ECan councillor says proposed plan changes don't go far enough to protect drinking water

Monday, 22 July 2019

Environment Canterbury chief scientist Dr Tim Davie says Christchurch's drinking water is 'definitely' safe and will 'continue to be so', but will not be as pristine. (Video first published in December 2017)

An Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillor has 'grave reservations' about a proposed plan change doing enough to protect Christchurch water from nitrates contamination.

Cantabrians worried about dirty rivers and streams now have a chance to be heard on the future of the region's water, with ECan seeking submissions on two complex plan changes that aim to eventually reduce nitrate levels, improve drinking water quality and provide cleaner waterways for fish and other aquatic species.

The plan changes were notified on Saturday and are open for submissions until September 13.

Maintaining a safe drinking water supply is one of Canterbury's biggest challenges. A plan change notified at the weekend gives Cantabrians a chance to have their say on the region's water.

The regional council has pushed ahead with the changes while the Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Act 2016 is still in force, ahead of October's elections.

**READ MORE:

A stormy day towards the head of the Waimakariri River near Arthur's Pass.

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* Christchurch's pure drinking water could be contaminated due to farming

The official opening of stage one of the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme by then-Prime Minister John Key in 2015, with dairy cows crossing from paddock to paddock.

* Environmentalists 'alarmed' but Environment Canterbury says water survey results 'expected'

* Cantabrians may have higher cancer risk from poor drinking water

What do we want for our freshwater, our rivers and aquifers, in the future? Fly fishing on the Waimakariri River near Pines Beach. (File photo)

* Christchurch's drinking water contaminated 125 times in four years**

That means any future appeals – even under the next, fully democratically elected, council – can only be made on legal grounds to the High Court, bypassing the Environment Court.

Environment Canterbury chief scientist Tim Davie points out what cyanobacteria looks like in the Ashley/Rakahuri River in North Canterbury. (File photo)

ECan has previously endorsed a recommendation by the Waimakariri Water Zone Committee for a 3.8mg per litre level of nitrates for the Christchurch supply and said it was a 'reduction goal' for areas with higher levels.

Current average nitrate concentrations in the Christchurch community supply's wells that are more than 80m deep are 0.6mg/l.

Hot cows make the most of cooling water from a sprinkler on a farm south of Rotherham.

Cr Lan Pham told Stuff she still had 'grave reservations' about that part of the proposed plan change, which was why she had voted against endorsing it in December.

She remained concerned that, even with farm mitigation, ECan modelling 'still anticipates nitrate pollution of Christchurch's drinking water in the coming 50-plus years'.

'This plan change, and this council, have failed to recognise that it is the ecological health of the aquifers which have provided Christchurch with clean drinking water for decades and given us the privilege of being one of the largest remaining cities in the world to be able to drink our water without treatment,' she said.

'It's my personal hope that the weight of public outcry and expert evidence will be able to change this plan to truly apply a 'precautionary approach' in protecting the ecological health of Christchurch's aquifers and the privilege of the uncontaminated drinking water supply we have.'

Focusing on the drinking water standard alone failed to recognise the imperative of a healthy ecosystem in providing clean drinking water.

Nitrate limits for ecosystem health were more than 10 times lower than what humans could tolerate, Pham said.

The notified changes are to the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan and the Waimakariri River Regional Plan.

ECan regional planning manager Andrew Parrish said 'plan change 7' to the first document was the most significant of the two.

It covered:

- Improving freshwater, including requirements for 'some farms to further reduce nitrogen losses', increases in minimum flows in waterways 'where community outcomes are not being met', new limits on the volume of water for allocation and requirements to keep stock out of more waterways.

- Greater protection of freshwater habitats.

- More consideration of Ngāi Tahu values.

- Revising nutrient levels for commercial vegetable growers so they could rotate crops.

- Freshwater changes in the Waimakariri and in the Orari-Temuka-Opihi-Pareora sub-regions.

'Plan change 2' to the second document was mainly to bring all rules relating to the Waimakariri sub-zone into the Land and Water Regional Plan, he said.

'The biggest concern that the public is going to have is the impact of nitrates on drinking water supply. There is a possibility that nitrates could travel under the bed of the Waimakariri and result in nitrate levels in Christchurch drinking water increasing to around half the maximum allowable value in the drinking water standards.

'We are talking for that several hundred years from now. [But] that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about it now.'