The Waikato Regional Council is embarking on a review of its freshwater policy, aiming to release a region-wide draft document by December 2025.
This draft policy would be notified by 2027, meeting the new government’s deadline for councils to notify freshwater plans and policy statements.
A report into how the review will be undertaken was presented at the council’s monthly June meeting. It recommended taking a “refreshed target approach” to freshwater policy, which the councillors voted in favor of.
The review was initiated in December last year as a result of the National-led government’s announced changes to essential freshwater.
The review is a requirement under the government’s Essential Freshwater package, which is about stopping further degradation of New Zealand’s fresh water and improving its quality and ecosystem health.
Report author, Waikato Regional Council director of science, policy and information Tracy May said this approach would see the council work with its scientists to determine what approach worked best in catchments or sub-catchments and what attributes could make the necessary changes required.
This in part means giving the council 12-18 months to have conversations with sector groups prior to that notification deadline, to develop a good understanding and try to work towards a better outcome than hurrying it through.
“It’s such a movable feast that so much is happening in that space that our role is really to try and make sense of it. From a policy perspective, the policies that deal with how you use the land and how it impacts water quality and quality, those are what we will be looking at.”
The council will consider government direction and Plan Change 1 (once the Environment Court releases its judgment) to come up with a region-wide freshwater policy draft by the end of next year.
“Not only have we got PC1, we also have the review of Te Ture Whaimana – the vision and strategy for the Waikato and Waipa, which is another layer and we need to ensure that we work closely with our iwi in terms of our statutory requirements.
“The government has also signaled a new NPS for freshwater by 2025 and through policy, we’ll splice together PC1, the vision and strategy review and the new NPS so we’re aiming to have a draft document by the end of 2025 that gives us the platform to bring it all together,” May said.
It is hoped this policy will be notified by 2027. The policy will also give direction to landowners regarding actions such as Freshwater Farm Plans currently required under PC1 for farmers in the Waipa and Waikato catchments.
The council’s primary industry engagement group is still working through what it will mean for the rest of the region.
