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Managing the coastal environment

Last updated: 01 November 2023
Reporting frequency: Quarterly
Portfolio: Climate change and community resilience

We are regenerating Canterbury’s coastal environment by working with, and alongside, our partners for effective and integrated coastal management.

This work focuses on three key areas:

We are also developing a Coastal Zone Delivery Team to more effectively deliver our operational functions within the coastal area in partnership with Ngāi Tahu, the community, user groups and our stakeholders.

How are we tracking on our Levels of Service?

Level of Service 20: Enable safe navigation for vessels throughout the Canterbury region.

As part of this Level of Service we will:

  • 20.1: Ensure our risk assessment regime and Safety Management System is consistent with the New Zealand Port and Harbour Marine Safety Code and compliant with ISO 9001:2015 certification for customer focus, quality management and continual improvement.
  • 20.2: Ensure availability of our operational and emergency response function, and a qualified, experienced and independent harbourmaster, so that Papatipu Rūnanga, organisations, user groups and the community receive guidance on the safe navigation of vessels within the region.

How are we doing: ISO 9001 compliance was retained following the October 2023 external audit. Staff will continue with internal reviews in advance of the next external three-yearly audit.

An on-call duty officer was available 24 hours/7 days per week. They provided advice and information to the community and user groups across the region to assist with the understanding and implementation of the Navigation Safety Bylaw, and with navigation safety matters generally. 

We have five warranted Harbourmasters which ensures suitable coverage and availability of a Harbourmaster at all times. 

On track
Level of Service 21: Provide coastal environmental monitoring, response planning and advisory services to enable informed decision making.

To achieve this Level of Service we will:

  • Ensure the method used to monitor water quality sites for ecosystem health meets national and local standards
  • Ensure the method used to monitor water quality sites for recreational swimming meets national and local standards
  • Undertake a marine biosecurity survey in Kaikōura, Lyttelton, Akaroa and Timaru
  • Maintain a Maritime NZ-approved marine oil spill response capability and plan.

How are we doing: Water quality is monitored at 79 coastal and estuarine sites on either a quarterly or monthly basis for ecosystem health,  and water quality is monitored at 46 region-wide sites on a weekly basis between November and March. All results are published on the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa website within 48 hours. The methods used to monitor water quality are in accordance with national and local standards. All data is available on our website, along with wave and sea level data.

The planning process to undertake marine biosecurity surveys in each location is underway and we are aiming to complete the surveys in each location during late summer/early autumn 2024.

The Marine oil spill response capability and plan is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week. The Austro Carina salvage plan was approved and this work commenced in January 2024.

On track
Level of Service 22: Partner with Ngāi Tahu, city and district councils, and the community to review the Regional Coastal Environment Plan to achieve integrated management of the Canterbury coastal and marine area.

To achieve this Level of Service we will progress a review of the Canterbury Regional Coastal Environment Plan (RCEP).

How are we doing: During quarter two, we held a second round of public and stakeholder engagement (the Pick a Path campaign), and we are continuing to work together with ngā Papatipu Rūnanga on policy options. This will inform the ongoing work on the integrated planning framework, including the RCEP. Developing governance arrangements and gathering the information we need on the current state of Canterbury has pushed out some of the timeframes for our integrated planning work, in particular, for the full review of the RCEP. This means we will not meet this target.

Will not achieve

How are we doing on our key initiatives?

Banks Peninsula subtidal habitats and ecosystems (Iongairo)

How are we doing: Field work has begun at Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū/Banks Peninsula and is on track and progressing as planned and within budget.

Preliminary investigations have revealed a myriad of diverse and often complex habitats and communities of animals and plants living within them. Impacts of marine activities, including cruise ship anchoring and aquaculture, are being assessed against control sites, as well as geological origin of seafloor sediment assessments. In quarter one, the focus was on analysis of the samples and data collected during the summer/autumn 2022/23 field season. Work started to create a habitat map using sediment grabs, drop camera footage, towed video footage, imagery analysis and corrections. 

In quarter two, a publicly available story map was released to share the project's background and provide progress updates. Work to develop a sampling plan for the 2023/24 summer was completed and field work began in December. A very successful community hui was held in Akaroa in December, with around 50 attendees.

On track

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