VALUING NATURE CONFERENCE

Amy Adams10 JULY, 2013
Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the second day of the Valuing Nature conference.

Yesterday you heard about the economics of nature and valuing nature at a local level. Today the focus is on natural capital in a national context and in business.

This is particularly pertinent to me in the environment portfolio, where I am leading work to take a good, hard look at the way we manage our natural resources.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the valuable input of my colleague Nathan Guy and the officials at the Ministry for Primary Industries who are working with the Ministry for the Environment and others across the Natural Resources Sector on the most comprehensive reforms for fresh water that we have seen in a generation.

This work is currently focussed on the need for greater government direction and at the same time enabling communities to make decisions that will grow our economy and look after the natural capital that we all know is the bedrock of our wealth and our competitive advantage.

Today I am going to announce decisions the Government has made to start improving the way we manage our freshwater resources, and then give you a flavour of further work to come.
The issues with our freshwater management system have been well traversed over the years.

We all want to be confident that the system is looking after our freshwater resources.

Already, more than $450 million has been committed to cleaning up some of our most iconic rivers, lakes and wetlands.

It would be much better, though, if we prevented pollution of our waterways in the first place, rather than leaving our children and grandchildren to face a legacy of poor water quality and ever-increasing clean-up costs.

We all want an end to the conflict - the costs and the delays that many of us face when planning for activities that use or affect our fresh water.

It seems that too often water disputes are determined by who has the best lawyers, the biggest chequebook, and in the long term, the health of our waterways has not necessarily been well-served by that approach.
It is time to stop focussing on the issues that divide us, rather than the values around water that we all share.

As our population grows and our land use intensifies, the time is overdue to reassess our approach to managing water.

There is too much at stake if we don’t take action.
New Zealand’s economy depends on the productive sector, which, of course, depends on water.

We produce fruit and vegetables worth more than $5 billion-a-year.

Dairying earns $13 billion-plus-a-year in exports, and tourism earns $10 billion-a-year.

Think, too, of the contributions from pastoral farming and forestry.

But, this is not just about the dollars. Horticulture employs 50,000 people and the dairy industry employs another 45,000.

That is around 95,000 people – and their families – that rely on just two of the many industries that rely on access to fresh water.

Paradoxically water is both a renewable and a limited resource. We need better tools to manage it, and we need to consider whether decisions around water management are being made at the right level and with the right community inputs.

To deal with these challenges, we are facing difficult decisions. We have to consider and make trade-offs between the many and often conflicting values we hold around water. It is after all, a shared resource.

There is also the difficulty that when we talk about balance in the context of resource management, there is a perception that we have to pit the environment against the economy.

This is not an either/or question – we want to be able to apply the broad judgement that was originally intended under the Resource Management Act.

Our economy depends on the environment. Equally, a strong economy gives us the ability to address environmental concerns. This is about the economy and the environment.

But, we are now facing increasing risks to both.

In addition, we all have responsibility to ensure we are using our natural resources in a way that is fair to the generations that are still to be born.

Maintaining the status quo carries significant and increasing costs. The Government has recently committed a further $3 million to ensure the long-term protection of Lake Taupo’s water quality, taking the total Government investment to $35.5 million.

Together with money provided by Environment Waikato and Taupo District Council, this forms a joint fund of $75.4 million.

But that funding is not the cost of a clean-up, but of achieving a 20 per cent reduction in nitrogen in the lake to ensure its long-term health.

Pollution resulting from poor management or poor decisions in the past can take decades to show up in our waterways, so it is quite likely that things will get worse before they get better.

Water is a key ingredient of economic growth, but the value we get from it is not just about the economy; it is also about water’s value in sustaining life and for recreation, and its role in our national identity.

It is clear we need to make changes if we are to continue to enjoy and benefit from it.

The Government has been working on a package of cohesive reform that will lead to more productive and sustainable use of our freshwater resource within a generation.

This work started in 2009 when we asked the independent stakeholders in the Land and Water Forum to agree on the problems, and some possible ways of tackling them.

This was the genesis of the Fresh Start for Freshwater reforms.

In 2011, we progressed the Forum’s recommendations by introducing the first of three major initiatives.

We introduced a limits-based regime for freshwater management through the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. A key requirement of the NPS is that overall water quality in all regions must be maintained or improved.

