Action for healthy waterways – consultation update

Good afternoon

This is our second update on the consultation process on the Action for Healthy Waterways package of proposals.

To date we have held 21 public and primary sector meetings, attended by over four thousand people, to discuss freshwater and other important issues – protecting our productive land, growing our cities to benefit people and the environment, and better dealing with harmful waste and chemicals.

Further meetings are scheduled for Carterton, Whangarei, Hamilton (urban development focus), Gore and Te Kuiti. Visit our website for up-to-date details.

If you can’t make it to a meeting, you can find out more about the freshwater proposals by:

reading the discussion document and the draft regulations on our website
watching a video of a group of farmers discussing the proposals
watching a live stream of the Waikato meeting courtesy of Federated Farmers.

You can ask questions by email [email address] or on social media and we will respond. And you can make your submission online.

To confirm, submissions will now be accepted until Thursday 31 October.

Frequently asked questions

We are continuing to add to the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website. You can find them on the tab at the bottom of the Action for Healthy waterways page. There, you’ll find questions and answers on issues that have come up frequently during the consultation meetings including stock exclusion and the proposed bottom line for nutrients.

Here are answers to some further questions that have come up over the past week.

1. Does this all have to be done in five years?

We are not expecting everything to be achieved in the next five years. There are some immediate steps to stop things getting worse that would start to be implemented from mid-2020. However achieving healthy waterways, including measures such as the proposed new bottom line for nutrients, is expected to take decades. Regional councils would have to work with their communities to decide their targets and the timeframes for achieving them.

Here is a timeline for the current proposals.

From mid-2020

Tighter restrictions on further intensification like new irrigation or conversion to dairying until regional councils have a freshwater management plan in place (due by 2025).
Intensive winter grazing of forage crops and sacrifice paddocks would have to be managed to minimum standards; if not, a resource consent would be needed for the 2021 season, including if you want to plant large areas or crop steeper land.
Stock holding areas and feedlots would need a consent if animals are held there for more than 30 days a year or 10 days in a row, you would need to manage effluent and be 50 metres from a waterway.
Tight restrictions on draining or clearing a wetland, and on piping or infilling streams would come into effect.

By July 2021

Dairy cattle and pigs would need to be excluded from lakes, wetlands (identified in a regional or district plan) and rivers (more than one metre wide) on all land regardless of slope.
Beef cattle, dairy support and deer would need to be excluded from wetlands (identified in a regional or district plan) on all land regardless of slope.
All cattle and deer would need to be excluded from lakes and rivers (more than one metre wide) if they are break feeding or feeding on fodder crops, or irrigated pasture
Dairy support would need to be excluded from lakes and rivers (more than one metre wide) on low-slope land.

By mid-2022

Vegetable growers would need a freshwater module of a farm plan, signed off by a suitably qualified and experienced farm environment planner, and audited.
Farmers with highly erodible land in the Kaipara District would also need a freshwater module of a farm plan.
Farmers in specified high nitrogen catchments may need a freshwater module of a farm plan (option 3) or some may need a consent (option 1) showing how nitrogen discharges will be reduced, depending on final decisions after consultation.
Larger water takes (20 litres per second or more) would need telemetry installed. A telemetry requirement would roll out to extend to all takes over 5 litres per second over time.

By July 2023

All stock (beef cattle, dairy cattle, dairy support, deer and pigs) would need to be excluded from all wetlands, regardless of slope.
Beef cattle and deer would need to be excluded from lakes and rivers (more than one metre wide) on low-slope land.
Beef cattle, dairy support and deer would need to be excluded from lakes and rivers (more than one metre wide) on non-low-slope land that has a high potential carrying capacity.

By 2025

Existing stock exclusion fences that are less than two metres on average from the waterway (or less than one metre from the waterway at any point) would need to be moved back to at least five metres on average (and no less than one metre at any point).
Regional councils would need to have plans in place to improve freshwater ecosystem health, including setting objectives, targets and timeframes. These targets and timeframes will be decided through the regional planning process. The timelines may be long-term, in which case the council must set interim targets at intervals of ten years or less.

