New Zealand’s Green Party has vocalized a concern shared by many New Zealanders that the recent removal of a resource consent clause from water management legislation will hamper efforts to clean up the country’s lakes and rivers.
A provision in a draft of New Zealand’s National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS) required that farmers apply for resource consent if they want to adopt intensive farming practices; but the provision was removed in the final version.
Resource consent is the official permission given to indivuals and business to undertake activities involving land use or building construction, which impact the environment.
New Zealand’s Greens warned on May 10 that watering down the freshwater management rules in this way will stymie progress in the cleanup of New Zealand’s rivers and lakes.
“Many New Zealanders may be surprised to learn that nearly half of our monitored rivers are unsafe for swimming and that two-thirds of our native freshwater fish are threatened or at risk,” said Green Party co-leader Russel Norman in a press release.
The provision in the NPS draft would have been a big step forward in purifying national waterways, said Norman, who points out that the decline in water quality in New Zealand has been attributed to the intensification of land use by nearly every report.
Nick Smith, minister of the Environment, concedes that while freshwater resources in New Zealand are amongst the cleanest in the world, there are some areas where both the quality and quantity of water need addressing.
The NPS is “just a first step in the complex process of improving freshwater management,” he said in Parliament.
The revised NPS simply states that regional councils must take into account potential adverse effects of activities that relate to water resources, and see if the activities fall within specific criteria.
The Greens argue that without the need for resource consent, regional councils will no longer be forced to regulate land use intensification. They said that the government ignored recommendations from a group of 58 stakeholders, as well as its own Board of Inquiry.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) website says, “There is no doubt that our declining river water quality over the last 20 years is associated with intensification of pastoral farming and the conversion of drystock farmland to dairy farming, particularly in Waikato, Southland, and Canterbury.
A provision in a draft of New Zealand’s National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS) required that farmers apply for resource consent if they want to adopt intensive farming practices; but the provision was removed in the final version.
Resource consent is the official permission given to indivuals and business to undertake activities involving land use or building construction, which impact the environment.
New Zealand’s Greens warned on May 10 that watering down the freshwater management rules in this way will stymie progress in the cleanup of New Zealand’s rivers and lakes.
“Many New Zealanders may be surprised to learn that nearly half of our monitored rivers are unsafe for swimming and that two-thirds of our native freshwater fish are threatened or at risk,” said Green Party co-leader Russel Norman in a press release.
The provision in the NPS draft would have been a big step forward in purifying national waterways, said Norman, who points out that the decline in water quality in New Zealand has been attributed to the intensification of land use by nearly every report.
Nick Smith, minister of the Environment, concedes that while freshwater resources in New Zealand are amongst the cleanest in the world, there are some areas where both the quality and quantity of water need addressing.
The NPS is “just a first step in the complex process of improving freshwater management,” he said in Parliament.
The revised NPS simply states that regional councils must take into account potential adverse effects of activities that relate to water resources, and see if the activities fall within specific criteria.
The Greens argue that without the need for resource consent, regional councils will no longer be forced to regulate land use intensification. They said that the government ignored recommendations from a group of 58 stakeholders, as well as its own Board of Inquiry.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) website says, “There is no doubt that our declining river water quality over the last 20 years is associated with intensification of pastoral farming and the conversion of drystock farmland to dairy farming, particularly in Waikato, Southland, and Canterbury.
