Agenda of Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Membership:

Matthew Bayliss (Chair)

Adriana Theobald

Richard Subtil

Marcelo Carena

Michael McMillan

Rynee de Garnham

Scott Aronsen

Brent Cowles

Nick Ward

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Upper Waitaki Zone Committee Meeting Friday 12^th May 10.00am Omarama Station
Time	Item	Reference	Lead
10.00	Opening Karakia		Mana Whenua
	Welcome		Chair
	Standing Items Apologies, Minutes, Conflicts of Intertest, Matters arising		Chair
10.10	CWMS Action Plan Budget Initiatives 2022/23 – for review Ahuriri Catchment Group: Willow and Wilding Control Ohau Conservation Trust		Facilitator
	CWMS Action Plan Budget Initiatives 2022/23 – for review and decision *Native Demonstration Plots* *Ahuriri Catchment Group: Facilitator*		Facilitator
11:30	Zone Facilitator’s Report Twizel River Reserve facilitation LoL update Action Plan Goal Review		Facilitator Chair Facilitator
11:40	General Business		All
11:50	Closing Karakia		Mana Whenua

The meeting will be followed by a hangi, with students arriving from Omarama School.

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting Minutes 14 April 2023

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Unconfirmed MINUTES

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting

14 April 2023

MINUTES OF
Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting
HELD AT THE Mackenzie Country Hotel, Twizel
ON Friday, 14 April 2023 AT 10.45am

PRESENT: Chairperson Matthew Bayliss, Deputy Adriana Theobald, Richard Subtil, Michael McMillan, Cr Scott Aronsen

IN ATTENDANCE: Andrew Oliver (Ecan facilitator), John Benn (DOC), Kate Doran (Ecan), Tim Davie (Ecan), Sharyn Cain (Waimate District Council – online), Rhys Taylor (Canterbury Catchment Collective – online), Arlene Goss (Governance Advisor), Rick Ramsay and Nick Douglas (Aquaculture Group), Felicity McMillan and Lex Evans (Arowhenua), Tim Davie (Director of Science at Ecan), Sharyn Cain (Waimate District Council – online)

1 Opening

Michael McMillan opened the meeting with a karakia. The chairman asked if there was any general business to add to the agenda. Adriana Theobald asked for a discussion on the upcoming canal clean-up.

Everyone at the meeting was asked to introduce themselves.

2 Apologies

Apologies were received from Cr Nick Ward and member Marcelo Carena.

Apologies were not received from members Rynee de Garnam or Cr Brent Coles.

3 Declarations Of Interest

There were no declarations of interest in addition to those listed in the agenda.

4 Visitors

Visitors who spoke to the committee included Rhys Taylor (Canterbury Catchment Collective – online), Felicity McMillan and Lex Evans (Arowhenua).

5 Reports

5.1 Minutes of Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting - 2 December 2022

Committee Resolution UPP/2023/101

Moved: Deputy Adriana Theobald

Seconded: Member Michael McMillan

1. That the Minutes of the Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting held on Friday 2 December 2022 be received and confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.

Carried

5.2 Biodiversity - Native Nursery Plots

The purpose of this report was to talk about a plan to establish trial native nursery demonstration plots in key locations as a community education and seed resource for the purpose of (but not exclusive to) repopulating riparian zones with native plant species.

Felicity McMillan and Lex Evans spoke on behalf of Te Kete Tipuranga O Hurapa. Felicity McMillan said the team currently had about 2000 plants on the ground. Lex Evans said it was a cool story for Arowhenua to be involved in this space. There was such a diverse range of habitat in the district.

They started the nursery with people who had no knowledge, and the project was growing people as well as plants, with people being upskilled. The project would like to be involved with the wider communities whenever there was a conservation project. They were funded under Jobs for Nature but would like to become a viable commercial entity.

They were looking for seeds of rare native plants in the basin that could be used to grow plants and re-introduce them. Currently working on a project on the Batchelor property at Burkes Pass, and another at Mesopotamia Station.

Mr Evans said everyone had good intentions, but it was difficult to make something like this financially sustainable in the long term.

He was interested in setting up pockets of native plantings within the Mackenzie District and providing education in the wider community.

Richard Subtil said as a landowner he wanted to start planting but didn’t know where to start and didn’t want to do it if the plants were going to die in a year or two. He would like a road map. Mr Evans said this concern came up often. He suggested planting in public view so people would see it and there was an incentive to take care of the plants. He also spoke about the need for plant maintenance over the first four years.

Adriana Theobald asked whether the project could cultivate dryland plants. Mr Evans said he was experimenting with different soil mixes, but the key was the hardening off the plant. He explained the process for conditioning the plants before planting.

