Water Symposium
Havelock North – 1st June 2017
My Mahi
1997–2017 Environmental watchdog
RMA Stuff – Mostly water
Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc
Te Taiwhenua o Tamatea
Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga
Kahungunu ki Tamaki nui-a-rua
Environmental Research
ERMA, EPA, DoC, MoE, Research
Corporations, Councils,
Enviro Education, Social work
Bulk water
supply
Contaminants
and
hazardous
substances
Some building
control and
consent processing
Biosecurity/pest
control
Water
Quantity
Water
Quality
Regional Council
The Water Space
Coastal
Marine Area
Aquatic
ecosystems
River and flood
control
Maritime
navigation
and safety
Value Systems
Western Worldview
Maori Worldview
• Male
• Male/Female
• Progress-More, bigger, faster • Balance
• Competitive
• Synergy
• Individual/Family
• Whanau/hapū/iwi
• Commodification/Ownership • Spiritual/belonging
• Exclusive
• Inclusive
• Separate and deconstruct
• Holistic/relationships
• Now and short term future • Past/present/future
• Objective/conceptual
• Subjective/experienced
Values and Uses
Mana Motuhake
• Spiritual identity and
health
• Mauri
• Tuakana-teina
• Historical association
• Rongoā - Healing
• Whakawhanaungatanga
• Recreation
• Wānanga
• Well-being
Mahinga kai
• Whitebait / Inanga
• Koura
• Watercress
• Kākahi
• Ngā Manu - Pukeko, Duck,
Quail
• Wetlands – Eels
• Trout / Kahawai / Mullet
Monitoring and Measuring
(guidelines)
Mana Motuhake – Expressed by hapū within their rohe
• Spiritual identity – guides interaction with natural resources
• Mauri – From the spiritual realm – upheld and supported by
kaitiaki
• Tuakana-teina – A process for teaching / learning
• Historical association – Helps define how things should be done
• Rongoā – Healing – Health and condition of natural resources
used for rongoā
• Whakawhanaungatanga – Interaction between and amongst
whānau that reinforces familial ties and relationships, often
fosters emotional well-being
• Wānanga – A process of learning
• Hauora – Health and well-being in both the spiritual and
physical sense
The Average Situation
• Medians
• Averages
• Allowing X exceptions per
annum or per month
• 95th percentile
• 90 % habitat for a specie
• Overall its not too bad
• After reasonable mixing
• Trends
• Reality
• The highs and lows that
cause the damage
• Dissolved oxygen
• Contaminant
concentrations
• Nitrate toxicity and
viability for survival
• Nitrogen - Exacerbates
growth of toxic
cyanobacteria
No! Don’t do it!
1997 – