Changes to national freshwater policy

In mid-December 2023, the coalition Government announced it will replace the current National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM), recognising it is complex, expensive, and will not deliver desired freshwater outcomes. There will be a replacement process over the next 18 to 24 months, although the Government is still working through the details. DairyNZ is involved at both the national and regional levels, through engagement with Ministers and officials, and Regional Councils.

While it is early on in the reform process, based on existing information we know that the key changes are:

• The Natural and Built Environment Act and the Spatial Planning Act which replaced the RMA in August last year, have already been repealed. We are now back to the RMA and regional councils will have to assess resource consent applications based on the RMA when for example deciding on consent duration.
• The requirement to notify new regional freshwater plans by the end of 2024 at the latest has been extended to the end of 2027.
• Government is progressing a new fast-track consenting regime for infrastructure and development. This will include target changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) by late 2024.
• The targeted changes will include changes to the ‘water-centric’ Te Mana o te Wai hierarchy, and how it is used in consenting.
• The current RMA will over time be replaced with new resource management legislation based on the enjoyment of property rights while ensuring environmental outcomes.

The Government has made a commitment to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi settlements and other Treaty-related commitments and arrangements in all the reforms.

DairyNZ’s response

DairyNZ is advocating for regional councils to pause notification of their freshwater plan changes, wait for national clarity around a replacement national framework, and use the time to go back to communities for further discussion around the economic implications of their environmental limits.

We want to see a national policy framework that supports constant improvement, focused on good practice implemented at the farm level, and the development of solutions at farm and catchment scales. We want a new NPS-FM to survive any change in government.

How regional councils are responding

Regional councils know that change to the national framework is coming, but many are yet to make firm decisions around their work programmes. Most importantly, regional councils have scope to continue down the paths they have committed to under the 2020 version. Some have signalled they want to do so, or feel obliged to, given the consultation they have carried out with communities and tangata whenua to date.

What it means for farmers

Significant changes may occur but while the targets, methods and timeframes may change there will still be national and regional policy direction requiring improvement in some catchments.

For now, farmers need to keep working on and following national regulations brought in with the NES for freshwater, for example, Intensive Winter Grazing, the cap on nitrogen use and reporting, and stock exclusion requirement. The regional plans and rules also apply as before.