Fresh Start for Fresh water Clean-up Fund

The Fresh Start for Fresh water Clean-up Fund is part of a package of water reform initiatives including the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2011 and the Irrigation Acceleration Fund [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry website] to support the development of new irrigation infrastructure. These three initiatives form part of the Government’s response to the Land and Water Forum’s recommendations [Land and Water Forum website], and will work together to link incentives to improve water management practices.


The Clean-up Fund will provide $15 million in funding over two years to help communities clean up waterways that are affected by historical water quality issues. The Ministry administered one funding round to allocate both years of funding.


Six million dollars of the $15 million fund was allocated to Environment Canterbury for the Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere project [Beehive website]. NIWA’s 2010 Lake Water Quality Report ranked lakes by tropic level index and rated Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere at 6.9 – the worst in New Zealand of 140 lakes. The project is a good example of a collaborative effort for a joint concern.


Horizons Regional Council and the Manawatu River Leaders’ Accord will receive $5.2M for the remediation of the Manawatu River. The project involves planting, fencing, developing nutrient management plans and upgrading sewage treatment plants to rapidly improve the water quality of one of New Zealand’s most polluted rivers. The Leaders’ Accord shows the commitment of major stakeholders within the region to improve the health of the river.


Environment Canterbury and the Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury Zone Committee Wainono Lagoon will receive $800K for fencing of riparian buffer zones, installation of culverts, bridges, alternative stock water sources at key sites, and for planting with native vegetation.


Greater Wellington Regional Council, in partnership with the Department of Conservation, has received funding to help enhance wetlands in Wairarapa Moana. The remainder of the $1M will be spent on landowner engagement and involvement, property assessments and environmental plans, weed and pest control, and wetland hydrology improvement operations.


Environment Southland will receive approximately $785K for the emergency response of the clean-up at the Waituna Lagoon. This initial stage is to prevent the lagoon from ‘flipping’. Funding will be provided for stream rebattering work, constructing wetlands and sediment traps, and opening the lagoon.

Criteria

The Clean-up Fund took a consistent approach to funding contaminated waterways by assessing applications against a consistent set of criteria.

Eligibility

  1. Funding is only available for the remediation of nationally significant freshwater bodies.
  2. Regional council led: jointly-led proposals are encouraged. Applications must be submitted and led or co-led by a regional council (including unitary authorities).
  3. Applicants must provide evidence that contamination is a legacy issue which results from decisions and/or activities that occurred before the passage of the Resource Management Act in 1991.
  4. Regulatory drivers: applicants must provide evidence that appropriate regulatory plans and measures are in place, or will be implemented, to manage/minimise future contamination in a way that gives effect to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.
  5. Collaboration: applicants must provide evidence of partnership and/or a collaborative approach, including with iwi/Māori.
  6. New activities:  the project must result in new freshwater remediation activity, either by implementing new initiatives or expanding the scope of existing activities.
  7. Funding: the Fund will not cover the entire cost of the project. Local contributions must at least match the Crown’s contribution.

Assessment

  1. Preference will be given to projects which can demonstrate the extent to which the water body is nationally significant, and/or the extent to which remediation will provide national benefits, eg,:
    1. economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits, including projects that will strengthen iwi relationships with freshwater bodies
    2. long-term benefits following the completion of the project.
  2. The degree of partnership and cross-sectoral collaboration.
  3. The degree of partnership and collaboration with local iwi/Māori.
  4. Robustness of evidence base detailing that appropriate regulatory plans and measures are in place, or will be implemented in a timely manner, to manage/minimise contamination.
  5. The extent to which benefits exceed the costs of the project.
  6. The level of funding from other sources.
  7. Evidence that the scale of the clean-up is beyond regional resources.
  8. The current level of degradation, the trends of the water quality, the legacy of contamination resulting from historic decisions and activities, the level of improvement being targeted and the overall reduction in the level of contamination.
  9. Demonstration of:
    1. likelihood of the project’s success
    2. ability to deliver the project
    3. how the project will achieve its goals
    4. how the effectiveness of the project will be monitored, evaluated and reported.

Key background information

 

Last updated: 12 March 2012