Last week I attended the launch of the new Waterways Centre – for Freshwater Management.
The Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Climate Change Issues acknowledged the importance of this joint initiative between Canterbury and Lincoln Universities which creates a centre for excellence in water resource education and research.
As someone who has been involved in water management and knows how difficult it is, I see this centre as hugely valuable. Everyone in Canterbury is keen to see the better management of water quality and water allocation. To get it right we require better regulation, stronger institutions and improved knowledge and skills and this initiative will underpin future work. Its strength is its collaborative cross discipline approach. The new centre will bring together the engineering, agricultural, geology, environmental and geography disciplines of the Universities to help provide the necessary research and skills base to help New Zealand better manage water.
To help kick start the project the Government is contributing $1 million to the Centre and is particularly pleased that both Lincoln and Canterbury Universities are involved- there are real synergies between the Universities that can be exploited in the centre.
The Waterways Centre is a great step forward for the management of water in Canterbury and it needs to be seen alongside the Land and Water Forum process, the Government’s decisions to appoint commissioners at Environment Canterbury, the mandatory requirement for irrigators to install water meters, the development of stronger national standards with a new Environmental Protection Authority and tougher penalties and enforcement of water quality standards.
Professor Jenny Webster- Brown is the new Director of the Centre and I liked her comment that it was time to roll up the sleeves and get on with the job.
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