City, district councils and iwi relegated in water quality plan
Local authorities have been left on the margins and iwi have been ‘‘dropped down’’ the priority ladder in the National Policy Statement on freshwater management, according to the Waipa mayor.
The Strategic Planning and Policy committee at Waipa District Council began to grapple with the freshwater NPS which came into effect in August.
Council policy adviser Hayley Thomas said that under the NPS, regional councils had to account for all water taken out of rivers, lakes and groundwater and the contaminants going into them.
Mayor Jim Mylchreest said district and city councils would only be required for engagement with iwi and his district had to play second-fiddle to the Waikato Regional Council.
‘‘There appears to be enough weasel words in the policies so that we can do trade-offs but that depends completely on whether the regional council are prepared to negotiate those,’’ Mylchreest said.
Last year, iwi and councils signed comanagement agreements over the pres- ervation and protection of the Waikato and Waipa river systems but Mylchreest said the NPS relegated Maori concerns to the bottom of the governance chain.
‘‘All the way through, it’s what the regional council can do, what the regional council can do and it’s only when you get to the last objective, when all of a sudden, its what the local bodies can do and that’s consult with iwi and hapu.
‘‘What is the point in us coming to an agreement with tangata whenua if we can’t get it through the regional council because effectively, tangata whenua have been dropped down to the local authority level which is the bottom of the chain.’’
The NPS came under fire after its release, for bottom-line water quality standards that opponents said were too low.
Pirongia ward councillor Clare St Pierre was shocked at the standards and said the NPS gave no incentive improve water quality. ‘‘We have a river of shame with the Waipa which is the second or third-worst for water quality in a nation- wide survey of 77, and it actually exceeds that bottom-line standard for nitrates,’’ she said.
Water was one of the major issues to impact development of the district over the next decade and infrastructure was set to attract large amounts of funding to future proof for projected growth.
Based on current values, early cost indications for water infrastructure looked set to top $200 million for the decade.
Service delivery group manager Barry Bergin said a reliable water supply was needed and there were other concerns like taste and odour in Te Awamutu and water pressure in Cambridge, while the Cambridge wastewater plant needed an expansion and upgrade. Waipa needed to manage the growing demand and water meters were being considered for Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Kihikihi residential areas.
All industrial, commercial and rural users had water meters installed, as did residents in Ohaupo and Pirongia.