Nick Smith24 November,
2010
Environment Minister Nick
Smith today welcomed the unanimous support
of Parliament for the first reading of the
Environmental Protection Authority Bill.
"New Zealand needs
an effective Environmental Protection Authority
to strengthen and improve our environmental
management," Dr Smith said. "This
reform is about providing stronger central
Government direction on environmental regulation,
better efficiency and cost effectiveness
and improving the integrity of systems by
delegating administration of regulatory
functions to an independent Crown entity.
"The genesis of
the EPA came from the Bluegreens in the
2006 discussion paper that received strong
public support and was then included in
National's 2008 election policy. That no
parties opposed the Bill at first reading
is encouraging because broad support of
Parliament will be needed for the new Authority
to work in the long term."
The key regulatory features
of the EPA will be:
•National consenting
under the Resource Management Act (currently
done by the EPA statutory office housed
in MfE)
•Regulation of pesticides, fireworks, explosives
and other hazardous substances (currently
ERMA)
•Regulation of new and genetically modified
organisms (currently ERMA)
•Administrative functions of the ETS, including
register (currently MED)
•International obligations on hazardous
waste (currently MED)
•Advice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade regarding environmental assessments
for Antarctica NZ (currently MfE)
•Advice and information on the development
and implementation of National Environmental
Standards (currently MfE)
"This Bill builds on the work of the
first phase of RMA reforms that created
a notional EPA within the Ministry for the
Environment for undertaking national consenting
functions," Dr Smith said. "This
second phase reform follows detailed work
on the broader role and functions of the
new Authority.
"The Bill has been
referred to the Local Government Select
Committee for report back by 28 March 2011.
While I acknowledge this timetable is tight,
it is necessary to ensure a smooth transition
to the new Authority on 1 July 2011."
+ More
Lake water quality
The long-term monitoring
of lakes in New Zealand is undertaken primarily
by regional councils, but also by the National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
(NIWA). Councils currently monitor the nutrient
status of about 120 lakes around the country
(although there are 135 lakes for which
recent nutrient data are available).
These lakes are typically
sampled monthly or four times a year. The
sample is not representative of all lakes
in New Zealand, with a bias towards monitoring
large, deep, low altitude lakes.
Many of the large unmonitored
lakes are in national parks (such as Fiordland)
or are reservoirs for hydro-electric power
generation. Regular monitoring is not regarded
as being necessary at these lakes because
they generally do not experience the same
land-use pressures as lakes in developed
catchments, and changes to the quality of
their water are expected to be much slower.
In addition, access to the more remote high-altitude
lakes means that regular monitoring is impractical.
Environmental indicators
The Trophic Level Index (TLI) is used as
an environmental indicator to report on
lake water quality and to measure changes
in the nutrient (trophic) status of lakes.
This index considers:
phosphorus levels
nitrogen levels
visual clarity
algal biomass.
Nitrogen and phosphorus
inputs to lakes may be natural or caused
by humans. Fertilizer run-off and sewage
effluent are two examples of man-made inputs.
These nutrients cause excessive plant and
algae growth, leading to reduced visual
clarity.
The TLI incorporates
both particulate and dissolved nitrogen
(nitrate) and phosphorus in the water. This
is important because water generally remains
in lakes for long periods, so that even
particulate nutrients can eventually be
used to boost growth in aquatic plants.
While TLI is perhaps
the most important indicator of the impact
of land use on lake water quality in New
Zealand, many other measurements can be
made. These include suspended solids and
pH, and the occurrence and abundance of
fish and aquatic plants.
Bacteria levels are
also monitored in some lakes throughout
New Zealand over the summer to report on
recreational water quality.
LakeSPI (Submerged Plant
Indicators) is an indicator which is being
increasingly adopted in lake monitoring
programmes to assess ecological quality.
Features of aquatic plant structure and
composition are used to assess both the
native and invasive character of vegetation
in a lake.
The results from TLI
and LakeSPI are complementary in that TLI
is a more direct assessment of water quality,
whilst LakeSPI provides additional information
about the submerged plant community.
