Strict rules signalled over water
The Government is pushing ahead with plans to make freshwater standards more strict in a bid to improve water quality, Environment Minister David Parker says.
Preliminary work to create a new national freshwater policy has begun, with formal plans expected to start by mid-year.
The new standards would not entirely depart from those recently passed by the previous Government but they would likely be expanded – and include more rules that apply nationwide.
Parker said he had written to the Land and Water forum and contacted some other organisations about matters relating to a new National Policy Statement for Freshwater (NPS-FW), a document which requires regional authorities to set limits around water quantity and quality. It has been in place since 2011.
The Labour Party campaigned to change the standards in response to public concern about water quality and criticism the standards were not strict enough. New standard
The National Government changed the NPS last year to include a new ‘‘swimmable’’ standard, based on E coli levels over time, along with stronger rules around fencing stock. It resulted in criticism from experts who said it was unclear if the new standard was higher or lower.
Parker says a new statement would go much further and put rules on other forms of pollutants.
‘‘We’re trying to get something formal by the middle of this year,’’ he says.
‘‘We’re not going to throw out the good things they [National] did. Some of these curly issues were not resolved, despite the fact they needed to be. There are some areas in New Zealand where there are increases in livestock intensity that cause additional pressure on waterways that are not controlled by resource consent processes.
‘‘Those sorts of things will be fixed in this NPS.’’
Because implementing the standards is up to regional authorities, some parts of the country are further ahead than others. Canterbury, Otago and Waikato have made substantial progress, while Southland, Auckland and Taranaki have not, the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) said review.
Despite being in place since 2011, no region has fully implemented the NPS. Most have said they aim to implement the standards by about 2025.
Common issues cited by councils have been a lack of funding, lack of guidance, and differing expectations for what could be achieved.
The Land and Water Forum was last year tasked with reviewing the progress councils had made. It said in its report ‘‘implementation has been slow, variable and unco-ordinated’’, and there was ‘‘no-one currently providing the leadership role needed within the freshwater management system’’.
Divisive issue
Water quality became a divisive issue during the election and was portrayed as a wedge between rural and urban interests.
Critics accused Labour of targeting farmers, primarily through its proposed water tax – a feeling that reached its apex when farmers assembled for a protest in Morrinsville before the election.
Labour performed above expectations in traditionally rural areas which Parker said was part of a mandate for the new Government to pursue water quality issues.
‘‘I think the vast majority of New Zealanders share an objective that their waterways should be clean enough to swim in summer and there should be enough water left in the river to swim in,’’ he says.
‘‘There are some people who, in effect, disagree with that, and I don’t require their agreement. Democracy is about empowering politicians to win an election, it’s not to say that everyone agrees with you. It’s absolutely undoubted, from surveys even over the Christmas period, the vast majority of New Zealanders want more done to protect our rivers.’’
In recent years, there has been growing international coverage of New Zealand’s struggle with degrading water quality.
International publications including The Economist, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian have reported critically on the apparent contradiction between New Zealand’s overseas image and its degrading rivers and lakes. in its most recent