Author(s)

B. Jenkins

Abstract

The paper uses the approach of “nested adaptive systems” to establish an operational definition of sustainable management of three significant issues in the Waimakariri catchment of the South Island of New Zealand: availability of water for irrigation, public water supply for Christchurch urban area, and gravel extraction from the bed of the Waimakariri River. Different spatial scales were determined for sustainability analysis. Using the adaptive cycle of exploitation, accumulation, disturbance/release and reorganisation, critical variables for maintaining the resilience of each system and the thresholds for management interventions to achieve sustainable systems were identified. Also crucial for sustainability was the maintenance of the linkages between the different spatial scales.

Keywords

critical variables for resilience, nested spatial scales, adaptive cycle, system vulnerability, sustainable irrigation, sustainable public water supply, sustainable gravel extraction