Illegal water use

Press, 27 September 1982, Page 20

Illegal water use

While Canterbury withers in the grip of a drought, news comes that up to half the water-users in North Canterbury do. not have a water right and are taking water illegally. -.The disclosure was made at a meeting of the North Canterbury Catchment Board’s resource committee on Friday. The problem is not a new one, but it has achieved a greater prominence than usual because of the drought that is turning pastures into dust and drying usually reliable wells and watercourses. Not only has the dry spell focused attention on illegal water use, but apparently it has also increased the incidence of offending. More people are sinking unauthorised wells to combat the effects of the drought. Most readers would sympathise with farmers who have to watch underfed stock forage for meagre growth on parched land, but that sympathy evaporates as quickly as the water from stock ponds when the law is circumvented. By sinking unauthorised wells, offenders are taking an unfair advantage of more law-abiding neighbours who have complied with their legal responsibilities. Not only do the offenders risk a $2OOO fine under, the Water and Soil Conservation Act, but they imperil the programmes for water conservation and for planned allocation and use of the resource.

The. amount of water being drawn off ,by illegal wells, and indeed the number, of such wells, can be no more than guessed at The North Canterbury Catchment Board

does not have the staff to go from door to door to find offenders. Nevertheless, the amount of water taken is substantial and makes impossible . any accurate calculations of water flows and availability during dry spells. Without these calculations, and without some degree of confidence in' their reliability, a policy for rational water use can be no more than a hit and miss affair. In the long run no one will benefit. Those who sink illegal wells for some temporary benefit will suffer with all the rest.

Multiple uses of natural water require controls on indiscriminate use. Account must be taken of the needs of primary and secondary industry, of water supplies for local authorities, ,of fisheries and wildlife habitats, and the many recreational uses of natural water. The claims of one must be weighed against the others, and, all allowed to put their cases, before a water right is granted. Because of the possibility of water shortages this summer, the board, which is responsible for granting water rights, has already warned of likely. restrictions on irrigation. These restrictions will be of limited benefit if they are negated by illegal water use.. Alerted to the magnitude of the practice, members of the board and its officers are talking bf stricter policing. This will be necessary or else the undetected and unpunished example of offenders will encourage its imitation by many others, compounding the problem still further.