Feedback from some of our industry colleagues based in Canterbury alerted QCONZ to the desirability of adding more value to our Freshwater Farm Planning tool in respect to ECAN needs. This was particularly related to ECAN’s Schedule 7 requirements and also in respect to freshwater irrigation consenting.   

As a result of this feedback, we entered a mini-development phase in early March, beefing up our irrigation module a little and adding specific Schedule 7 references, responses, and reporting ability. The first version of this has now been released for use and we’re waiting for more feedback as to these changes and their effectiveness. 

In the meantime, Environment Canterbury is about to begin approving tools and templates used to meet their farm environment and Schedule 7 requirements. QCONZ is in discussions with ECAN regarding this and, Central Plains Water Ltd, which has been assessing the QCONZ tool plans to submit the tool to ECAN for approval in the next week or so. 

This is a really exciting development and we’re very much appreciative of the assistance and advice provided by  Eva Harris (Envirocollective), Fiona Crombie and her team ( CPWL), and Dave Lucock Agribusiness Group) in helping us get to this point. Any feedback received from ECAN as a result of the approval process can only be a good thing in assuring that our tool is fit for purpose.  

We’ll keep you up to date with any further developments in this regard as we have more news on it.