irrigated from a certain volume of water. Using the right pump can reduce a power bill by 30%.  

Spring is the time to check your equipment and make sure your irrigation schedules are ready for summer.

Here are some things you can do to ensure you are ready to irrigate efficiently: 

• Plan for the season: if restrictions come in early, be ready to manage your scheduling and identify the higher production areas to concentrate on to get the best return. You can find more on irrigation restrictions.
• Evaluate your irrigation performance: undertake a bucket test once a year. This helps determine the application depth, rate and how uniformly water is being applied during irrigation. Keep in mind it may be required as part of your consent conditions and FEP audit.
• Monitor your soil moisture: one of the most effective ways to improve irrigation efficiency is to implement soil sensor technology in irrigation scheduling. 
• Get accurate weather forecast information: weather and evapotranspiration data allow you to take advantage of rain and avoid irrigating when the conditions are not ideal.
• Upskill staff: training on scheduling and operation helps optimise water use and avoid damage to equipment.

It’s also important to ensure your irrigator is not spraying onto an adjacent road. Aside from the efficiency loss, it damages the road over time and is a hazard for motorists. 

Enforcement options 

If you have breached the conditions of your consent, the consequences can be anything from a notice of non-compliance to prosecution. 

Possible consequences of non-compliance:

• Notice of non-compliance
• Letter of formal warning
• Cost recovery
• Requesting an application for a retrospective resource consent
• Abatement notice
• Infringement notice
• An enforcement order from the Environment Court
• Alternative Environmental Justice (AEJ)
• Prosecution

In the last financial year, we issued nine abatement notices and two infringement notices for non-compliance concerning water take. One landowner was also prosecuted for taking water while on restriction. 

Ms Jenkins explains that enforcing the rules is about being fair to everyone and doing the right thing. 

“With the vast majority of farmers going above and beyond to comply with the rules, it’s important we take quick action to put a stop to any ‘overtake’ by individual operators,” she says. 

Visit our farming hub for more information about irrigation and water use.