Mixed reaction to water-quality announcement

Reaction to the Government's policy announcement on improving water quality in the region's rivers has been mixed.

Reaction to the Government's policy announcement on improving water quality in the country's lakes and rivers has been mixed, with some parties very critical of the proposal and others cautiously optimistic.

Last week, Minister for the Environment Nick Smith announced a target of 90 per cent of New Zealand's lakes and rivers meeting swimmable water quality standards by 2040, alongside releasing new policy, regulations, information maps and funding to help achieve the new goal.

Reaching the target, which was based on meeting the water-quality standard at least 80 per cent of the time, in line with European and United States definitions, was expected to cost the Government, farmers and councils $2 billion over the next 23 years.

In some quarters the announcement was criticised for not being ambitious enough. The Green Party accused the Government of merely relabelling the standards, and Fish and Game New Zealand said that under the proposals, double the amount of faecal contamination would be allowed in waters classed as excellent for swimming.

But the Environmental Defence Society took a more measured, cautiously optimistic view because of Land and Water Forum recommendations around nitrates and macroinvertebrates being acknowledged, but questioned whether the targeted date was acceptable.

That would become clear during the consultation phase to follow, said chief executive Gary Taylor.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) chairman Rex Graham said the feeling among most regional councillors was that more could be achieved in a shorter time frame, and he said the HBRC would aim to exceed the Government's expectations if it felt it necessary.

That included a focus in the next three months to consult with owners within the Lake Tutira catchment and at Ahuriri estuary to try to work together on improved management plans for these locales.

Regional councillor Tom Belford echoed this sentiment and said more information was needed, although on the surface it looked as if the standards had been toughened up to a degree.

"They seem to be recognising what's most important for places where people actually swim and the times of the year they want to swim," he said, referring to more stringent standards being applied at popular swimming spots during summer months.

"Even in winter, though, we need to clearly understand what the broader ecological effects are - it's not all about swimming."

Local Government New Zealand president and Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule also welcomed the announcement, but said a more collaborative approach would be useful.

"Water is core business for local government and regional and territorial councils work every day to deliver better water outcomes. This work is ongoing and there is more to do, but there have been some good successes in recent decades, for example in the reduction of point source discharges," Mr Yule said.

"But it is worth noting that with steadily increasing demand for water from industry, agriculture and growing urban communities a new, holistic approach to water policy is now necessary."

When making the announcement Dr Smith said the plan was backed up by national regulations requiring stock to be fenced out of waterways, new national policy requirements on regional councils to strengthen their planning rules on issues such as sewage discharges and planting riparian margins, and a new Freshwater Improvement Fund.

Hawke's Bay regional councillor and Hawke's Bay Green Party delegate Paul Bailey said the implications for regional councils were still unclear.

"We have received some advice from our staff that there are conflicts with what has been announced but we have not had an opportunity to sit down and discuss that yet, or what the regional council approach will be."

Attending a Green Party conference last weekend, he said the general feeling there about the Government's plan was one of cynicism.

"Nick Smith has changed the definition of swimmability to make rivers swimmable - it's a bit disingenuous and we are a bit frustrated."

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay president Will Foley said farmers were already on the same path as the Government in terms of its aims, and they had the same goal as everyone else.

"There's nothing new here, particularly around stock exclusion.

"That has the biggest cost and impact for farmers, and that will be one of the things Federated Farmers focuses on in its submissions to make sure the Government has got that right."

He added that farmers would feel a sense of relief that the announcement encompassed the whole community and not just the agricultural sector.

"Up until now farmers have felt singled out and felt they had most of the burden to fix the issue. This is an attempt to bring everyone into engagement with the work that needs to be done."