18. Relationship with the Regional Plan: Water for Otago
18.1 Introduction
This chapter summarises the Board's evaluation of the relationship between the Otago Regional Council's Regional Plan: Water (Otago Regional Plan Water) and the Plan, and the changes made to the Otago Regional Water Plan.
Section 16 of the Waitaki Act is as follows:
16 Otago Regional Water Plan
(1) The Board may change the Otago Regional Water Plan as it relates to the Waitaki catchment as necessary to ensure that the Otago Regional Water Plan gives effect to the plan developed and approved under this Part.
(2) A change made to the Otago Regional Water Plan under subsection (1) must be included in the plan developed and approved under this Part.
(3) The Otago Regional Water Plan may be reviewed and changed by the Otago Regional Council in accordance with the provisions of the principal Act.
18.2 Evaluation
An area of the Waitaki catchment falls within the Otago Regional Council administrative boundary. Consequently, the Board considers it is of significant importance that the Regional Plan: Water (Otago Regional Water Plan) is consistent with the Plan. The Board is mindful of the importance of the integrated management of the resources of the Waitaki catchment across regional council boundaries. This can be achieved between the respective planning instruments by ensuring their coherence, and consistency in environmental flow and level, and allocation, regimes. The Board, in its assessment, has identified that the Otago Regional Water Plan is inconsistent with the Plan in the following areas, being:
- the policy on adopting a whole-catchment approach to the Waitaki catchment
- the policies that relate to allocation of water to activities, and the rules that implement these, including with respect to Welcome Creek.
In recognition of the physical, ecological, cultural and social connections throughout the Waitaki catchment, the Board has treated the Waitaki catchment as a whole. Otago Regional Council could not apply this catchment-wide approach in the formulation of the Otago Regional Water Plan.
The Board considers that the current policy framework, and environmental flow and level, and allocation, regimes adopted in the Otago Regional Water Plan do not reflect the importance of ensuring connectedness between all parts of the Waitaki catchment. Further, it does not properly acknowledge or reflect the values associated with that area located within the Otago Regional Council administrative boundary. It is the Board's judgement that the identified inconsistencies are not of a minor, or inconsequential, nature. To address these inconsistencies, the Board will change the Otago Regional Water Plan.
The Board has undertaken the necessary evaluation and examination of the above provisions in the Plan - these are summarised within this report. The Board has evaluated the merits of changing the Otago Regional Water Plan. The Board's judgement is that the changes are appropriate.