Our second initiative was to put $15 million over two years into a special fund devoted to partnership arrangements with councils and communities to clean up six lakes, rivers and wetlands.

And thirdly, we set up the Irrigation Acceleration Fund. In this year’s Budget, the Government has committed $80 million to invest in regional irrigation schemes as the first stage of its commitment to invest up to $400 million.

Building on the recommendations in the three reports of the Land and Water Forum, and on on-going advice from Iwi Leaders, the Government released a discussion document on a comprehensive and integrated package of proposals for freshwater reform in March this year.

More than 2000 people attended 50 meetings and hui around the country in March and April to give their views.

I am happy to report that there was broad support for the overall direction of the water reform proposals.

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Government intends to introduce amendments to the Resource Management Act in a Bill to be introduced to the House this year to begin to deal with these issues.

First and foremost, we accept the Land and Water Forum’s recommendation to include a collaborative option for freshwater planning.

Currently, council staff draft a plan then consult on it – often described as a decide, announce defend approach – which is then followed, potentially, by years of litigation.

Instead, we will provide an option where people and organisations drawn from the community can work together, reflecting their diverse values in setting objectives and limits for their local freshwater resources.

Councils and communities that invest time and energy in the early stages of the planning process are more likely to produce better and more durable decisions because of their involvement.

Getting agreement upfront in the planning process will mean less litigation further down the track, which will increase certainty for everyone, and ultimately, save time and money.

We will not be compelling councils to choose a collaborative approach. Regions will still be able to use the existing Schedule 1 planning process if they choose, however, feedback on our proposals for freshwater reform showed there is significant support for collaboration.

Collaboration depends on the incentives being right for all those engaged, at all steps, to work together towards the best outcomes, and getting those incentives properly calibrated has been a critical part of the exercise.

Limiting appeals is one of the key tools for fostering consensus and incentivising upfront engagement, as are ensuring residual appeal rights are appropriately tethered to deviation from the collaboratively-reached decisions.

An important feature of this planning option is the flexibility in how collaboration can operate region-by-region. It is critical that the Government provides guidance and support, as councils and communities adopt to this new way of working to ensure success.

Additionally, we are also clarifying and enhancing provisions for iwi/Maori views to be explicitly considered before planning decisions on fresh water are made, no matter whether councils choose the collaborative option or the existing Schedule 1 process.
We accept that the current regime is not working as intended for Maori, and that while final decisions are reserved for council, those decisions must be properly informed by all relevant information, including iwi views.

There are many examples of iwi/Maori participating successfully in freshwater management processes. But I am hearing that there have also been differing expectations and some confusion about their role.

This has led to uncertainty, costs and delays while matters are debated in the courts and some iwi have looked to Treaty of Waitangi settlements to ensure their interests are considered. I want to stress that those Treaty settlement outcomes will be protected.

The Iwi Leaders Group has worked directly on these reforms with us, and I was gratified by the keen interest and positive response from iwi through the consultation hui in March and April.

As I have said, central government will work closely with regional councils to provide guidance and best practice information for implementing the changes. We are all in this together and your input is critical – whether you are from a regional council, an environmental organisation, an iwi group or the productive or energy sectors.

The Ministry for the Environment is working with regional councils and scientists to improve the quality and consistency of data that we need for making sound decisions on freshwater use and management.

National requirements will continue to be provided for through the freshwater national policy statement, which gives councils clear direction to maintain and improve the quality of water in their catchments, as well as the use of the Environmental Protection Authority to assess and progress nationally-significant resource consents, and Water Conservation Orders to protect our wild and scenic rivers.

Despite the recent furore, I want to emphasise that we had not proposed to make any changes to existing Water Conservation Orders, or in any way reduce the important protections they provide.

Rather we wanted to make sure that new applications would not be used to undermine or derail the new collaborative planning efforts that we are fostering.

However, following feedback during the freshwater consultation we have decided that, given goodwill from stakeholders, there is a low risk of Water Conservation Orders being used in this way.

We will, therefore, give the reforms time to bed in before we look at how the Water Conservation Orders process fits with regional planning.

Other parts of the immediate steps for the freshwater reforms include the creation of a National Objectives Framework and better water accounting.

It is the Government’s intention to this year make legislative amendments to facilitate the introduction of a National Objectives Framework.

