National fresh-water regime concept flows ever onward

BUSINESSDESK: Local communities will have much greater involvement in how lakes, rivers and streams are used and regulated under proposals delivered to the government in the second report of the Land and Water Forum.

It proposes regional councils take the lead on setting limits on water use and bottom lines on the quality of fresh water in each one of the country's many separate water catchments.

They would use a collaborative process involving community stakeholders, including economic and recreational users. The process requires development, but is operating in a trial form within the forum itself.

"Collaborative processes are unlikely to be cheaper in the short term," the report says, especially as the new way of working becomes more developed.

"We expect, however, that used properly, the proposed collaborative plan and policy making process will be generally faster (in some cases significantly faster), more efficient and more equitable than the status quo."

The report also proposes a system for setting limits to use and benchmarking water quality, starting with a non-negotiable "bottom line" for quality and designations above that of "fair", "good", and "excellent".

There would also be provision for "exceptional circumstances" in which the national guidelines could be over-ridden.

Some 80 forum members actively participated in preparation of the second report, compared to about 30 for the first report.

Only one area could not be agreed - relating to allowing appeals to the Environment Court on the outcomes of a regional council collaborative process.

However, the report recommends that where the collaborative process has been followed, appeal should be allowed only on points of law. Merit appeals are permissible only where the collaborative process can be shown to have failed.

"There will be bottom lines to protect the mana and ecological health of our rivers, streams, lakes, aquifers and wetlands; that we will be able to fish, swim and gather food; that provision will be made to protect outstanding water bodies; and that, over time, the quality of our water will improve."

The report also recommends inserting two further national goals into the National Policy Statement on freshwater: the Maori concept of "mana atua" (the mana of the rivers) and a principle relating to safeguarding human health.

"These additions will lead to better protection for recreation, including fishing, swimming and mahinga kai/food-gathering, while leaving room for local choices to be made, including around the levels of economic use of water bodies," the report says.

The Ministers of Primary Industries and the Environment, David Carter and Amy Adams, welcomed the report.

But they indicated they would make no decisions until after receiving a third report, due in September, which will include recommendations on water allocation mechanisms.

“The government will then be in a position to develop durable policies on fresh water management, based on the complete package of recommendations," they said.

However, forum chairman Alistair Bisley sounded a note of warning that the potential for major changes to the consensus approach could derail the process.

"These recommendations form a package," he said in an introduction to the report. "Implementing some but not others risks the loss of the consensus and the constituency for change that it has generated."