Otago Regional Council's ability to manage fresh water criticised

Monday, 2 October 2017

Stakeholders blame a lack of funding, resourcing, guidance and governance for hindering how Otago's fresh water is managed, a government report reveals.

The Ministry for the Environment has released a report assessing how the Otago Regional Council is managing fresh water and implementing The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM).

Freshwater NPS directs regional councils, in consultation with their communities, to set objectives for the state of fresh water bodies in their regions and to set limits on resource use to meet these objectives. The Freshwater NPS must be fully implemented no later than December 31, 2025.

The council and stakeholders, including territorial authorities, environmental organisations and agricultural sectors provided feedback on how fresh water was managed in the region for the report.

The report reveals stakeholders and the council have different views of how well the organisation is managing fresh water in the region.

While the council considers it has implemented the Freshwater NPS 2014, stakeholders believe it is only half-way through the process.

'They consider that ORC should better outline how the NPS-FM is being implemented on the ground. They said that it was unclear how ORC will support landowners to be effective in managing contaminant discharges or how compliance will be enforced.'

However, the council considers its current water plan meets policy requirements and the region's water quality management regime was implemented through Plan Change 6A.

'(The plan) aims to control discharges from activities, not the activities themselves. It is described by ORC as 'an effects-based, permitted activity approach to managing water contaminants with minor effects on the quality of a river, lake, wetland or aquifer'. Landholders are responsible for choosing their own methods for managing contaminant discharge to waterways to meet the new limits in the plan and must must apply for a resource consent to discharge at a higher rate than that identified in the plan.' 

ORC did note 'no plan is perfect' and does not expect that Plan Change 6A will solve all issues.

Chief executive Peter Bodeker said the report reflected the challenges of managing fresh water quantity and quality in Otago.

His senior staff were still considering the report and it had not yet been discussed in detail, he said.

'We are at the first stage of implementing our Water Plan and we are working towards the next stage, which comes into effect in 2020. This is an ongoing and significant area of work that the council has committed to progress.'

Views presented in the report did not align with what those same stakeholders had been telling the council, he said.

'Overall, our major stakeholders like Fish and Game and Federated Farmers are happy with what the council is doing to manage water. We know that because they talk to us.'

The water plan was finalised through mediation rather than through the Environment Court, which was another strong signal that it had broad community support, he said. 

'Nonetheless, we're always looking to improve what we do. We believe the amendments made to our water plan met the original NPS requirements for limits. However, the NPS has been amended twice since 2011. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are reviewing how we give effect to the 2017 NPS.'   

The report also raised stakeholders' concerns that ORC does not have the capacity to do all that it is required around freshwater management.

'Stakeholders report that resourcing has been an issue for ORC, particularly with staff turnover. They feel that funding and resourcing need to increase and that, overall, there is a lack of guidance and governance from ORC.'

The stakeholders were also critical of community engagement and felt not all community values were being taken into account, particularly concerning the availability of fresh water due to over allocation.

'Stakeholders felt that ORC has the capability to discuss freshwater matters but not the capacity. Stakeholders felt that communication could be improved and an overarching communication plan is required for ORC to implement the NPS-FM efficiently . . . ORC tends to come up with ideas around freshwater management but little happens following initial discussions or feedback. As a result, some stakeholders are reluctant to engage further with ORC.'

Some stakeholders also believed residual flow setting was not working as well as expected.

'They believe that technical information to inform decisions is lacking, cumulative effects have been forgotten and a wider, holistic view is not being taken in this respect. They are unsure if ORC fully understands how it will implement multi-layered policy involving community values and science. Stakeholders felt that there had been mixed messages from ORC about the requirements for water users.'

The council uses a consultative rather than collaborative process for policy development and planning, which, according to the council works 'efficiently, avoiding the time and expense that collaborative planning processes have required in other regions', the report says.

The capacity of stakeholders involved in NPS-FM matters was limited, and significant time and effort was required for engagement, it says.

'Smaller stakeholder groups are feeling the effect of this more than most. ORC considers that territorial authorities have a challenging job balancing diverse freshwater management issues, such as infrastructure, tourism, lifestyle blocks, farming and urban issues. It has been noted that some local councils are waiting on better guidance from ORC before addressing freshwater issues. Water consents are becoming an issue around towns with increasing populations, particularly with existing over-allocation issues.'

ORC described territorial authority resourcing in the region as adequate.

The report noted the water rights issued during the 1880s for gold mining was a major complicating factor.

In its recommendations, it recognises the complication of the deemed permits expiring, may affect implementation of the NPS-FM, adding further strain to hard-pressed ORC resources. ORC could consider encouraging early uptake of new resource consents to reduce the 2021 workload, it says.

It also recommended the ORC increases its engagement with the community about the implementation of Plan Change 6A.