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Auckland local government meeting

February 1 2005

Questions/issues raised

  • Inter-regional consistencies regarding water quality.
  • There is inadequate monitoring and management of water quality by local government.
  • Urban issues should be addressed; Central government needs to be engaged on these.
  • There is over allocation in some catchments.
  • Infrastructure is not keeping pace.
  • First in first served is a problem.
  • Need to incorporate non use values e.g. aesthetics, central government should provide guidelines on how to incorporate these.
  • Need to understand the nature and size of water resources - money needed here.
  • Central government should provide the framework and local government will administer it with flexibility, local values, policy and practice.
  • Transfer of discharge consents concerning as the receiving environments may be very different.
  • A reward for not using water should be considered eg, carrots for water efficiency.
  • Local Government doesn't have the budget to carry out scientific investigations on land use changes.
  • There is inconsistency across New Zealand in approaches. Government should set direction and councils should set into practice.
  • The Resource Management Act is permissive but increased central government involvement results in a more prescriptive approach. It is better if it is guidance and assistance including money, than prescriptive.
  • There is a need for a national audit. What is the state of freshwater? This needs statistics.\
  • There needs to be greater clarity on the roles and responsibilities of central government vs. local government vs. community vs. industry.
  • Need to rank impacts on water quality and develop action plans from that.
  • There needs to be a cultural mind shift from consumption to conservation.
  • Need a national stock take of community initiatives.
  • Are bottom lines too low?
  • Māori participation is moving beyond consultation.
  • Needs to be greater community responsibility for monitoring practice.
  • There is a conflict between regulation and standards at local level. This presents barriers to sustainable management.
  • Public Health should be an issue.
  • What is meant by 'central government to be involved?' this might be helpful if managed well.
  • There are ways to better the control at a national level.
  • Water sustainable urban design needs to be considered, including programmes, criteria and guidelines etc. They should be able to slot into the Long Term Council Community Plans if agreed with.
  • There is a need to prioritise for competing existing and future needs, benefits, uses (intrinsic and instrumental).

Solutions

  • Water fora should be set up where water quality is a problem, should be across districts and regional councils eg, Kaipara Harbour.
  • Use overseas experience to inform New Zealand policy especially on market-based tools.
  • Water needs to be valued so that the goals of the programme can be achieved. It should include declining water quality, scarcity (market mechanisms, allocating to highest value priority), need to know the size of the resource, and need to understand the impact of diffuse discharges on water quality. Central Government needs to provide the framework for this.
  • Needs to be development and support for the implementation of sustainable technologies.
  • National Environmental Standards would bring certainty.
  • Need a set of criteria to help with prioritisation - future proofing is a necessity.
  • Move to market mechanisms (cost and benefit identification) - caution as to appropriateness.
  • National Policy Statement/National Environmental Standard - Supportive for transparent 'use of water' and consistency. Management tools do exist they just need to be developed further. Need national help on 'source' control of contaminants.
  • Pilot Studies
    • Need working models - low impact design and industry agreements
    • Need to share best practice and processes of lessons learnt
    • The 'how' approach needs to be articulated
    • Need to do a stock take of hapu, iwi, water, working models
  • Need funding/education for urban catchment management and community engagement.

Last updated: 25 November 2008