Environment Canterbury councillor Peter Scott says the Canterbury Water Management Strategy has achieved a lot of its goals.

A report looking into the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS) suggests it has failed numerous goals to protect the health of rivers and the environment.

But an Environment Canterbury councillor is pouring cold water on the concern, saying it was not an official report.

The report, presented to CWMS's regional committee, gives marks out of 10 against the strategy's initial goals, and how it was meeting them.

Some goals, such as maintaining rural community viability, and "ensuring high levels of audited self-management", received good marks. However, protecting "ecosystems, habitats and landscapes and indigenous biodiversity received a zero out of 10.

Read the full report here

"This is a much longer-term outcome. It will be the last thing to come right," the report says.

"There are mixed pockets of success (eg, Mid-Canterbury) and failure (eg, Mackenzie). At best we are maintaining a neutral position, but there has possibly been some loss. There has been more emphasis on restoration than protection."

The report also says there is now better understanding between rural and urban dwellers, "but not empathy".

"Things are better at the institutional level (through the relationships that have been built) than at a community level ...with the speed at which farming is changing, people may not be up to date with what is happening ... there is a lack of knowledge about the economic relationship between urban and rural issues."

The CWMS, formally launched in 2010, divides the management of the Canterbury region's water issues into 10 zonal committees which are overseen by the affected councils and appointed members. The committee then provide reports to the local and regional councils.

In regards to whether catchments were protected or starting to return to within healthy limits for human health and ecosystems, the report said there had been "pockets of improvement".

"The lag time between action and outcomes is an issue. A significant investment in change has been made but people need to see progress if they are to keep investing".

ECan councillor Peter Scott, of South Canterbury, said it was concerning that some aspects were viewed as not achieving. However, it was not an official report.

"It's an opinion expressed at a workshop which was put in place to get a flavour of what people thought about the strategy. I don't think it's a view that would be shared by the governance of ECan.

"It should be viewed as a brainstorm rather than strong opinions held by individuals."

Scott said the implementation of the Land and Water Plan, along with several sub-regional plans, had strengthened the protection of the region's waterways. The strategy had also "empowered" communities to set more rigorous conditions.

"These things are always going to be difficult. We have decided to go with the community consultation mode. That means involving the councils, local runanga and locals."

"We've listened to the views of the community in terms of what they want. It's a pretty involved process. It takes a lot of listening, a lot of talking and a lot of time."