Healthy Environment, Poor Economy, Poor Communities
First we had the Horizon’s One Plan that was supposed to be a plan that would allow the rural community to have a comprehensive consent to allow them to do what they wanted as long as they stayed within the requirements of their comprehensive consent.
This was promoted to the community as allowing that when you got your consent it would give you the ability to do whatever your consent stated, as long as the consent was valid.
But the water module in the consent became the sticking point because of the National Policy Statement (NPS) for freshwater which set standards for the discharge of nutrients to water, for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sediment and Microbial Pathogens and the One Plan’s differing standards which the farming community were unable to meet.
These four nutrients phosphorus, sediment and microbial pathogen losses from land will be required in subsequent regional plans. One for the Healthy Environment✔️
So when these four nutrients that the Horizon’s Regional Council integrated into The One Plan and the discharge levels were set for implementation by the farmers, it was found that most farmers would either go out of business or the consumer would have to pay significantly more. The Horticulture industry was found to be in real trouble in the Horizons Region as the new levels are extremely difficult for the Horticultural industry to meet and will result in huge price increases for fresh fruit and vegetables. One for the Poor Economy and Poor Communities
Example:
By: Laurel Stowell
Laurel Stowell is a reporter for the Wanganui Chronicle
laurel.stowell@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
“there will still be some farmers who cannot meet even the new maximums – horticulturists, for example, who can leach twice as much as intensive dairy farms.”
Next we have the Otago Regional Council’s Water Limits. The Manuherikia Valley catchment at present is using about 8-9 cu mecs of water with approximately 15,000ha at present being irrigated but if the water allocation is dropped to 3.2 cu mecs (as the ORC are planning on doing) then the area irrigated would drop by 9000ha’s
Example:
Gary Kelliher
Otago Daily Times
pam.jones@odt.co.nz
“A water allocation limit set in 2004 and being newly promoted by the Otago Regional Council would wipe out half the farming operations in the Manuherikia Valley should it be enforced, a local critic says.
Manuherikia farmer and water leader Gary Kelliher, who is chairman of the Manuherikia subgroup of the Otago Water Resource Users Group (OWRUG), said a “nominal” historical figure of 3.2cumec of water allocation for the entire valley had recently been promoted anew by ORC chief executive Sarah Gardner.
But about 8-9cumec of water was used in the valley at present, and about 9000ha of the valley’s 15000ha of irrigable land would lose water if the allocation dropped to 3.2cumec, Mr Kelliher said.
It would take millions out of the district’s economy and “be the nail in the coffin” for many farming operations, as well as threatening the Falls Dam project.”
Ms. Gardner, CEO, “Otago Regional Council”, has told the Manuherikia group “Otago Water Resource Users Group (OWRUG),”that they can’t have a private meeting with Councillors and Staff as Councillors wanted to ensure the transparency and integrity of the process and do it in a public meeting.
Councillors from the Dunstan constituency Graeme Bell, Michael Laws and Dr Ella Lawton have repeated their concerns to the Otago Regional Council on the Otago Regional Council’s handling of the water issues in the Manuherikia catchment. Dr Ella Lawton said that the Councillors hadn’t seen the science for the Manuherikia catchment before Otago Regional Council went public with the allocation of water.
“Is this fair to the community, how the Otago Regional Council have gone about developing water allocation in the Manuherikia catchment?”
Ms Gardner said economic data, a water surety model and cultural and social assessments would be available at the end of this year, but surely the Otago Regional Council should have had this data available before the allocation decision was made and publicised?
Another for the Environment ✔️another for the Poor Environment and For the Poor Communities.
Then we have the Waikato Regional Council’s Proposed Plan Change One, we all know what the PC1 does, One for a Healthy Environment, One for a Poor Economy , One for Poor Communities
Yes it may improve the water quality in some areas: The Healthy Environment
It will drive the rural and national economies down: The poor Economy
It will result in farmers losing their land and leaving small rural communities which will have the effect of reducing the services available in those communities: The Poor Communities
Peter Buckley
Board Member P.L.U.G.