Water user groups
Water take consent holders can share water during times of restriction if they are part of a water user group.
A water user group is defined in the Land and Water Regional Plan as a group of users with existing authorisations to take water, voluntarily grouped together to collectively manage the water resource allocated to them, primarily during times of restriction.
Benefits include:
- maximising water resources allocated to group members, primarily during times of restriction
- saving on compliance costs by having one service provider who collates and reports to Environment Canterbury on water use
- consistency with consent monitoring by having one officer monitoring compliance with the resource consents that form part of the group
- providing confidence on how water is to be allocated and used under potential and actual restrictions.
A water user group can only be formed to share water between water takes that are like for like, such as surface water takes and/or groundwater takes where all the water is derived from a river or groundwater takes without a connection to a surface water body (i.e. all the water is derived from an aquifer).
Your consent must also have a condition allowing you to be part of a water user group. If your consent does not have this condition, you are advised to contact us to see if you can apply to vary your consent.
All takes forming part of a water user group must be metered in line with their consent and water metering regulations with telemetry technology.
Registering a water user group
To register a water user group, you'll need to download, complete and sign two forms, which are available in our document library here. All proposed members need to sign the forms.
Making changes to a water user group
To make changes to a water user group, including adding or removing members/consent holders, you'll need to download, complete and sign the relevant forms, which are available in our document library here.