Wairau/ Awatere Resource Management Plan to achieve an overall reduction in the take, use, damming or diversion of water: • Awatere River; • Omaka River Valley Catchment; • Waihopai River; and • Fairhall River Gravels Aquifer. Policy 1.7 To ensure that priority is given to “an individual’s reasonable domestic needs, the reasonable needs of an individual’s animals for drinking water and for fire fighting purposes” during rationing. The objectives and policies proposed here are designed to establish a formal rationing strategy which will apply to all water resources and water users in the district, to ensure that resource use remains sustainable. Incorporating the rationing strategy in the Plan will ensure that a consistent and equitable management strategy is implemented. This will reduce the potential for conflict associated with ad hoc decision making at times of low flows or levels. The rationing strategy is outlined in Volume Two of this Plan. The strategy includes the formula used by the Council to determine a range of rationing trigger levels and the level at which point source discharges must cease. Conditions will need to be imposed on consents so that compliance with the rationing policy can be required. It is also important that the rationing system is flexible enough to allow for rostering and other voluntary agreements between users to achieve the desired reduction on a particular resource. To achieve this Water User Groups will be established to implement and manage the rationing systems for particular resources. The SFRs set shall form the basis of maximum allocation of water. The formula shall be applied as follows: • The maximum allocation shall be determined on the five year, seven day, low flow of the water body less the SFR of this waterbody if set, otherwise on a case by case basis. 6.6 Issue The abstraction of water from the Waihopai into Gibsons Creek is a special case. The Gibsons Creek channels (beneath the terrace upstream of Renwick) are old Waihopai distributory channels. Prior to 1916 the Waihopai River regularly flowed down these channels and into the Upper Opawa River. This was of benefit to riparian users for stockwater and groundwater recharge. In 1916 river flood control works blocked off this distributory channel from the Waihopai. In 1960, as flood control compensatory work, a new abstraction gate and channel from the Waihopai was constructed. This was permitted to take up to 2.8 m/ sec from the 3 Waihopai, and water rights have since been given from this abstraction. The importance of the abstraction has decreased in recent years due to moves away from pastoral farming and improvements to pumps increasing groundwater take from the Wairau aquifer. 6 - 12