The Canterbury Water Management Strategy originally was initiated to address concerns of the farming industry following the droughts of the 1990s.
Despite considerable effort and provision of legislation Canterbury’s precious water resources have over the past 20 years become increasingly under pressure from water abstraction, pollution, land-use intensification and change and biodiversity decline. For example currently only 31% of lowland streams are graded with fair, good or very good ecological health. This has amounted to an unsustainable situation. In addition decision-making has become increasingly difficult with resource management decisions frequently ending up in court.
These situations had lead to increased interest in reviewing how water was managed in Canterbury and if a more comprehensive and consistent approach could be developed and implemented. This work formed the beginning of the development of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. The Strategic Framework had been finalised in November 2009 and can be viewed or downloaded at the Canterbury Water Management Strategy website.
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