Tuesday, 06 September 2016 11:41

Health Rivers Wai Ora committee recommends proposed plan change for rivers

Written by 
The Waikato river. The Waikato river.

A committee made up of river iwi governors and Waikato regional councillors has agreed to recommend a proposed plan change for the Waikato and Waipa rivers to the regional council for consideration.

The committee’s decision at a meeting at Karapiro yesterday followed consideration of the proposed plan change formulated by a multi-sector Collaborative Stakeholder Group (CSG).

The CSG was formed as part of the Healthy Rivers: Plan for Change/Wai Ora: He Rautaki Whakapaipai project, which has been running since 2012. The project has been a partnership that has involved river iwi, Waikato Regional Council and a wide range of key stakeholders, including the farming sector.

The regional council is now due to consider the notification of the proposed plan change on September 15. Public consultation is due to be carried out once a plan change recommendation is signed off by the council, giving the wider public the chance to have a formal say on what’s proposed. The committee agreed that this submissions process should be extended from a recommended 60 days to no less than 80 days given the level of public interest in the plan change, as well as the complexity of, and the volume of information supporting, the plan change.

The plan change is designed to take the rivers on the first stage of an 80-year journey towards being safe for swimming and food gathering along their entire lengths, as is required by the Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato (Vision and Strategy for the Waikato and Waipa rivers). The Vision and Strategy stemmed from Treaty settlement legislation giving iwi a central role in protecting their tupuna awa (ancestral rivers). The CSG had regard to both the Vision and Strategy and the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management in its deliberations.

The plan change focusses on the contaminants nitrogen, phosphorous, pathogens and sediment getting into the rivers. These can harm the health of water bodies or present risks to people and stock, and the aim is to reduce their presence to acceptable levels.

Due to the extent of change required, the CSG has recommended an 80-year staged approach to achieving the water quality required by the Vision and Strategy for the rivers. The first stage covered by the proposed plan change recommended by the committee yesterday involves actions over a decade that will ultimately result in 10 per cent of the change towards achieving Te Ture Whaimana.

Analysis indicates the measures proposed by the CSG will make major improvements in bacteria levels and some improvement in phosphorus and sediment levels in the first 10 years.

The CSG’s full draft plan change recommendations are available via www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/healthyrivers 

More like this

Mixed season for Waikato contractors

Last season was a mixed bag for Waikato contractors, with early planted forage maize, planted on the dry soils around Cambridge, doing badly after germination and failing to meet potential, says Jeremy Rothery, Jackson Contracting.

Featured

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.

B+LNZ launches AI assistant for farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter