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Backgrounder

The Central Plains Water scheme is a proposal to irrigate 60,000 hectares of dry farmland by damming the Waianiwaniwa Valley near Glentunnel to create a water storage lake. The lake would be filled from the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers. The stored water would be distributed for irrigation through a network of canals radiating out from the lake.

The scheme grew out of earlier feasibility studies funded by the Selwyn District and Christchurch City councils. Following those feasibility studies, the councils set up the Central Plains Water Trust (www.cpw.org.nz). The Trust, in turn, set up Central Plains Water (CPW) Ltd, a private company with some 400 shareholders consisting mostly of local farm owners.

Water Use Approval

In November 2005, the Trust applied to the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) for water use resource consents. Part of the application consisted of an Assessment of Environmental Effects.

Land Use Approval

In mid-2006 the Trust applied to the Selwyn District Council for land use permission. The council requested further information before publicly notifying the application in November and inviting submissions. The submission deadline closed on 29 January 2007.

Additional Further Information

After the application had been notified, the council requested additional further information. For more on this click here.

Further Approvals Sought - May 2007

The Central Plains Water Trust applied to the Selwyn District Council and Environment Canterbury to replace a proposed canal with a proposed 10km tunnel. The public was notified and submissions were invited. The submissions closed on Friday, 1 June. For more information click here

Who Decides?

To avoid any conflict of interest on the council's part, the submissions are being analysed by a panel of independent commissioners whose recommendations will be binding on the council. For more information click here.

Frequently Asked Questions

(Note: The following FAQs have not been updated since May 2006. Some aspects relating to the timing of applications are no longer accurate.)

Click here for detailed answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the relationship between the Selwyn District Council and CPW Ltd.