Canterbury Water Management Strategy

Environment Canterbury is responsible for managing the region’s water and our Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) provides a collaborative framework to help manage the multiple demands on this precious resource. 

The overarching vision of the strategy is ‘to gain the greatest cultural, economic, environmental, recreational and social benefits from our water resources within a sustainable framework both now and for future generations’.

This includes managing the flows and levels in any water body, the control of taking, use, damming and diversion of water and the allocation of water and control of discharges.

We have a duty to gather information and undertake research on freshwater resources and to monitor, report on and make information available on the state of the whole or any part of the freshwater environment.

CWMS partners

As the lead agency for this work, we work in collaboration with Ngāi Tahu and territorial authorities (listed below), as well as landholders, industry groups, statutory bodies, NGOs and other agencies.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu | Ngā Papatipu Rūnanga | Ashburton District Council | Christchurch City CouncilHurunui District Council | Kaikōura District Council | Mackenzie District Council | Selwyn District Council | Timaru District Council | Waimakariri District Council | Waimate District Council | Waitaki District Council