Healthy Rivers~Wai Ora/PC1 News & Summary of decisions

The ground-breaking plan to improve water quality in the Waikato and Waipā rivers has reached a major milestone, with Waikato Regional Council voting to notify a decisions version following hearings. (From WRC media release 18/03/2020 in full here: https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/whats-happening/news/media-releases/decisions-version-of-healthy-rivers-plan-change-to-be-notified/)

Further links to the Council agenda incorporating the Recommendations of the Hearings Panel, the Summary of Proposed Rules, plus the timeline for implementation here: https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/council/policy-and-plans/healthy-rivers-plan-for-change/

Summary of decisions

  • Farm environment plans remain as a key tool in reducing the diffuse discharge of contaminants.

  • The need to establish a nitrogen reference point has been removed and replaced with a set of actual nitrogen leaching numbers for each Freshwater Management Unit (FMU).

  • The 75th percentile provisions have been removed.

  • The decisions version incentivises farming activities to have a lower nitrogen leaching loss rate so they can be a permitted activity.

  • Overseer® is not the only decision support tool able to be used.

  • There is greater recognition of the lakes and wetlands, and an acknowledgment of the Whangamarino Wetland as an outstanding waterbody.

  • The priority 1-3 status has been removed, with subcatchments required to implement contaminant reduction actions in either years 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

  • Stock exclusion from water bodies has been linked to slope and the number of stock units.

  • Greater use has been made of stock unit tests to provide for low intensity dry stock farming.

  • Provision has been made for the expansion of commercial vegetable production as a discretionary activity in some identified subcatchments.

Jane Penton