Addressing the source of the problem
WM6.6 Where there are water quality issues, we need to address the source of the problem, and not just dig deeper wells or find new ways to treat water.
Relationship between water quality and water quantity
WM6.7 To ensure that the relationship between water quality and quantity is recognised and provided for in all processes and policy aimed at protecting and restoring water quality. There must be sufficient water to protect water quality.
Discharges
WM6.8 To continue to oppose the discharge of contaminants to water, and to land where contaminants may enter water.
WM6.9 To require that local authorities work to eliminate existing discharges of contaminants to waterways, wetlands and springs in the takiwā, including treated sewage, stormwater and industrial waste, as a matter of priority.
WM6.10 To require that the regional council classify the following discharge activities as prohibited due to significant effects on water quality: (a) Activities that may result in the discharge of sewage (treated or untreated), stormwater, industrial waste, animal effluent or other contaminants to water, or onto land where contaminants may enter water; and (b) Stock access to waterways and waterbodies (including drains and stock races), regardless of the size of the waterway and type of stock.
WM6.11 Consented discharge to land activities must be subject to appropriate consent conditions to protect ground and surface water, including but not limited to: (a) Application rates that avoid over saturation and nutrient loading; (b) Set backs or buffers from waterways, wetlands and springs; (c) Use of native plant species to absorb and filter contaminants; including riparian and wetland establishment and the use of planted swales; and (d) Monitoring requirements to enable assessment of the effects of the activity.
Catchment nutrient budgets and limits
WM6.12 To address the decline in water quality in the takiwā by requiring, supporting and contributing to: (a) The development of catchment nutrient budgets (using the best available modelling software) as a tool to manage the cumulative effects of land use on water quality and create
rules and incentives to improve on land and water management; (b) The setting of effective limits for nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and Escherichia coli in waterways and groundwater; and (c) The setting of effective discharge limits for nutrients and sediment on site, whether ‘at the farm gate’, on an industrial site, or within a residential property development, as a tool to improve on on site management of nutrients and contaminants.
WM6.13 To require that catchment nutrient budgets and limits protect eco-cultural systems and values as a matter of priority.
WM6.14 Contaminant and nutrient limit and target setting must be based on the best available information and modeling, and draw from both western science and mātauranga Māori.
Incentives and controls
WM6.15 To support an effective and strong regulatory and non-regulatory framework to address the effects of rural and urban land use to protect water quality. This framework to include:
(a) Incentives to do things right; (b) Controls (i.e. rules) on land use, including prohibiting those activities that will have significant effects on water quality; (c) Compliance monitoring, including a role for tāngata whenua in auditing and as enforcement officers; and (d) Effective and enforceable penalties for noncompliance, including revoking resource consents and enforced environmental remediation.
Controls on land use activities to protect water quality
WM6.16 To require, in the first instance, that all potential contaminants that may enter water (e.g. nutrients, sediments and chemicals) are managed on site and at source rather than discharged off site. This applies to both rural and urban activities.
WM6.17 To require the development of stringent and enforceable controls on the following activities given the risk to water quality: (a) Intensive rural land use (see Issue WM.7); (b) Subdivision and development adjacent to waterways; (c) Discharge to land activities associated with industry;
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(d) Activities in the bed and margins of waterways, including gravel extraction; and (e) Upper catchment activities such as forestry and vegetation clearance.
WM6.18 To oppose the use of global consents for activities that pose a significant threat to water quality, and where the location of the activity is critical for assessing effects.
Environmental infrastructure
WM6.19 To promote the restoration of wetlands and riparian areas as part of maintaining and improving water quality, due to the natural pollution abatement (treatment) functions of these taonga.
WM6.20 To require that the regional council prohibit any further drainage, destruction or modification of remnant wetlands or existing native riparian vegetation, particularly given the function of these taonga in mitigating the effects of land use on water quality.
Measuring and monitoring our progress
WM6.21 To promote the monitoring of water quality and cultural health at hāpua, coastal lakes and river mouth environments, to monitor the health of catchments and assess progress towards water quality objectives and standards (see Section 5.6, Issue TAN3).
Costs and benefits
WM6.22 To require that local authorities afford appropriate weight to tāngata whenua values when assessing the costs and benefits of activities that may have adverse effects on water quality.
WM6.23 To ensure that economic costs do not take precedence over the cultural, environmental and intergenerational costs of poor water quality.
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