Cr Scott Aronsen said he was encouraged to hear about the work currently underway.

The committee asked Mr Evans to prepare a road map including costs and bring it back to the committee. Mr Evans also suggested that he reach out to interested parties regarding funding.

Richard Subtil asked how much land is optimal to work on. He would like to identify three possible sites and have Mr Evans look at them. Mr Evans suggested starting small because it could be easily managed, and you could create quality plants. He suggested up to five acres, and public sites.

Adriana Theobald noted the need to sign off a budget before the end of June and asked if this could happen quickly. Mr Evans offered to bring a proposal to the next meeting.

Richard Subtil suggested a planting site at Omarama, and Cr Scott Aronsen also had a site at the Twizel River. The chairman also mentioned a site at Otematata. The committee asked Mr Evans to look at two or three sites.

5.3 Love Our Lakes

The purpose of this report was to ask if the committee would like to purchase new Love Our Lakes signage from this year’s budget and decide on key locations.

Kate Doran gave a presentation on the Love Our Lakes campaign. This is available as an attachment to these minutes.

Discussion took place on how to measure the effectiveness of the campaign last summer.

Cr Aronsen suggested that the water zone committee approach the three councils and ask the freedom camping ambassadors for information about what needs to be targeted.

Kate Doran said the committee had $5,000 left in its communications budget and could spend $2,500 on three solid signs? If yes, where would they go?

Sites suggested were Lake Ruataniwha, Lake Pohaka, Lake Pukaki. The chairman raised difficulties dealing with the Department of Conservation when asking for signs on DOC land.

Boat ramps were suggested, but there were a lot of signs there already, including the Ecan boating signs.

The committee decided to spend the entire $5,000 on solid signs and passed the resolution below.

The chairman suggested the committee holds a focus session to discuss future initiatives for the Love Our Lakes campaign. A sub-committee of the chairman, Adriana Theobald, Richard Subtil and the three council representatives would meet and report back to the main committee. It was suggested this group hold a workshop before the next formal meeting.

Committee Resolution UPP/2023/102

Moved: Mr Richard Subtil

Seconded: Deputy Adriana Theobald

That the Upper Waitaki Water Zone committee agrees that the remaining communications budget of approximately $5,000 be spent on solid signs to communicate the Love Our Lakes messages.

Carried

5.4 Catchments Collective South Canterbury (CCSC)

Rhys Taylor presented to the committee on the Catchment Collective South Canterbury, their aims, objectives, and how he may add to the value and reach of Catchment Groups in the upper basins. A MOU exists between ECAN and the CCSC to facilitate support.

Mr Taylor spoke about his experience in the OTOP water zone with establishing catchment groups in that area. There were currently 10 catchment groups in South Canterbury. He outlined the activities and issues in each area.

The catchment collective was set up in 2021 as a non-profit legal entity to bring together the catchment groups and apply for funding.

Discussion took place on whether the committee should fund a facilitator to work with catchment groups in the Upper Waitaki Zone. Mr Taylor offered suggestions on the type of person to look for, and what they might do.

The chairman was concerned that catchment group representatives were not present at the meeting to express their views on whether a facilitator would be helpful.

It would be helpful to have a facilitator who could work with several groups at once. Mr Taylor said catchment groups needed to work with mana whenua, but there was a suspicion that catchment groups were just another Federated Farmers and not interested in the collective good. This perception needed to be addressed.

The chairman said the next step was to find out if the Ahuriri catchment group needed funding support from the committee. It was already an incorporated society, so did not need support to hold or raise funds.

It was disappointing that the South Canterbury Catchment Collective had been established for a few years and nobody at Ecan had mentioned this to the Upper Waitaki Zone at a time when this would have been helpful.

Richard Subtil agreed to approach the Ahuriri Catchment Group to ascertain their views. It was suggested that a representative be invited to attend water zone committee meetings in the future.

The chairman was concerned about setting up lots of small catchment groups, when the water zone committee was having trouble finding members due to the small population of the district.

After further discussion the decision was made that Richard Subtil would take this information to the Ahuriri Catchment Group and come back to the next meeting with their views.

Mr Taylor was thanked for his presentation, and he left the meeting.

5.5 Public Information Presentations/Workshops

The committee wanted to sponsor an annual series of information workshops and evenings that supported the health and mauri of our water.

Facilitator Andrew Oliver said it was possible to run any information events the committee wanted. The cost of hiring a hall would come from the Ecan communications budget. He would discuss this further with Richard Subtil.

