This page outlines requirements for regional councils when implementing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. It provides links to the progressive implementation programmes (PIPs) of individual councils.
Implementation requirements for regional councils
The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (Freshwater NPS) was released in 2011 and amended in 2014 and amended further in 2017.
Councils are required to implement the Freshwater NPS in their policies and plans as promptly as is reasonable in the circumstances, so that it is fully completed by no later than 31 December 2025.
If councils consider this to be impractical or likely to result in lower quality planning, they may extend their implementation programme to 31 December 2030.
Where councils could not implement the Freshwater NPS 2011 and Freshwater NPS 2014 by the end of 2015, they were required to identify a programme of time-limited stages for implementation by the 2025 date (a Progressive Implementation Programme or PIP) and to report annually on their progress.
Councils are required to review their existing plans and implementation programmes and, if they need changing, to prepare and publicly notify a revised PIP by 31 December 2018.
Links to the PIP notified by each council are in the table below.
Note that these implementation programmes are subject to change.
Reviewing the implementation of the Freshwater NPS
In 2017, the Ministry for the Environment and the Land and Water Forum each published reviews of how regional councils are progressing towards implementing the Freshwater NPS. The Government’s review consists of a National Themes Report, as well as separate reports for each of the 16 regions containing more detailed information about the regional councils’ implementation programmes, regional contexts, successes and challenges.
Read the Land and Water Forum report [PDF, 631 KB] [Land and Water Forum website]
Progressive implementation programmes notified by each regional council
| Council | Implementation to be completed | Progressive implementation programme (on regional council website) |
|---|---|---|
| Northland | 2025 though possibly later | Programme for implementing the NPS for Freshwater Management (March 2018) [PDF, 154 KB] [Northland Regional Council website] |
| Auckland | 2025 though possibly 2030 | NPS for Freshwater Management, Progressive Implementation Programme (November 2018) [PDF, 1,7871 KB] [Auckland Council website] |
| Waikato | 2030 | NPS for Freshwater Management implementation programme (2018) [Waikato Regional Council website] |
| Bay of Plenty | 2030 | NPS for Freshwater Management implementation (2018) [Bay of Plenty Regional Council website] |
| Gisborne | 2030 |
NPS for Freshwater Management Progressive Implementation Programme for 2018-2030 [PDF, 1,644 KB] [Gisborne District Council website]
|
| Hawke’s Bay | 2025 though likely 2030 | NPS for Freshwater Management Progressive Implementation Programme - 3rd edition (2018) (Council Agenda: Item 6) [Hawkes Bay Regional Council website] |
| Taranaki | 2025 | Implementation programme for the NPS for Freshwater Management (2018) [PDF, 1,856 KB] [Taranaki Regional Council website] |
| Horizons | 2027 | NPS for Freshwater Management - Implementation Plan Update (Council Agenda: Item 8, p 15) [PDF, 827 KB] [Horizons Regional Council website] Implementation of the NPSFM in the Horizons Region (2018) [PDF, 80 KB] [Horizons Regional Council website] |
| Wellington | 2025 though possibly later | NPS for Freshwater Management in Greater Wellington [Greater Wellington Regional Council website] Programme of time-limited stages for implementation of the NPS for Freshwater Management and progress to March 2018 [PDF, 237 KB] [Greater Wellington Regional Council website] |
| Nelson | 2023 | Freshwater implementation programme (2018) [Nelson City Council website] |
| Tasman | 2030 |
Implementing the NPS for Freshwater Management (2018) [Tasman District Council website]
Progressive Implementation Programme (Policy E1) (November 2018) [PDF, 1,049 KB] [Tasman District Council website] |
| Marlborough | 2025 | Progressive Programme for Giving Effect to Policy A1 NPS for Freshwater Management (2017) [PDF, 3.39 MB] [Marlborough District Council website] (Report on pages 11-17 of the Planning, Finance and Community Committee Meeting Agenda, 27 July 2017) |
| West Coast | 2030 | NPS for Freshwater Management Regional Implementation Strategy (2018) [West Coast Regional Council website] |
| Canterbury | 2026-27 | NPS for Freshwater Management progressive implementation programme (2018) [PDF, 130 KB] [Environment Canterbury Regional Council website] |
| Otago | 2026 or later | NPS for Freshwater Management Progressive Implementation Programme (2018) [Otago Regional Council website] |
| Southland | 2025 | NPS for Freshwater Management Progressive Implementation Programme (2018) [PDF, 358 KB] [Environment Southland website] |