By end of 2025

All farmers and growers would need a freshwater module of a farm plan, signed off by a suitably qualified and experienced farm environment planner, except for:

Pastoral farms less than 20 hectares
Arable farms less than 20 hectares
Horticultural farms less than 5 hectares

The farm plan would need to be audited after 2 years.

By 2026

All farmers and growers would need to report on water usage using telemetry, if using more than 5 litres per second.

From 2026

All regional councils would need to be implementing their regional plans. The impact will depend on the region’s targets for water quality, and the timelines for achieving them, with the timeframe expected to extend over decades.

By 2035

Existing stock exclusion fences that are more than two metres on average from the waterway but less than five metres on average, would have to be moved back to provide at least a five metre setback on average across the farm, with no less than one metre at any point (or an exemption granted).

2. What is the plan for Action Plans? Where is the guidance, consistency and accountability for success?

Regional councils would be required to prepare Action Plans for specific attributes or indicators of freshwater health under the draft NPS-FM. These are different to the overall freshwater plan the council will be required to have by 2025.

Action Plans would be required for the attributes listed in Appendix 2B of the draft National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management: fish (rivers-wadeable), macroinvertebrates, E. coli, lake submerged plants (macrophytes), deposited fine sediment, dissolved oxygen and ecosystem metabolism.

Action Plans would be required where the attribute demands a tailored response. For example, for at swimming sites, councils would be required to set a target attribute state, and then draft an Action Plan that identifies the sources of the E. coli contamination, and methods to address those sources depending on local circumstances. These methods could include addressing sewage overflows, and stock management around farm drains for example.

We anticipate providing guidance to regional councils on action planning.

Regional councils would have to publish their Action Plan and report annually on progress, which would enable the community to hold them to account.

3. Why is forestry exempt from wetland protection?

Forestry is not exempt from wetland protection.

The National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry currently regulates the way some plantation forestry activities may be carried out. This will be reviewed after decisions are made on proposals in the Freshwater package to ensure consistency, for example, size of wetlands definitions.

4. Wetland monitoring only applies to new consents, what about all the other wetlands?

Standard wetland monitoring obligations would be inserted into new consents under Cl 5(1) of the proposed National Environmental Standards for Freshwater. This is intended to ensure that new consents would contain appropriate monitoring conditions.

This should be read alongside Cl 3.15(9) of the draft National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, which would also require regional councils to monitor the condition of all wetlands (including those not subject to the above consent conditions) and have methods to respond when degradation is detected.

5. Wetland protection is proposed for areas bigger than 500sqm. What about smaller wetlands?

All wetlands would be protected under Cl 4 to 17 of the proposed National Environmental Standards for Freshwater, and Cl 3.15 of the proposed National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, regardless of size. The size of the wetland is only relevant for mapping requirements under 3.15(5)(a).

6. Given the serious impacts of winter grazing, why are proposals allowing such big areas with small setbacks?

Intensive winter grazing can have serious impacts on the health of our waterways and on animal welfare. We are consulting on a range of options for setback size and area threshold. Option 1 of the package proposes setbacks of either 5 metres or 20 metres. A 5 metre setback is supported by data that shows this distance is an effective buffer between stock and water bodies.

We welcome your feedback on the ideal setbacks for intensive winter grazing.

7. What about contamination from birds?

In deciding what level of water quality to aim for and how to get there, regional councils must factor in all possible sources of contamination. This may include large bird populations that impact on recreational swimming areas.

8. Is there any support for the proposals to be implemented?

The Government acknowledges this is an important package of changes and has provided funding in this year’s Budget to support land owners, councils and iwi/Māori to implement these changes. This includes things like developing good practice guidance for farmers; developing IT systems, tools and templates to support a farm planning regime; and learning off existing industry models. We are also seeking feedback through the discussion document on how the costs for introducing farm plans could best be met.

9. What about existing council plans and the transition to new requirements?

Different regions are at different points in their implementation of the existing Freshwater NPS. The proposals that are out for consultation build on these existing requirements.

If implemented, they would require a step-up in some places to achieve freshwater quality targets. Councils would need to assess the changes and upgrade their plans where necessary by 2025. Work already done on plans, including plan changes currently being considered, is relevant and would be built on.

If you have further questions, email us at [email address].

Ministry for the Environment
Environment House
23 Kate Sheppard Place, Thorndon, Wellington.

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