Taranaki tops in water management
A bouquet for water management has been handed to the Taranaki Regional Council by New Zealand Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills.
Visiting Taranaki last week for Taranaki Federated Farmers’ annual meeting, the Hawke’s Bay beef and sheep farmer was commenting on the Land and Water Forum’s report made public on Friday.
‘‘Taranaki is held up over other regions as a leading example of a council working pro-actively with ratepayers and farmers to get positive outcomes,’’ he said.
The forum, which consists of industry groups, environmental and recreational bodies, Maori, scientists, and organisations with a stake in freshwater and land management, has told the Government that firm limits should be set for the use of water and the cleanliness of waterways. It suggests bottom lines ‘‘based on the mana and ecological health of our waterways, and human health needs’’.
Mr Wills said there were discrepancies among the country’s regional councils about the interpretation of rules protecting the environment, but authorities in Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay were doing a good job.
Taranaki was well ahead of the rest of the country for riparian planting, fencing and excluding stock from waterways.
‘‘Farmers here are front-footing it with their obligations to the environment and it shows that you don’t need rules and regulations for a good outcome. Other areas can look to Taranaki to see how it’s done,’’ he said.
His comments were backed by Taranaki Regional Council chief executive Basil Chamberlain, who said Taranaki had been following the key messages identified in the report ‘‘for decades’’.
Forum chairman Alastair Bisley expects the Government to take the report seriously because it has come from a consensus of stakeholders.
‘‘It has been tyre-kicked by experts and it also has a constituency. So it is much more awkward for the Government to say, ‘We’ll have this bit and not this bit’, because there’s always a danger if they do that the consensus is gone.’’
The next step was to take the national collaboration to a local level, he said.
The forum said regional councils should be required to set limits on the amount of water that could be taken and the amount of each contaminant that could be discharged.
It wanted firm limits applied and enforced in a transparent, predictable way.
The ministers for Primary Industries, David Carter, and Environment, Amy Adams, said they would carefully consider the report and another one still to be completed for the development of durable policies.