We are appealing the recent High Court judgment which upheld Environment Canterbury’s decision to allow the MHV irrigation scheme to pollute water for 10 years.

The Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) has been largely unsuccessful in its judicial review of Environment Canterbury’s (ECan) decision to grant a nitrogen discharge consent to the Mayfield Hinds Valletta (MHV) irrigation scheme.

Environment Canterbury and Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd (ALIL) have withdrawn their appeals against our historic High Court ruling, cementing an important legal victory for freshwater protection.

ELI is challenging the lawfulness of a nitrogen discharge consent issued by Environment Canterbury in the High Court this week. The consent to the MHV Water Ltd irrigation covers farming activities on more than 58,000 ha of land. 

Join Dr Mike Joy and ELI for a public talk on the future of freshwater in Canterbury.

We are challenging Environment Canterbury’s blanket rule allowing nitrate pollution in the Christchurch High Court this week.

“Canterbury holds the majority of Aotearoa's freshwater, but this public resource is significantly degraded,” says ELI’s Senior Researcher, Anna Sintenie.