In May 2009, Simon Berry and his team were retained to advise the Canterbury Regional Council ("Environment Canterbury" or "ECan") to advise in relation to legal issues relevant to a significant number of applications and appeals with respect to the taking of groundwater in the Canterbury Region. It has been a very interesting assignment given the complexity of the relevant regional planning provisions, the extremely difficult and complex nature of the science relating to the geological structure of the Canterbury Plains and the potential impacts of groundwater abstractions on other users and on surface waters down stream of the take.

Simon is acting on an appeal due to be heard by the Environment Court later this year and has also provided strategic and legal advice to ECan in relation to the applications for intensive dairying in cubicles in the Upper Waitaki / Makenzie Basin and legal/strategy issues in relation to sub-regional water take applications.