New Zealands specialist land-based university The future of water governance in Canterbury Professor Ali Memon Lincoln University

New Zealands specialist land-based university Key message I wish to convey Canterbury faces a water crisis (???) This crisis is our own creation: how we have interacted with our environment Big challenge: how to convert this crisis into an opportunity for transformative change. Focus: how we (humans) should interact with each other and with our environment

New Zealands specialist land-based university My talk: Define the scope of the problem Reflections on water governance in Canterbury

New Zealands specialist land-based university 3 key imperatives for good water governance Design institutions for water governance that: Protect sustenance functions of water Manage economic functions of water And are democratic

New Zealands specialist land-based university a. The basic sustenance imperative There is no substitute for water for survival of all forms of life: human, animal & vegetative. Arguably, access to clean water for drinking (human and animals) and for recreation are fundamental human as well as environmental rights.

New Zealands specialist land-based university Questions Are these rights adequately protected in our current formal and informal institutions in Canterbury? Who should pay for protecting water for exercising human/environmental rights? Is the current distribution of cost burden fair between community and the economic sphere?

New Zealands specialist land-based university b. Material wealth production and capital accumulation imperative In the economic sphere, water essential factor of production. Difficult/costly to substitute. Scarcity value. But hitherto, treated as a free gift of nature. Agriculture in Canterbury a growth machine Economistic values deeply imbedded in our formal and informal institutions.

New Zealands specialist land-based university Question Capital accumulation fundamental economic driver and cause of current water crisis in all parts of the world. The environmental problematique. In Canterbury, to what extent are we addressing the fundamental causes of water conflicts or merely seeking to remedy adverse impacts of capital accumulation?

New Zealands specialist land-based university c. Democratic decision making Electoral and participatory Electoral democracy multi-scalar: hierarchical, command and control governance Now criticised Risk: throw baby out with the bathwater???

New Zealands specialist land-based university Participatory democracy flavour of the month Shift from government to governance Collaborative goverance; co-management

New Zealands specialist land-based university Question How democratically robust are our current water institutions in Canterbury? How well do we marry top-down governance and participatory democracy?

New Zealands specialist land-based university Water governance in Canterbury Two key elements of the current governance framework. Not totally congruent with each other Canterbury Water Management Strategy Replacement of elected members by central government appointed commissioners with strong mandate (Canterbury Act)

New Zealands specialist land-based university Reflections: Divergent expectations re: zone committee roles Accountability of zone committees Sustainability of intensive agriculture in a dry region Re-configuration of the local government map

New Zealands specialist land-based university a. Divergent understandings Act top-down focus. Replaced electoral democracy with Cabinet appointed members. Statutory planning instruments: strong powers Akin to command and control governance CWMS: Key role assigned to zone committees. Akin to participatory governance model ; bottom-up focus.

New Zealands specialist land-based university The HW Zone Committee Recent Hurunui experience: collision Loss of trust

New Zealands specialist land-based university Possible causes Possible reasons: deliberate ambivalence in the CWMS? Thus, divergent understandings/expectations

New Zealands specialist land-based university b. Accountability of zone committee members Ambivalence in the CWMS Hurunui experience with appointment: trust issue

New Zealands specialist land-based university c. Sustainability of intensive agriculture in a dry region Historically, civilisations based on irrigation in arid regions not resilient to change Reluctance to debate this issue in Canterbury

New Zealands specialist land-based university d. Reconfiguration of future local government map in Canterbury After the commissioners??? Unitary authority/supercity/two tier authority scenarios. Permutations of these. Need robust public debate but reluctance Seize the opportunity now before Nick Smith comes back ! Who is going to take the lead???