5.6 Zone Facilitator's Update

The chairman reported back from a recent hui. He learned there was another round of planning taking place at Ecan, and discussion took place on how the zone committee would be involved in the consultation process. At the hui there was also a discussion on Overseer and its deficit as a statutory tool to measure nutrient loss.

Tim Davie from Ecan said by 2024 they would be reviewing the regional policy statement and believed this would fulfill the requirements of the required review. There was less room to work with the community in developing the plan, due to the government setting national freshwater targets. The zone committees would not be involved as much as it was last time when the targets were set.

Discussion took place on current issues including Overseer, and the constant changes happening in the farming sector.

The committee agreed to go ahead with the Hangi at Omarama Station at the next meeting. Richard Subtil and Michael McMillan would meet with Andrew Oliver next week to discuss this. This day would include a formal meeting of the zone committee to make decisions.

The committee then discussed potential locations for native plantings (see previous item). The chairman suggested the two locations be at Omarama and Twizel for native planting.

Twizel River Reserve – Andrew Oliver has booked a meeting space to bring the stakeholders together. This meeting would take place on June 30^th.

The Canal Clean up would be discussed at the communications focus group.

Sharyn Cain from Waimate District Council thanked the committee for a good meeting and said she enjoyed observing online.

The Meeting closed at 1.41pm.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed at the Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting held on 12 May 2023.

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CHAIRPERSON

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting Agenda 12 May 2023

1.2 Interests Register

Author: Arlene Goss, Governance Advisor

Authoriser:

Attachments: Nil

Staff Recommendations

That the information be noted.

Declaration of Interests Register – as at May 9, 2023

Keeping a Zone Committee Members’ declarations of interest register allows Zone Committees to identify and manage a conflict of interest when it arises.

1. The Office of the Auditor General notes a conflict of interest can arise when: “A member’s or official’s duties or responsibilities to a public entity could be affected by some other interest or duty that the member or official may have.”^{^[1]}

If a member is in any doubt as to whether or not they have a conflict of interest, then the Member should seek guidance from Catherine Schache (General Counsel, Environment Canterbury), the Zone Facilitator and/or refer to the following guidance: https://oag.parliament.nz/2020/lamia

Types of Interest to be documented in the register:

Employment, trade or profession carried on by the Member or the Member’s spouse for profit or gain

Company, trust, partnership etc for which the Member or their spouse is a director, partner or trustee, or a shareholder of more than 10% shares

Address of any land in which the Member has a beneficial interest and which is in the area of the Zone Committee

The address of any land where the landlord is Environment Canterbury, Mackenzie District Council or Waitaki District Council and:

the member or their spouse is a tenant;

the land is tenanted by a firm in which the member or spouse is a partner, a company of which the Member or spouse is a director, or a Trust of which the Member or spouse is a Trustee.

Any other matters which the public might reasonably regard as likely to influence the Member’s actions during the course of their duties as a Member.

Any contracts held between the Member or the Member’s spouse and Environment Canterbury, Mackenzie District Council or Waitaki District Council. Including contracts in which the Member or their spouse is a partner, a company of which the spouse is a director and/or holds more than 10% in shares, or a Trust of which the Member or their spouse is a trustee (noting that no committee member should be a party to a contract with Environment Canterbury or the relevant TLA if that value is more than $25,000 per annum)

2. Zone Committee members are to ensure that the information contained in this register is accurate and complete.

Name	Committee Member Interests
Cr Scott Aronsen	Mackenzie District Councillor, Register of interests held by Mackenzie District Council.
Mat Bayliss	Head of Generation Strategy for Meridian Energy in Twizel. Shareholder of Meridian Energy. Consents held CRC142283.
Marcelo Carena	Independent consultant/contractor. Independent writer for the Twizel Update. Volunteer member of Mackenzie Wilding Pines Trust.
Cr Brent Cowles	Waitaki District Councillor, Register of interests held by Waitaki District Council
Rynee de Garnham	Te Rūnanga o Waihao.
Michael McMillan	Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua.
Richard Subtil	Farmer and irrigator in Omarama catchment. Member of Omarama Stream Water Users Group. Committee member of Omarama Airfield. Resource consents CRC010693.1, CRC010694, CRC010727.2, CRC110202, CRC122382, CRC174573, CRC194088, CRC194520, CRC203348.
Adriana Theobald	No interests.
Cr Nick Ward	Environment Canterbury Councillor, Register of interests held by Environment Canterbury.

