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Appendix 1: Process to date: Water Programme of Action Water Quality Working Group

The Water Quality Working Group recognised that the impacts of rural land use on water quality covered a range of issues, effects, agencies and stakeholders. The Working Group worked closely with, and contains members that are involved in, the Lake Taupo special project (see Appendix 3), which has provided useful 'on-ground' work to inform the water programme of action.

The group also identified the need to consider how reform of management of land use effects on water quality would interact with Māori interests in water quality, and worked with the Māori Reference Group.

Further, the group is aware that technological remediation of degraded water bodies is practiced in some parts of the world (for example: providing for continued land use effects on water quality through chemical treatment of water to render it suitable for domestic use, or, recycling of nitrate-contaminated groundwater for use in irrigation). The group also recognises that freshwater quality issues are not isolated to impacts from rural land use, and that impacts from urban land use are not insignificant.

However, the group has not specifically considered remediation nor urban land use impacts in order to necessarily narrow the scope of work for this phase of the water programme. It may be useful in the future to assess how remediation approaches and urban land use issues relate to current legislation, governance and management frameworks, and the principles set out in the Sustainable Development Programme of Action. These issues are potential work streams for the future.

The Water Quality Working Group is comprised of the following central government departments:

  • Department of Internal Affairs
  • Department of Conservation
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (co-lead)
  • Ministry of Economic Development
  • Ministry for the Environment (co-lead)
  • Ministry of Health
  • Te Puni Kokiri
  • The Treasury.

As well as officials from:

  • Marlborough District Council
  • Environment Waikato

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