Lake Kaniere Safety Plan
Everyone enjoying the beautiful waters of Lake Kaniere expects to be able to do so safely, and expects other users to be courteous and considerate. To support that, there are rules in place to set minimum safety standards which all water users must comply with.
As with all navigable waters in NZ, the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and Maritime Rules apply. Part 91 (Navigation Safety) and Part 22 (Collision Prevention) in particular apply to recreational boating. The Act and all Rules can be found linked from maritimenz.govt.nz.
There are also five reserved recreational areas at Lake Kaniere as shown on the plan below. Three reserved areas are for water skiing or similar towed water sports and two reserved areas are for swimming, paddled and rowed craft and similar passive activities. At the request of the local community and after extensive public consultation these reserved areas have replaced two water ski access lanes. The five reserved areas came into force on 26 December 2017 pursuant to Maritime Rules Part 91.12(1)(b) as notified in the NZ Gazette on 23 November 2017.
Signage has been placed around the Lake to describe expected behaviours within these reserved areas and on the lake generally. Made for New Zealand boaties, MarineMate is a smartphone app that allows you to access information on tide times, boat ramp locations, VHF channels, and local boating rules for the whole country, all in the palm of your hand. You do not need cell phone coverage to be able to use the app once you have down-loaded it, and the interactive map helps you identify the zone boundaries. Click on each zone or boat ramp within the app for further detail.
Maritime NZ takes all reports of unsafe activity on the lake very seriously. If you have witnessed anything that you believe to be unsafe behaviour on the lake please call 0508 22 55 22 and ask for Regional Compliance—Southern or use the enquiry form online. If we don’t know about unsafe behaviour we can’t do anything about it. This information also helps us monitor the effectiveness of the existing controls in place at the lake. To report an accident or harm, call Rescue Coordination Centre NZ on 0508 47 22 69 or online at www.maritimenz.govt.nz/report-online.
Text and image credit – Maritime New Zealand
