TRC rejects water management proposals

Taranaki's environmental watchdog has rejected proposed nationwide rules for managing the country's fresh water, saying the one-size-fits-all approach won't work in the region.

After a lengthy discussion at its policy meeting last week, the Taranaki Regional Council decided the proposed changes would be too costly, too limiting and would undermine the years of hard work in the region.

It resolved to write a "strongly-worded letter" to the Government – addressed to both the minister for the environment and the prime minister himself – listing their concerns. Council director of resource management Fred McLay explained the council's main opposition to the new policy was in its one-size-fits-all approach, which did not leave room for the huge discrepancies between regions.

"It doesn't allow for the arrangements negotiated with those local people who made decisions about their own resources," Mr McLay said.

"We would end up having to change some of those consents granted under the previous policies. That's a hell of a lot of work to change what we've got, which tends to already be generally accepted."

The council was also opposed to the way the new policy was weighted heavily towards environmental protection without considering the economic and social values of the resource.

In particular, the policy included a clause saying all waterways had to be measured and monitored, then maintained at their "natural flows".

The TRC does not currently measure every river in the region as it would cost too much in time, money and resources, Mr McLay said.

In terms of maintaining water bodies at their natural flows, that would mean some companies, such as Fonterra, would be heavily affected.

For example, although Fonterra takes more water from the Tawhiti Stream than generally allowed under the council's guidelines, the consent was agreed upon by the community, and Fonterra makes "up for loss of water in other ways".

Mr McLay said those kind of agreements were at the heart of the Resource Management Act and would only be compromised by a blanket policy.

The debate comes at the same time as Canterbury's regional council has been slammed for its water management and maybe dissolved. The TRC has asked that the letter be written urgently so its concerns would be known to the ministers as soon as possible.

- © Fairfax NZ News