We're engaging with communities to protect and improve the quality of streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwater throughout Canterbury. Decisions on water allocation and nutrient management are driven by recommendations from water zone committees in 10 areas.

About the water zone committees

Water zone committees work with the community to deliver the targets of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

Canterbury Water Regional Committee

The committee was established in mid-2010 to address regionally-significant water management issues such as infrastructure and environmental enhancement projects.

Selwyn Waihora water zone

The Selwyn Waihora water zone stretches from the upper Waimakariri basin and the high country around Lake Coleridge down to Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere.

Banks Peninsula water zone

The Banks Peninsula water zone is made up of eroded volcanic domes that have been breached by the sea. Its catchments are short, steep and prone to flash flooding.

Christchurch West Melton water zone

The Christchurch West Melton water zone is home to spring-fed streams and rivers, aquifer zones, the Port Hills and the braided Waimakariri River.

Hurunui Waiau water zone

The Hurunui Waiau water zone features alpine rivers, the hill-fed Waipara and Conway rivers and the north Pegasus Bay coastal wetlands and coastal hills.

Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury water zone

The Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury water zone features spring-fed streams, coastal lagoons, complex groundwater flows and part of the Waitaki River.

Orari Temuka Opihi Pareora water zone

The Orari Temuka Opihi Pareora water zone has hill-fed braided rivers and coastal areas with strong and complex links between ground and surface water.

Upper Waitaki water zone

The Upper Waitaki catchment is almost completely derived from glacial activity with features ranging from alpine ice fields and lakes to braided river plains.

Waimakariri water zone

The Waimakariri water zone lies north of the Waimakariri River and extends from Pegasus Bay in the east to the Puketeraki Range in the west.

Kaikōura water zone

The Kaikōura water zone is one of the most tectonically active parts of New Zealand and features diverse landscapes, biodiversity and land uses over short distances.

Ashburton water zone

The Ashburton water zone is bordered by two large braided rivers — the Rakaia and Rangitata, which have their headwaters in the Southern Alps.