In the meantime, work continues to progress the development of the National Objectives Framework, including detailed scientific work on populating the framework.

A further period of consultation will be carried out before final decisions on the design and detail of the framework are made.

Just before I finish, I want to touch on another area of work that complements the Government’s freshwater programme – credible state of the environment reporting.

The importance of this work was reinforced by last week’s release of Statistics NZ’s Environment Domain Plan.

The Domain Plan provides a useful picture of the official information about New Zealand’s environment and identifies what can be done to make improvements to this information.

The Government is committed to introducing independent environmental reporting that is underpinned by high quality, consistent statistics that provide a reliable, accurate, and integrated picture of the economy and the environment.

Before we are in a position to do this, we need to address the current barriers to getting reliable, consistent data that provides an integrated picture of the economy and the environment.

In the Government’s 2011 discussion document on environmental reporting, we signalled that changes to the Resource Management Act were required to enable the government to make regulations requiring local authorities and councils to monitor the environment according to specified priorities and methodologies.

This work was completed last year and changes to the Act are included in the Resource Management Reform Bill 2012, which had its second reading in parliament last month.

It is essential that improvements to the quality and accessibility of data are made so that we can debate the issues rather than the integrity of the data.

The Environment Ministry is currently in the midst of this work programme, with announcements likely to be made later this year.

This year is an exciting one for all parties interested in freshwater management reform.

As I have stated throughout this process, while the Government will work at pace to formulate durable solutions, we recognise that these issues are too important to rush.

The Government is committed to robust reform of freshwater management. So, to everyone who has had an input, and to those who will soon become more involved – thank you.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your conference.

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Government finalises first stage of freshwater policy

Amy Adams, Nathan Guy 10 JULY, 2013
Environment Minister Amy Adams and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have today announced that the Government has finalised the first stage of an action plan to improve water quality and the way freshwater is managed.

The Government released a discussion document in March based on the recommendations of the Land and Water Forum and which gave effect to their core recommendations.

The document outlined a clear path of reform ahead that will be addressed through a comprehensive and measured approach, starting this year.

Following hundreds of submissions and more than 50 meetings throughout the country with councils, iwi, environment groups, businesses and the public, the Cabinet has confirmed the first stage of the freshwater reforms.

A new freshwater collaborative planning option will be created which will give communities and iwi a greater say in planning what they want for their local waterways and how they should be managed.

“This means that rather than a council drafting a plan and then asking for comment, a representative group of stakeholders drawn from the community will be able to work together on a plan,” the Ministers say.

“Getting agreement upfront in the planning process will mean fewer debates and less litigation further down the track, which will ultimately save time and money, and lead to better overall outcomes.”

The Government will not be compelling councils to choose a collaborative approach, however feedback on the freshwater proposals showed there is significant support for this method.

The Government has also decided to improve the way in which iwi/Maori engage in freshwater planning, no matter whether councils decide to choose the collaborative option or the existing process.

Over the years ahead, the Government will work closely with regional councils to provide guidance and other support to help them implement the changes.

Based on feedback received during consultation, it has been decided not to progress plans to review how Water Conservation Orders work with regional planning.

“We have listened to feedback from councils and communities and the concern about the impact such changes may have. While we continue to see value in all freshwater planning processes being aligned, we do not propose any changes to Water Conservation Orders at this time,” the Ministers say.

Other parts of the immediate steps for the freshwater reforms include the creation of a National Objectives Framework (NOF) and better water accounting. It is the Government’s intention to make legislative amendments to facilitate the introduction of a National Objectives Framework.

In the meantime, work continues to progress the development of a NOF, including detailed scientific work on populating the framework. A further period of consultation will be carried out before final decisions on the design and detail of the framework are made.

Other reforms in the freshwater package will be tackled over the next few years. These include:

Rules and tools to support the improved planning system and the National Objectives Framework
A review of the Water Research Strategy across the whole of Government
National direction and guidance on accounting for sources of contaminants and the use of models for nutrient budgeting
National guidance on dealing with over-allocation, transition issues, and compliance and enforcement; and
More work on allocation of water on expiry of permits, the transfer and trade of water, and incentives for efficient water use
“The key tenet of the Government’s freshwater reform programme is that improving our water management system will require solutions that start now and build over the long-term. There is no quick fix,” the Ministers say.