Waiology • Nov 22, 2013 •
By Ned Norton and Helen Rouse In the previous Waiology series on Water governance, we referred to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM) (2011) requirement to set limits for water quantity and quality. So, how are councils getting on with limit-setting? In May 2012 we surveyed planners for regional councils to find out how their … Read More
Jesse Dykstra • Nov 20, 2013 •
The central section of the Alpine Fault (Source: wiki.gns.cri.nz) This post is the first of two articles which explore the potential impacts of the next great earthquake on the Alpine Fault and consider how prepared New Zealand is for that event. This builds on a previous post which describes the physical properties of the Alpine Fault in more detail. Improved Understanding of Earthquake Hazards in New Zealand … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Sep 12, 2013 •
Something of a global warming (coverage) hiatus has hit Hot Topic in the last couple of days, courtesy of the rather dramatic gale that hit my part of New Zealand on Tuesday evening. We are all well, and suffered no damage to our house — but there’s a hell of a lot of tidying up […] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Jul 31, 2013 •
What are the prospects for the shorelines of Pegasus Bay as sea level rises, river flows change, and wave directions change? Someone who really knows her erosion from accretion is Sonny Whitelaw, the Hurunui Council’s biodiversity ambassador1. She’ll be talking to the Food For Thought Hurunui group on Monday night at the Memorial Library in […] … Read More
Waiology • Apr 04, 2013 •
By David Eder and Ian Whitehouse In July 2013 the Hurunui-Waiau Zone Committee will notch up three years of work. It was set up as part of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy – a collaborative process for finding local solutions to water issues within an environmentally sustainable framework. In July 2010 the committee’s daunting task was … Read More
Jesse Dykstra • Mar 27, 2013 •
As widely reported in the media yesterday, details of EQC claimants and claims have been leaked in a privacy breach that effects 83,000 Christchurch households. That’s details of every claim between $10-100k, arising from the 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011 earthquakes. The leaked spreadsheet included details of EQC repair cost estimates and associated contractor quotes. If this information … Read More
Waiology • Mar 27, 2013 •
By Bryan Jenkins In her work that won her the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics, Elinor Ostrom identified three types of governance models for common pool resources like water. One is the “Leviathan model” where there is direct government provision of services with integration of policy making and operational functions. The second is the “privatisation model” where … Read More
Waiology • Jan 29, 2013 •
By Philip Grove Canterbury has a wide variety of wetland types in a range of landscapes from the mountains and high country through to the foothills, plains and the coast. The biological productivity of coastal wetlands and their ecological importance in the life cycles of many native fish and birds is well recognised. A national database of inland freshwater wetlands … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Jan 12, 2013 •
A debate over whether the University of Canterbury should move back into the Christchurch CBD seems to be starting again in the letters pages of the Christchurch Press. With large areas of empty land now appearing in the CBD after the demolition of many broken buildings some local residents see this as an opportunity to move the university back into … Read More
Waiology • Oct 29, 2012 •
By Daniel Collins In the Christchurch Press today there is an article about the race to irrigate Canterbury. In it is the following statement: “Canterbury had 70 per cent of New Zealand’s fresh water resource, and 34 per cent of its hydro-generation capacity.” Unfortunately the 70% is an error that has appeared in the past and it is … Read More