Recommendations for the future use of the Waimakariri catchment

Abstract

This report has been prepared by the staff of the Institute because of the vital importance of the Waimakariri Catchment. It attempts to collect under one cover all the relevant information from known sources and to make a series of recommendations in the light of this assembled knowledge. These recommendations are that a modification of traditional land use is desirable and that it can only be achieved with justice if adequate compensation is offered to the legal occupiers of the upper catchment.

The survey also reveals a very large field of ignorance about the condition and trend of the catchment and about the economics of changes in land use. It recommends that investigation of these fields be undertaken.