The long awaited report about the hydrology and ecology of the Manuherekia waspresented to today's ORC Environment and Policy Committee public briefing. It's robust, readable and very clear. The Manuherekia needs a lot more water - 2.5cumecs - to thrive. But getting it there needs to be carefully managed to avoid unintended consequences. I don't have a public copy of the report yet, but the briefing has been recorded and is available here. I feel that a milestone has been reached after a long and bitter journey. The feeling around the table was so much more positive and workable than that dreadful day in August 2021 when we really found no common ground at all. Draft recommendations will come from this and be reported to the council for noting next month ahead of consultation. I am cautiously thinking we've had a good result and something has cleared.
Two more big days ahead with workshops tomorrow morning, then a full council meeting at 1pm. Agenda here. Then Finance on Thursday and a few more workshops. As always plenty to discuss – I’ll be back with more details in a blog next week.
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