Freshwater policy reform

What is changing

On 29 May 2025 the coalition Government launched a consultation to reform national direction under the Resource Management Act (RMA).

The consultation consists of four packages. Consultation for the first three packages will run from Thursday 29 May until 11.59pm on Sunday 27 July.

Package 1: Infrastructure and development:

• Looks at ways to make it easier for councils to plan and deliver infrastructure.

Package 2: Primary sector

• Aims to enable growth in the primary sector by making changes to eight existing national direction instruments.

Package 3: Freshwater:

• Seeks feedback on options to amend freshwater national direction to better reflect the interests of all water users.

Package 4: Going for Housing Growth (starting soon)

What changes to freshwater management are being considered?

There are several policy proposals that will have an impact on farmers, including:

• Rebalancing freshwater management through multiple objectives and rebalancing Te Mana o te Wai.
• Providing flexibility in the National Objectives Framework.
• Enabling commercial vegetable growing.
• Addressing water security and water storage.
• Simplifying wetlands provisions and fish passage regulations.
• Addressing issues with farmer-facing regulations (e.g. N Cap).
• Mapping requirements for drinking water sources.

How can I get involved?

You can inform DairyNZ’s submission to these proposals. We are looking to engage with farmers in late June and early July once we have established positions on the changes. We will provide further detail soon.

You can also get involved directly by considering the proposed changes and providing feedback. You can find more information and the consultation material on the MFE website.

• Consultation on updating RMA national direction | Ministry for the Environment
• Freshwater national direction - Ministry for the Environment - Citizen Space

MFE are running webinars to provide more information on the consultation material – you can register through the MFE website.

DairyNZ is prepared for this consultation

The DairyNZ policy and science teams have been proactively preparing for this consultation by developing an alternative national freshwater management framework. This puts us in a strong position to deliver a constructive, science-based response.

Four key outcomes we are seeking in a new approach to freshwater management are:

• Practical and effective – a science-based approach that drives real improvement, encourages collaboration, and clearly links on-farm actions to freshwater outcomes.
• Outcome-focused – prioritising human and ecosystem health outcomes over strict contaminant limits as proxies for these outcomes.
• Farmer-led catchment level solutions – supporting catchment and farmer-led freshwater planning and delivery with a mix of regulatory and voluntary actions.
• Balanced policy – ensuring long-term environmental and economic sustainability with clear regulations and market confidence.

We will look to ensure consistency in positioning across the sector through early and continuous engagement with other organisations.

You will have an opportunity to consider and provide feedback on DairyNZ’s submission at various points in the process. We will provide further detail soon.

Initial response to consultation material

We are reviewing the material provided to shape our response. Our initial assessments from reviewing the consultation material are:

1. We support the consultation and the government’s intent to improve freshwater management.
2. We agree the existing approach is inefficient and we need freshwater management settings that are enduring so farmers have certainty.
3. We welcome a more balanced approach where economic impacts are considered.
4. We support a review of the National Objectives Framework and the proposal for a smaller number of compulsory attributes. However, the options proposed are limited. In our view there needs to be a shift from the current focus on numerical limits to one that is focused on human health and ecosystem health outcomes.
5. We support a stronger role for tools like certified and audited Freshwater Farm Plans in delivering environmental outcomes.
6. We support the proposals to make management of wetlands easier, and to remove barriers to mitigations like constructed wetlands.
7. If we are going to deliver the outcomes tangata whenua and communities want, then all sectors must play their part.
8. We will be working with and on behalf of farmers to provide feedback to this process, and we encourage farmer engagement.