On-Stream
It's been a hive of activity at ORC lately.
We have made a new video that shows the values the Otago community places on water quality, and you can watch it by clicking on the link in the 'In Brief' section below. The video explains why Otago has a water plan and talks about its effects-based approach, plus there is some stunning scenery to remind you that we live in the most beautiful region in New Zealand.
Our congratulations go to Ben and Tanya Davie from Hejlea Dairies in Clydevale. Ben and Tanya won the Otago Regional Council Quality Water Management Award at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards recently. We'll tell you more about them and why they won the award in the winter issue of Waterlines, and will also share this with you in On-Stream.
It's Annual Plan time, and you can read about projects relating to water in On-Stream's feature story. We welcome your submissions on the plan, so please take some time to read over the proposed changes and let us know your thoughts.
Our forum in Alexandra late last month to discuss expiring deemed permits was a success, with more than 140 people turning up to hear from iwi, DoC, and Fish and Game about waterway values and why these are important to include in applications for water consents. How to make the transition to a consent as easily as possible was also explained at the forum (see the case study video in 'In Brief').
We're doing a phone survey to 300 rural Otago residents this month to get some feedback about how well people understand the Water Plan rules, and to find out what action people are taking to make sure they comply with them. We'll share the results with you in a later issue of On-Stream.
We hope you're enjoying the beautiful autumn colours and the crisp, clear days. They are two more reasons why it's great to live in Otago.
Happy reading,
The ORC team
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Feature story: ORC's Annual Plan
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Our annual plan is ORC's blueprint for projects we propose to undertake during the 2017/18 year, and what it will cost to deliver these to the Otago community.
Two key projects have been added to the draft plan to help us meet two important deadlines for water:
- 1 April 2020. The water contaminant thresholds come into effect for rural landholders on this date.
- 1 October 2021. About 450 deemed permits for water takes need to have been converted to water permits by this date.
These projects will result in an increase to our workload, and therefore an increase in rates. Here's a brief summary of the above projects: 1. We would like to visit all rural (and large lifestyle) properties in Otago over the next three years to discuss how the water plan rules relate to the landholder and their specific situation. We want to answer queries, give clarification, and help landholders assess risks and decide on what steps they can take to manage them (see page 7 of the consultation document - the link is below). 2. There are several hundred irrigators in Otago who have water user permits dating to back to gold mining days, when no consideration was given to either how much water was actually available, or protecting instream values and river habitat. We're setting minimum flows on a number of waterways so we can provide certainty to irrigators about how much water they can use, while also giving the wider community peace of mind that recreational, cultural and ecological values will be protected (see page 8 of the consultation document - the link is below). There are a number of other changes outlined in the annual plan, and we encourage you to go to http://www.orc.govt.nz/Publications-and-Reports/Corporate-Planning-and-Reporting/annualplan/ to find out more about it, and how you can make a submission. You have until 12 May to tell us your thoughts. |
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| Updates from your liaison specialists |
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Bruce Monaghan - Central Otago
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I presented at the Expiring Deemed Permit forum on 29 March in Alexandra. It was a successful day with a good turnout. Below are some important pointers that were raised:
- Liaise with iwi, Department of Conservation (DoC), and Fish and Game as early as you can when you're preparing your water consent application. They are all considered to be affected parties.
- Being part of a water users group (based on catchments) can assist with filling any gaps in fish and flow data, which is needed for your application.
- An Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) is part of the consent application and requires a discussion of aquatic values with iwi, DoC, and Fish and Game. Being part of a water users group makes this process smoother.
- Written approvals from the affected parties will significantly speed up the process of your application. The approvals will set out the agreed residual flows, which are likely to be included in the consent conditions.
- The consent process will be longer and possibly more costly if you submit your application prior to reaching agreement with affected parties.
If you have any queries about the process, please give me a call.
