Category: Environment Canterbury Regional Council

Winter means wetter soils, deeper drainage, and surface water ponding, all of which pose a risk to a bore’s water quality.

If you haven’t checked your bore recently or tested its water, you probably should. This is to make sure it’s still in good working order and protected from contaminants.

E. coli is just one of the health threats that can enter a drinking water supply, especially after heavy rain. Likewise, depending on their level, contaminants such as nitrate can also pose a problem.

If you own a private drinking water source, please keep in mind that you’re responsible for its maintenance and for testing the water.

Also, if others on the farm in different properties are drinking the water, then by law you’re considered to be the supplier – something that comes with certain responsibilities.

To find out about these responsibilities, get in touch with Taumata Arowai – the water services regulator for Aotearoa New Zealand. You’ll also need to register your water supply with them.

Tips for looking after your supply

To keep your drinking water safe, you should think about what could enter your bore from the surface or from groundwater.

• A ‘must do’ is to have it fenced off from stock – at least five metres away is recommended.
• It’s also best to have the bore located away from areas where chemicals are used, such as fertiliser or pesticides.
• Likewise, things such as compost, rubbish, offal pits, septic tanks, or effluent disposal areas can contaminate surface water through run off or enter groundwater by leaching through the soil.
• Keep the borehead elevated and securely sealed. Ideally, this should be half a metre above ground and surrounded by a concrete apron. Find out more about keeping your bore safe.

The importance of testing

A key take home message is to test the water regularly. We recommend getting an independently accredited IANZ lab to do the analysis. You can find out who and where these are on the Taumata Arowai website.

If you’re concerned about the water quality or if testing shows that the water does not meet drinking water standards, you’ll need to treat the water. Each water supply is different, so we recommend getting specialist advice before doing so.

More information

We realise that farmers have a lot on their plate and a lot is asked of them, and that things are pretty tough out there right now, but please prioritise the health of your property’s drinking water supply.

Ongoing dry conditions – due to lack of rain and snow melt – continue to put significant pressure on lakes and rivers across Waitaha/Canterbury.

“While we have since seen some localised rainfall, there hasn’t been anywhere near enough to recharge our lakes and rivers and this is having a significant effect across the region,” Surface Water Science Manager Elaine Moriarty said. 

“Lakes and rivers throughout Canterbury are still at record low levels and there’s no saying when this will improve, with early winter not producing longed-for rainfall.”   

In their June to August Seasonal Climate Outlook, NIWA is forecasting below normal river flows and soil moisture levels, and near normal or below normal winter rainfall, with soil moisture deficits and long-term dryness that will be slow to improve.  

“The lack of rain is having widespread impacts,” Elaine said. “For farmers, it’s reducing feed available for stock and there is likely to be less water available for irrigation later in the year. For recreationists, the rivers and lakes may not be as suitable for water sports and recreation when summer comes – and some areas may be more vulnerable to the growth of nuisance algae.

“Those effects flow through to our aquatic life, which can be negatively impacted by low river levels and, for mana whenua, it will most certainly affect mahinga kai.”  

While we will continue monitoring water levels closely, it’s not an easy fix. Creating diversions from other rivers and streams requires careful management to balance any potential negative effects elsewhere. As such, resource consent is required under the Resource Management Act (RMA) to take water from any other waterway.  

“With all of our rivers and lakes region-wide experiencing lower than normal levels, we can all play a part in conserving water resources,” Elaine said.  

How this looks on the ground: Lake Camp/Ōtautari

Lake Camp/Ōtautari is a small alpine lake in the Ōtūwharekai Ashburton Lakes region experiencing low water levels due to lack of rain and snow.   

Locals and nearby hut holders are becoming increasingly concerned the lake levels will be too low for recreational activities such as water skiing and boating later in the year and are calling for organisations to take action. 

“While we can certainly understand the concern being expressed by residents, at this stage we are not seeing a negative impact on Lake Camp’s water quality or macrophyte community as a result of the low water levels. This is because Lake Camp is very deep in the middle, going down 18 metres, which helps support aquatic life, such as fish and plants, during dry times.  

“We are continuing to monitor Lake Camp closely.”  

It’s not uncommon for small lakes like Lake Camp, which either have small or no permanent inflow, to have large variations in lake levels throughout the year. Because of its depth, Lake Camp is more tolerant to these variations than shallower lakes, such as Lake Emma, and Lake Lyndon.  

Local community proposes new water diversion

In recent weeks we’ve been talking to local hutholders, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Fish and Game NZ, about the lake and its current state, and a proposal from hutholders to divert water to raise water levels for local recreation purposes.   

