Preserving the special qualities of rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and aquifers and supporting the needs of our communities

Issue

The special qualities of our iconic alpine lakes, braided rivers, coastal and other waterbodies are vulnerable to impacts from a wide range of developments and activities, some of which are difficult to identify and manage and are associated with activities necessary to support the needs of our communities.

Causes

Impacts on waterbodies are caused by activities within and outside of those waterbodies and their margins through direct, indirect and/or cumulative adverse effects. These impacts are likely to be intensified by climate change.

Why it matters

The natural character of rivers, lakes and other waterbodies in Waitaha/Canterbury are an important part of our regional identity and significantly contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of our communities. The natural character of our waterbodies are integral to the mahinga kai customs and values of Ngāi Tahu, and several waterbodies and surrounding areas are associated with Statutory Acknowledgement Areas and nohoanga (seasonally-occupied) sites. These special qualities of waterbodies can be vulnerable to impacts from a wide range of human activities, including activities that are important for community wellbeing such as flood management or essential infrastructure. The natural character of waterbodies also contributes to and can be influenced by the surrounding landscape.

Our current goals

Our Regional Policy Statement includes some direction which must be implemented and other direction which should be implemented. We have included these in two categories below:

1. Things we must do

This is very strong policy direction that is required to be implemented:

  • Ensure we put in place ways to preserve the natural character of rivers, lakes and wetlands and their margins, including those in the coastal environment.
  • Engage with Ngāi Tahu to identify values relevant to the protection and enhancement of rivers and lakes.
  • Provide for appropriate activities that support the wellbeing of our communities, in particular for management of flood risk and for essential structures.
  • Support appropriate existing public access to and along rivers and lakes.

2. Things we should do

This policy direction is strongly encouraged:

  • Provide greater protection where significant natural character values exist.
  • Provide for the integrated nature of whole catchments in managing and enabling activities in rivers and lakes
  • Support appropriate new access to and along rivers and lakes.
  • Promote further initiatives to incentivise the preservation of the natural qualities of our region's waterbodies

Should we change our goals?

When we consider changing goals, we need to keep in mind that other on-the-ground changes will be required to meet them. We also need to keep in mind that some of our must-do policy direction was necessary to meet the national legislation requirements of the time. Some new must do’s will be needed in order to meet recent legislation.

Potential impacts of changing our policy direction

We have outlined some of the potential consequences of changing our policy direction. These are high-level examples, just to illustrate that each change will have flow-on effects.

If we change our goals, we will need to consider what else will need to change to meet them.

Putting in place stronger controls to preserve the natural character of our region’s waterbodies might also mean more restrictions on the activities that can take place in certain places. For example, an irrigator may find there are greater controls on their ability to divert a braid of a braided river to their irrigation intake; or a groyne proposed to reduce erosion on a farm may be considered inappropriate as it impacts on the natural character of the river. This in turn could affect community wellbeing through greater limitations on the types of farming, forestry and other rural or recreational activities that can take place. It may also affect the cost of maintaining or building infrastructure to avoid compromising natural character.

We are using the feedback we received during July and August to draft more detailed policy options, including detail about the consequences of change. You will get another opportunity to tell us what you think about those options from October this year.