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There hasn't been much time spent at my desk this month. I attended and presented at the recent Clinton Beef + Lamb Land Environment Planning (LEP) 1 workshop. We had 11 farmers who put together an LEP for the land they own or manage. It's great to attend these sessions and I like being there to answer questions and hear the very healthy discussion that arises.
I was on hand to assist with the Deemed Permit Forum in Alexandra, which Bruce has summarised above. The key message from this day was that if you have a deemed permit, make sure you understand what data you need to collect and start liaising with statutory affected parties now.
I attended two lake-related events in Central Otago recently. A Pecha Kucha evening in Queenstown involved people talking for 20 seconds to each of their 20 slides with the theme ‘The lakes and I’. There was a diverse array of speakers including a local jeweller and a forager (who harvests produce from the wider environment).
The highlight for me was a talk given by Randal Aspinall, who spoke of farming Mt Aspiring station with several thousand eyes observing everything he does, and he also spoke about the environmental enhancements he is undertaking on the property.
The other event was a 'Lab at the Lake' in Wanaka, where people came to learn about initiatives and programmes that are underway relating to the lakes, and get them interested in the freshwater science involved.
(Nicole is far too modest to mention this herself, but she deserves a huge pat on the back for recently passing her Masters degree - clever cookie!)
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It's great to be back and catching up with some exciting projects that are happening down this way. You might have already caught up with me at the Beef + Lamb LEP workshop in Clinton, the Hill Development field day in Millers Flat, or at the DairyNZ and Pathway for the Pomahaka effluent management field day at Crookston.
I've also had some farm visits after enquiries from people wanting to do some work around waterways. It's worth noting that you should consider if you need a consent before the digger gets to your place, because if you don't get this sorted, it's unlikely the digger will still be there by the time your consent application is prepared and processed.
Last week I spent an interesting couple of days with a keen bunch of farmers at a Soil Health Master Class here in Balclutha. This was taken by Nicole Masters of Integrity Soils, who is promoting the use of regenerative farming systems to enhance natural cycles, repair disturbance events, and build resilience with microbes and carbon through the soils.
This kind of management system fits well with the intent of our Water Plan, which encourages you to have choices and flexibility in the way you manage your land, providing any runoff and discharges meet the Water Plan rules.
We had a great field day at a South Otago farm where this kind of system is being implemented. If you would like any further details please let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
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James has been busy helping to set up a project with North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group (NOSLaM), which involves farmers forming pod groups to work together to set achievable goals for better water quality, then taking action to achieve them. This is part of the ‘local solutions built by local people’ approach taken by NOSLaM.
He's just come back from annual leave and will have a full update in the next issue of On-Stream.
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What's coming up?
- Annual Plan consultation
- 3 April - Submissions opened
- 12 May - Submissions close
- 22-26 May - Hearings
- 28 June - 2017/18 plan adopted
- 26 & 27 April - Water quality strategy workshop. This invite-only workshop to key stakeholders will help us develop the strategy, which will review the Water Plan in terms of stormwater, industrial waste and septic tank discharges. Public consultation will take place soon after that and we'll let you know how you can give feedback.
- 26 April - Draft river management strategy for Shag River/Wahimeo presented at a public meeting. 6.30 - 7.30, Dunback Bowling Club
- 27 April - Draft river management strategy for Waianakarua River presented at a public meeting. 6.30 - 7.30, Maheno Hall
- Minimum flows for Manuherikia and Arrow Rivers. A preferred option for the minimum flow on the Manuherikia River will be presented to the community towards the middle of the year (there have been two rounds of community consultation). Consultation for a minimum flow on the Arrow River will begin towards the middle of this year and we'll let you know meeting dates and venues closer to the time.
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| If you missed the summer issue of ORC's quarterly newsletter 'Waterlines', you can check it out here: http://bit.ly/2mtj4XR |
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| If you know someone who should subscribe to On-Stream, forward this email to them and suggest they email us at water@orc.govt.nz to subscribe. |
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| Make sure you like the 'Good Water in Otago - ORC' Facebook page - click the Facebook link below. |
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