Fish and Game previously held a resource consent to operate and divert water into Lake Camp from the nearby Balmacaan Stream, which was relinquished in 2020.  

While any individual or organisation can apply for resource consent to divert water to Lake Camp for recreational purposes (such as boating and jet skiing), Resource Management Act (RMA) processes would need to be followed to ensure the local environment and other lakes would not be negatively impacted by a new diversion.  

A permit to build any necessary structures would also be required by the landowner – the Department of Conservation – as the previous structure was damaged by flooding and subsequently removed.   

View the current water levels of

Lake Camp

Feature image: Lake Camp is on the left.

Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) has agreed a new committee structure that streamlines its business and focus on its three core services.

At the Council meeting today (24 July 2024), the existing five current standing committees have been formally discharged and two new standing committees have been created.

The new Strategy and Policy Committee will provide advice and report back to Council on the development of positions or approaches on current or emerging issues of local, regional and national significance. 

The Regional Delivery Committee will have governance oversight of the organisation’s delivery, including the three core services. It will receive performance and financial reporting at core service level.  

All Councillors will be members of both committees.

Council voted to defer appointing chairs and deputy chairs, and appointment of Councillors to lead core service roles for the Regional Delivery Committee, until the next Council meeting.

Representation ahead of next elections

Council’s decisions also featured representation arrangements ahead of the 2025 and 2028 local body elections. Council locked in its initial proposal, Option 3, which retains the existing overall structure for representation, but with changes to the boundaries of the current Mid Canterbury/ Ōpākihi and South Canterbury/ Ōtuhituhi constituencies.

This means the Ashburton district would be combined with South Canterbury/ Ōtuhituhi to form an expanded Mid-South Canterbury/ Ōtuhituhi constituency. The Selwyn district would form its own constituency, Selwyn/ Waikirikiri. Formal public consultation will open on 2 August 2024.

Helping the community stay in touch with Council business

Council also discussed enhancing public awareness of council decision making. This work stems from the Ombudsman’s 2023 report Open for Business: a report on the Chief Ombudsman’s investigation into local council meetings and workshops. 

Some of the ways Council will be doing this include making all briefings and workshops public by default and livestreaming council meetings, and briefings and workshops where practicable, by the end of the year.

 Download the

Meeting agenda  – 24 July 2024 (PDF file, 29.0MB).

Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) is celebrating its 21 newest electric buses, as it looks towards an all-electric future.  

The buses, which will be used on its urban fleet, bring its total number of electric vehicles (EVs) to 65. 

Councillor Vicky Southworth is excited by the new milestone. 

“Our urban bus fleet is now 26% electric. To have 21 more buses connecting people across Greater Christchurch every day, with zero emissions, is progress that I’m really proud of,” she said.  

Funding and support

Four of the buses arrived in January, with the remaining 17 having arrived in the last month. 10 of the new EVs were funded through New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA)/Waka Kotahi’s Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) programme.  

“We successfully bid for money from this fund and are really pleased to see it come to fruition in the form of these new EVs,” Environment Canterbury Public Transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said. 

The other buses were funded through a combination of NZTA National Land Transport Fund and Environment Canterbury’s 2023/24 Annual Plan and 2024/34 Long-Term Plan. 

Two of the new vehicles are set to be used on the Orbiter route, while the other 19 are being deployed across the network where they will get maximum use.

An event has been held at Environment Canterbury on July 23, 2024, to mark this electric milestone.

“It is really special getting together with other public transport advocates, groups and organisations to talk about the new additions, and how we see that number growing in future,” Cr Southworth said.

Environmental impact

“While we’re working away at the electrification of our fleet, we want to also acknowledge that every time one of our customers chooses to travel with Metro rather than driving a petrol vehicle, they’re directly contributing to reducing our region’s carbon emissions. We’ve had 2.8 million more Metro trips taken in Greater Christchurch over the last 12 months, which is a huge benefit for our city and environment,” Stewart said.

With the addition of these 21 new EVs, our urban fleet is expected to reduce Metro’s carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by an estimated 22.8% percent when compared to our existing diesel fleet, equivalent to over 3,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide saved annually, compared to a full diesel fleet.

Likewise, the emissions reduction from these electric buses includes over 22,000 kilograms less nitrogen oxide emissions and 193 kilograms less particulate matter, which is also a win for air quality.

“Our electric vehicle fleet is set to increase to 70 by the end of the year – with the arrival of another five buses expected over the next few months,” Stewart said.

“This will help push us closer to our goal of having our urban fleet fully zero emissions by 2035,” he added.

All 21 of the new EVs are owned by Kinetic.