WRC Freshwater Policy Review engagement 2023

Freshwater Policy Review ‘drop-in’ style event: June 1st 10-12 at WRC, Taupo 100 Horomatangi St

Policy development is progressing and WRC will consider the feedback they have received from communities, stakeholders and tangata whenua, alongside science information about the state of waterways and trends across the region.

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Jane Penton
Our freshwater 2023 Statistics NZ Report

Our freshwater 2023 is the latest in a series of environmental reports produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ has found poor water quality is affecting people and the environment.

As well as this there is a Lakes380 report showing that half of country's lakes in poor health - New Zealand scientists say almost half of the country's lakes are in poor health, but it's not too late to fix them.

Lakes380, a collaborative project between GNS Science and the Cawthron Institute, wants more resources to clean 1700 lakes that are contaminated. The project has been measuring the health of lakes throughout Aotearoa. ‘Our Lakes’ Health: past, present, future’ https://lakes380.com

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Jane Penton
'Swollen Lake Taupō soaks up floodwaters to protect Waikato River communities' Rotorua Daily Post 31 Jan

High rainfall means Lake Taupō is sitting at its highest level in more than a decade.

The level of Lake Taupō is managed by Mercury Energy via the Control Gates Bridge, a few hundred metres downstream from where the lake flows into the Waikato River.

Resource consent conditions stipulate the lake level should be kept at a range between 355.85 and 357.25 metres above sea level. Mercury was holding water back in Lake Taupō earlier this week to take pressure off flooded downstream catchments, including Lake Karapiro.

As a result, the level of Lake Taupō surpassed the maximum after the weekend’s rain, triggering a high flow management plan.

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Jane Penton
EDS template submission on Natural & Built Environment Bill & Spatial Planning Bill Jan 2023

The Environmental Defence Society has produced a template to help those interested in submitting on the Bills. The Bills, which will replace the Resource Management Act, will provide the legal framework for managing Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural and built environments for decades to come. It is therefore critically important that we get them right.

EDS hopes that its template submission will make it easier for people to get involved in this once in a generation process. The template identifies key problems with the Bills that need fixing, and positive aspects that should be retained.

Submissions on the Bills to the Environment Select Committee close on 5 February 2023.

EDS’s template submission is available here

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Jane Penton
WRC Freshwater Policy Review - Input sought at 1 Day Water Workshop held in Taupo on 27th May

For the Freshwater Policy Review WRC will be implementing the National Objectives Framework (NOF) to enable them to connect the freshwater values of tangata whenua and communities with potential solutions to realise these values. This will support revisions to the RPS and regional plan that align with tangata whenua and communities values, giving effect to Te Mana o te Wai and the NPS-FM.

A one-day Water Workshop was held on 27th May 2022 at the Great Lake Centre, Taupō to get community input about managing the lake catchment and fresh water around Taupō.

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Jane Penton
Agricultural Climate Action - The He Waka Eke Noa partnership propose farms pay a capped rate for methane for the first three years.

Agricultural nitrous oxide and carbon emissions would start with a 95% discount, compared to the carbon price under the Emissions Trading Scheme (or ETS). - Stuff reporter Olivia Wannan13:30, Jun 09 2022

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/128893841/farm-bodies-want-sway-over-the-price-of-their-pollution-activists-panned-the-idea Abridged version:

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Jane Penton