20 Feb 2014

Freshwater Biodiversity Issues in Canterbury

From Our Changing World, 9:20 pm on 20 February 2014

Estuary at Waimakariri River mouth

View of the estuary at the mouth of the Waimakariri River, one of Canterbury's large braided rivers (images: A. Ballance)

Donald Couch is one of seven Environment Canterbury commissioners appointed in 2010 to replace the previous elected councillors. Among the mandates of the regional council is the management of water in Canterbury. Donald’s area of responsibility include biodiversity, natural hazards and flood protection, and Alison meets him at the mouth of the Waimakariri River as takes a break from a briefing field trip to talk about some of the issues around conserving freshwater biodiversity in Canterbury.

Donald also featured in the recent Treaty Debate 2014 which discussed water rights in Aotearoa - New Zealand.

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