ECan has 'significant concerns' with Govt proposal to clean up lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth sooner

Sunday, 1 May 2016

Lake Forsyth on the Banks Peninsula is currently green, and so toxic it has killed sheep and pets.

Two of the country's worst polluted lakes would have to meet national water quality standards under a Government proposal.

But Canterbury's regional council says cleaning up Lake Ellesmere and Lake Forsyth sooner than planned could jeopardise years of work.

Lake Ellesmere is the worst of the country's 140 lakes, when measured by trophic index.

In the Government's Next steps for freshwater consultation document, it proposes that lakes and lagoons which intermittently open to the sea be required to meet the same water quality standards as other lakes.

It would mean the two notoriously polluted Canterbury lakes would come under the same umbrella as other lakes.

*Ailing Ellesmere continues to decline

*'Horrible' conditions at troubled lake as restoration project begins

*Christchurch City Council wants stricter rules about keeping stock out of rivers**

Lake Ellesmere is the worst of the country's 140 lakes when measured by trophic index, while Lake Forsyth is so poisonous it has killed sheep and pets.

In a submission on the Government's consultation document, Environment Canterbury (ECan) said it would be 'deeply concerned' if that happened, as it could mean years of work would have to be revisited with 'significant costs.'

The clean-up of Lake Ellesmere is expected to take generations.

Existing initiatives to restore it have targets extending beyond 2035, and were the result of public hearings, governance agreements between councils and Ngai Tahu, and policies around land use and nutrient limits.

'All this work – the exhaustive scientific assessments, careful deliberation, and hard-won community agreement – would potentially be jeopardised,' the submission reads.

'At national and international levels, the value and credibility of the whole NPS-FM [National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management] regime could also be at risk.'

ECan's primary argument is that Lake Ellesmere and Lake Forsyth had 'essential differences' to other lakes because they were intermittently opened to the sea.

It meant they were shallower, could not be naturally flushed and had a high range of salinity concentrations, which all had an impact on water quality.

Farmers in the area would also be 'faced with major uncertainties' if the rules had to be revisited to allow the lakes to be cleaned up sooner, the submission said.

ECan recommended the entire proposal be scrapped.

It broadly agreed with other proposals in principle, and said its own Canterbury Water Management Strategy [CWMS] had revealed the challenges of freshwater management.

In particular, it showed the need for long-term timeframes needed for change, and the difficulty that comes with achieving different needs for water simultaneously.

It said lessons learned through its rollout of the CWMS in recent years showed the strength of catchment and sub-catchment level work.

National policy 'must recognise this and make maximum provision to enable and support it,' the submission said.

ECan also vaunted its relationship with Ngai Tahu, which has improved significantly since 2009.

It submitted that the Government's plans to include iwi in decision-making lacked clarity and did not recognise the extent of existing partnerships.

'The agreement provisions… [are] focused on process matters rather than offering any substantive or qualitative vision of how the Treaty partnership may be advanced through positive relationships between councils and mana whenua.'

Canterbury allocates 58 per cent of the country's freshwater.

Submissions on the Next steps for freshwater consultation document have now closed.