Did you know?
New Zealand has 3820 lakes that are larger
than 1 hectare. Of these, 229 are larger
than 50 hectares.
Most of New Zealand's lakes are in natural
or only partially developed catchments,
such as native bush, and are likely to have
good to excellent water quality.
Update of Water Allocation
Data and Estimate of Actual Water Use of
Consented Takes 2009–10
This report presents a summary of the regional
council consent data for water takes between
2009–10. The information in the report has
been used to update the freshwater demand
environmental indicator.
The report presents
an insight into the maximum consented volumes
of water that may be abstracted over any
one week or year. It shows the sources and
uses for allocated water, and makes comparisons
between regions. It is useful for monitoring
the change of allocated volumes over time.
Key findings
There are currently over 20,500 resource
consents for taking fresh water, compared
to 20,000 in 2006. Just over two-thirds
of these consents are to take groundwater
and just under one-third are to take surface
water.
Although there are more
consents for groundwater, four times more
water is consented to be taken from surface
water than from groundwater.
Irrigation and hydro-generation
account for the majority of consumptive
(water not returned to source) weekly allocations
with 46 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.
Most hydro-generation
takes in New Zealand return the water from
where it came, however one hydro-generation
take in Southland discharges to sea, preventing
others from using the water. This one abstraction
is consented to take over 40 per cent of
the total weekly consumptive allocation
nationally.
The total annual allocated
consumptive volume (27 Bm3/year) in New
Zealand is equivalent to almost half the
volume of Lake Taupo and over three times
the volume of Lake Taupo when non-consumptive
takes (like all hydro-generation) are also
included (193 Bm3/year).
Peak water allocation
pressure occurs during summer when consents
for irrigation are active. The total weekly
allocated volume (757 Mm3/week) in New Zealand
is sufficient to fill up 30 Olympic-sized
swimming pools every minute.
Canterbury, Southland
and Otago account for 86 per cent of the
total weekly allocated volume in New Zealand,
emphasising that where it occurs, allocation
pressure is generally a regional rather
than national issue.
Weekly allocation has
increased by a third since 1999, including
the Southland hydro take. Excluding this
hydro take, allocation has nearly doubled
since 1999, and increased by 10 per cent
in the past four years.
The estimated actual
water used compared to the maximum consented
volume in New Zealand is 65 per cent.
+ More
Antifreeze recycling
scheme launched
Nick Smith26 November,
2010
Environment Minister Nick Smith today announced
in Dunedin a new initiative to recycle used
antifreeze thanks to a Government grant
of $180,000 from the Waste Minimisation
Fund.
“This recycling initiative
is about preventing used antifreeze ending
up in our water ways causing environmental
harm as well as sensible recycling so as
to save natural resources,” Dr Smith said.
“Local business Beta
Antifreeze will use the funding to establish
a recycling facility at Dunedin’s Green
Island Landfill to collect and recycle used
automotive coolant and contaminated glycol
from industry and individual users.
“Beta Antifreeze has
a specifically designed recycle machine
to recover the glycol from used antifreeze.
This can then be used in the production
of new coolant ready to be used for automotive
and industrial processes. The company expects
to process 32,000 litres of used anti freeze
in Otago in the first year. It plans to
expand the programme throughout New Zealand
over the next few years where there is huge
potential given that 2.5 million litres
of antifreeze is imported each year.
The 180,000 grant is
over three years and contributes to the
total project cost of $550,000. The balance
of funding comes from Beta Antifreeze as
well as in-kind contribution from Dunedin
City Council of $30,000.
“It is entirely appropriate
that Dunedin is leading this national work
on making antifreeze recycling viable give
the region’s cold climate, high usage, and
strong environmental credentials,” Dr Smith
said.
“This grant reflects
the Government’s Waste Strategy with a strong
emphasis on those waste streams that cause
the most harm and the focus on initiating
new economically viable recycling businesses.
It is a practical application of the Government’s
Bluegreen approach.”
