The FLAG provided their recommendations report to the Council at Onetahua marae on the 24 June 2019. The FLAG have requested their report be read in conjunction with the report by Manawhenua ki Mohua:
FLAG Recommendations Report - July 2019 (pdf, 3.5 MB)
Manawhenua Matauranga Report for the Takaka Catchments - June 2019 (pdf, 3.4 MB)
The Council will be considering the recommendations provided by the group.
There is further work identified in the report that will be progressed by staff to assist Council’s consideration of the group’s recommendations over the coming months.
The Council confirmed they will wait until they receive the report of the Special Tribunal for the Water Conservation Order and have taken time to consider its implications before publicly notifying a Takaka freshwater plan change.
To ask a question about this process, email Lisa McGlinchey, Coordinator Natural Resources Policy and FLAG co-ordinator.
The FLAG work relates to the Takaka Freshwater Management Unit (FMU). This includes catchments of the Takaka River and its tributaries and the coastal catchments between Wainui Bay and Tukurua.
Takaka Water Management Catchments (pdf, 745 KB) (pdf, 745 KB)
The FLAG report includes a preamble and short executive summary with a list of the 34 FLAG recommendations.
The fundamental aims of the recommendations package are:
The FLAG recommendations cover:
FLAG have identified and defined eight key values of water in the Tākaka catchments and developed management objectives to guide decision making for development of water quantity and quality management (refer Section 6 of the FLAG recommendations report).
A recommended methodology for allocating water in the catchments, including minimum flows protected by cease take and rationing take triggers to protect instream ecology, and allocation limits (set to avoid flat-lining of rivers at the minimum flow) to provide water for abstractive uses, including community water supply.
Focusing on management of land use and land use practices and diffuse discharges, to ensure everyone undertaking activities that have risks to water quality are operating at least at good practice, and supporting and promoting waterbody and riparian vegetation restoration to improve ecosystem health.
The purpose of the group was to consider the existing and potential future water quantity and quality challenges in the Tākaka water management area and develop solutions for managing water allocation and the water quality effects of land use activities.
The FLAG was not a decision making group, but a community-led response to water management which has made recommendations to the Council to inform decisions on water management, including policy and rules in the Tasman Resource Management Plan and implementation of other approaches to water management.
Any decisions the Council makes on new policy and rules are subject to the Resource Management Act Schedule 1 process which enables everyone to make submissions on the changes proposed.
The Council’s Environment and Planning Committee selected the FLAG members from the nominations received from people with a significant interest in water management in the Tākaka area, and appointed representatives from the Council. In their selection, Council considered:
Download biographies of the members:
The main reasons for this project are:
National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management
The NPS-FM provides objectives and policies for the management of water quantity and quality.
Council is required to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM 2014) by 2030 at the latest. This means:
For Tākaka, Council has chosen to use a collaborative community process through the FLAG to help inform their decisions.
This July 2013 report presents an overview of the surface and groundwater resources, both quantity and quality, for the Tākaka Water Management Area.
The Council commissioned advice from an independent freshwater ecologist, Dr Roger Young, with the Cawthron Institute to provide advice on the aquatic ecological values of water bodies within the Tākaka catchments and make recommendations on setting of minimum flows and allocation limits that protect ecological values. These recommendations provided the basis for FLAG discussions of the allocation regimes in Tākaka. The report also summarises an investigation into nitrate coming from aquifer rock. The report can be viewed below.
In 2015, a panel of independent scientists from around New Zealand were commissioned to provide information to the FLAG on the water quality and ecosystem health of Te Waikoropupu Springs. This work was funded by DairyNZ, with staff time provided by Tasman District Council. The panel included:
The panel provided a report summarising the current data on water quality at the springs and recommending trigger values for key water quality attributes. The report can be viewed below.
Below are a number of information resources provided to the FLAG relating to the health and management of Te Waikoropupū Springs.
Optimised flow model for Arthur Marble Aquifer - Stewart and Thomas - March 2017 (pdf, 234 KB)
The nutrient status of Waikoropupu Springs - Stark Environmental - April 2015 (pdf, 1.6 MB)
Takaka Valley Groundwater Modelling Technical Investigations - Aqualinc - Dec 2017 (pdf, 16 MB)
Continuous Clarity Monitoring in Te Waikoropupu Springs - NIWA - April 2018 (pdf, 2.1 MB)
The Water Conservation Order process is administered by the Environmental Protection Authority. All information on the process and hearing information is available on their website.
View Te Waikoropupū Water Conservation Order process
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