From Pride and Prejudice towards Sense and Sensibility in Canterbury Water Management

Abstract

In the decade following 2000, water management in the Canterbury region of Aotearoa New Zealand was characterised by irrigation expansion, agricultural intensification, and first-come-first-served water allocation. Some communities grew concerned about the impacts of intensive farming on water quality, river flows, and groundwater levels; others were concerned about a lack of meaningful reflection of Māori values in decision-making. In response, the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, published in 2009, promoted devolved collaborative governance of freshwater resources. A year later, regional councillors were dismissed by central government over concerns about water management and replaced by appointed commissioners through an Act of Parliament. The ensuing period of water management has been both praised and criticised. In this paper we examine water management in Canterbury through a case study in the Selwyn Waihora Zone. We use a causal framework to assess water management, focusing on the process that developed regulatory and non-regulatory recommendations and informed the Selwyn Waihora sub-regional section of the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan. We conclude that the collaborative process described is not a ‘quick-fix’ solution but a radical shift from previous approaches and, although it had some success, it might not be resilient to national political changes.