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting Agenda 12 May 2023

1.3 CWMS Action Plan Budget 2022/23 – for review

Author: Staff Report, Environment Canterbury

Authoriser:

Attachments: 1. Application from Ahuriri Catchment Community Group (ACCG) ⇩

Purpose of Report

The purpose of this agenda item is to enable the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee to confirm its support of projects using the Zone Committee’s Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) Action Plan Budget for the 2022/23 financial year.

The committee has been provided with information on the following project initiatives to review in advance of this meeting to assist in confirming its final recommendations. They are:

1: Ahuriri Catchment Community Group – Pest control $15,000

2: Ohau Conservation Trust – Lake Middleton Cultural Values report $15,000

Please note: The Ohau Conservation Trust application information was still being prepared at the time of the 12 May meeting paper collation and, consequently, will be emailed to the committee for review in advance of the meeting.

Staff Recommendations

That the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee:

1) Receives the information provided on the proposed CWMS Action Plan Budget project initiatives to support for the 2022-23 financial year.

2) Reviews the information provided for these initiatives and confirms if it satisfied with the information provided or requires further information or clarification.

3) Confirms its approval of each project initiatives presented for review, based on the $50,000 CWMS Action Plan Budget allocated for each CWMS Water Zone for the 2022/23 financial year, should it be satisfied with the information provided.

1 Ahuriri Catchment Community Group – Pest control $X

2 Ohau Conservation Trust – Lake Middleton Cultural Values report $X

Background

As part of their Long-Term Plan 2021-2031, Environment Canterbury established the Zone Committee Action Plan Budget and committed $50,000 per Water Zone for the 2021-22 financial year. Another $50,000 for each CWMS Water Zone was confirmed by Environment Canterbury it its 2022/23 Annual Plan.

The purpose of the budget is to support Zone Committees to focus on implementing their action plan and leverage other funding opportunities to achieve their Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) priorities.

CWMS Action Plan Budget Initiatives – Assessment by the Committee

Since the April meeting, the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee has received two further applications for funding being initiatives 3 – 1 and 3 – 2. They are provided for the committee to review at this 12 May meeting towards a final decision on Zone Committee’s Action Plan Budget 2022/23

Initiative 1 for review:

This initiative will support pest control in the Ahuriri catchment.

Initiative 2 for review:

This initiative will support a cultural values report being prepared for Lake Middleton.

Upper Waitaki Zone Water Management Committee Meeting Agenda 12 May 2023

1.4 CWMS Action Plan Budget 2022/23 – for decision

Author: Staff Report, Environment Canterbury

Authoriser:

Attachments: 1. Letter from Lex Evans re Native Demonstration Plots ⇩

2. Application from Te Kete Tipuranga o Huirapa Ltd. ⇩

3. Application from Ahuriri Community Catchment Group ⇩

Purpose of Report

The purpose of the agenda item is to enable the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee to confirm its support of projects using the Zone Committee’s Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) Action Plan Budget for the 2022/23 financial year.

The committee has received information on the following project initiatives to review in advance of this meeting to assist in confirming its final recommendations. They are:

1: Te Kete Tipuranga O Hurapa Ltd – Native Demonstration Plots $19,500

2: Ahuriri Catchment Community Group – Facilitator $10,000

Please refer to attachments for the application information provided for each of these project initiatives respectively.

Staff Recommendations

That the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee:

1. Receives the information provided on the proposed CWMS Action Plan Budget project initiatives to support for the 2022-23 financial year.

2. Approves its support for the two project initiatives presented based on the $50,000 CWMS Action Plan Budget allocated for each CWMS Water Zone for the 2022/23 financial year.

1 Te Kete Tipuranga O Hurapa Ltd – Native Demonstration Plots $X

2 Ahuriri Catchment Community Group – Facilitator $X

Background

CWMS Action Plan Budget Initiatives – Assessment by the Committee

At the 14 April meeting, the Upper Waitaki Water Zone Committee considered these proposed initiatives. The following points were noted by the committee.

1: Te Kete Tipuranga O Hurapa Ltd – Native Demonstration Plots

Two sites have been identified for the demonstration plots. Both are of around 1ha in size. One site being in the Twizel River Reserve in the proximity of the road margin opposite ‘Nuns Veil’ Rd the other in Omarama Stream.

2: Ahuriri Catchment Community Group – Facilitator

The committee requested it be clarified if the Ahuriri Catchment Group needed funding support from the CWMS Action Plan Budget in this financial year. This has been confirmed with Ahuriri Catchment Group providing an application for a facilitator position (attachment 2).

[1] Office of the Auditor General Good Practice Guide – Managing Conflicts of Interest: Guidance for public entities

Date:	Friday, 12 May 2023
Time:	10.00am
Location:	Omarama Station