Waihora Ellesmere Trust

The lake is closed to the sea. The average wind affected level of the lake as recorded on Friday February 17th was 0.74m.

The level at which an opening can be considered at this time of year is 1.05m.

The graph below is a summary of lake level and openings for 2011, to mid December.

To:

M

Customer Services

Thursday, 11 August 2011 9:50 a.m.

Good morning to you all,

The lake is closed to the sea. The average level of the lake as recorded Wednesday 10 August was 1.02m.

The lake was opened to the sea on Thursday 4^th August at a level of 1.17m and closed naturally on Tuesday 9^th August.

The level at which an opening is considered at this time of year is 1.05m.

‘Central Plains Water Enhancement Scheme: the environmental benefits of managing, monitoring and enhancing irrigation practice within the Central Plains Area’.

A chance for WET Trustees, members and anyone else who is interested, to find out more about the controversial Central Plains Water scheme.

Monday February 27^th, 2012, 6.30pm

Lincoln Events Centre, Meijer Drive, Lincoln

Come along to Lincoln Events Centre and hear about the consent conditions that will ensure environmental aspects of the scheme are monitored, mitigated and enhanced during the operational life of the CPW scheme, including the following:

• the implementation of best practice on farms, via a Farm Plan, and how this will improve the management (and losses) of nutrients on farms. (This topic will also include the requirement for all farmers to have their FMP’s audited);

• Environmental Management Fund – what this entails and the process for selection of environmental enhancement projects;

• The committees required to be established as part of the consent and the key role that these groups will have within the operation of the scheme (Environmental Management Fund Committee, Ground and Surface Water Expert Review Panel, Community Liaison Group);

• Ground and surface water monitoring requirements.

After the presentation, which will last around 30 minutes, there will be an opportunity to put questions to CPWL .

After a short break, with light refreshments, a WET Trust meeting will be held.

Recent headlines in the media have highlighted the issues associated with controlling numbers of Canada geese around Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere and other water bodies. From June 9^th 2011 Canada geese were moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife Act. This means the species is no longer managed by fish and game councils and is now “not protected”, meaning different rules apply to hunting or killing these geese.

Emily Moore from Fish & Game NZ has provided the information below to help clarify the situation.

Canada goose hunting on Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora): Previously Canada geese were listed as a ‘game bird’ in the Wildlife Act and as a result hunters needed a hunting licence from Fish & Game to hunt them. This put certain restrictions on when and how they could be hunted. Fish & Game also carried out culls to keep numbers at a level agreed to between the organisation, Federated Farmers and the Department of Conservation (DOC). Recently Canada geese have been removed from the game bird list and therefore a licence is no longer required to hunt them. Federated Farmers recently carried out culls on the lake.

Any firearm can now be used to kill geese; however it is strongly recommended that rifles are not used where the public have access as the ricochet effect is dangerous. Other methods can also be used to kill geese (e.g. egg pricking) as long as they comply with the animal welfare act. In NZ there is no poison approved for the use on waterfowl.

Can I use lead shot to shoot geese? The rule that specified hunters could not use lead steel shot over water was in the Game Notice for hunting game birds. Now Canada geese are no longer classified as a game bird this rule no longer applies. However, to hunt on DOC land (which covers a large amount of the Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere lake edge) a hunting permit is required. This permit specifies no lead shot. It is recommended lead shot not be used over water as the pellets can be ingested by waterfowl which has been shown to have a toxic effect on birds.

What will happen if a hunter is caught in possession of lead shot hunting over water and claims they are not hunting ducks but only Canada geese? If they are using gear capable of shooting game birds at a time and in a location when game birds might reasonably be expected to be present, then it would be for the alleged offender to prove they were not intending to shoot game birds as a defence to a possible charge.

Fish & Game Officer

North Canterbury Fish & Game

3 Horatio Street

phone: 03 366 9191

A health warning has been issued by Canterbury District Health Board because of increased concentrations of toxic algae (cyanobacteria) in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere.

People and animals should avoid contact with the lake until the warning has been lifted.

Further details and a media release are available from the ECan website.

updated Jan 11 2012

The Selwyn-Waihora Zone Implementation Programme for water management was formally received by Environment Canterbury at its council meeting on Thursday December 15, 2011.

A copy can be downloaded from the ECan website.

The full programme, including brief abstracts, has now been added to this website on a new events page – Living Lake Symposium 2011

Some presentations can be downloaded now and the rest will be made available over the next week or so.

The field trip on Saturday November 19th, organised as a follow up to the hugely successsful Living Lake, Changing Catchment symposium held earlier in the week, will head off from Lincoln at 1pm.

If you are coming on the field trip, please make sure you arrive well before 1pm to collect information and be marked off the list!  We may have one or two places available, but we will need know beforehand.  If you have not yet registered and would like to come along, please ring Adrienne on 021 052 9720.

The programme for the Living Lake, Changing Catchment: 2011 Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere integrated catchment symposium is now available.

Contact manager@wet.org.nz for further information

The third Living lake symposium will be held at Lincoln University on November 15th and 16th, with a field trip to follow on Saturday November 19th.

Thanks to generous sponsorship the registration fees are very low, with concessions for WET members. You can download a registration form here, and information about becoming a WET member here.

The fee  for attending Day 1 and Day 2 of the symposium is only $50 ($30 for WET members).  The field trip is only $10 ($5 for WET members).

There is no fee to attend the afternoon session on Wednesday November 16th, focusing on the Selwyn-Waihora Zone Implementation Programme. However, registration is required – you can send in a registration form or email Adrienne with your details.

Symposium Programme

Details are still being finalised but Day 1, Tuesday November 15th, will incude a short presentation from Clive Howard-Williams from NIWA, setting the scene for the symposium.

This will be followed by a series of updates on land use, fisheries, water quantity and quality and restoration initiatives underway around the catchment.  We will hear from Jenny Webster-Brown, Director of the Wateways Centre for Freshwater Management about recent and current research at University of Canterbury and Lincoln University, and about research in the Selwyn/Waikirikiri catchment from a number of NIWA presenters.

Day one concludes with a presentation about the roles and responsbilities of landowners and a chance to mix and mingle over drinks and nibbles.

Day 2 will feature the keynote address from Prof David Hamilton of Waikato University, sharing insights from the North Island and elsewhere. ECan Commissioner Peter Skelton will explain how the Canterbury Water Management Strategy Implementation Programmes will work within the context of the RMA and other planning documents.  We’ll hear about the Land Use and Water Quality project underway in the Hurunui and what can be learned for the Selwyn-Waihora catchment.

The afternoon of Day 2 is a public session – no fee, but we would like people to register.  It will begin with an overview of the principles and concepts of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and emerging trends as the zone committees relesase their Zone Implementation programmes.

From around 2pm the Selwyn-Waihora Zone Committee invite you to hear more about the recently released Selwyn-Waihora Zone Implementation Programme and to have your say.  You can see the ZIP here.

Field Trip

Following the Symposium, on Saturday November 19^th, we’re hosting a field trip to look at some sites in the catchment and hear from experts about the challenges and projects underway.  This will be a great follow up to the symposium.  If you can’t make the symposium, the field trip will give you a flavour of what has been covered and a chance to see what’s happening on the ground.

Use the symposium registration form to register for the field trip.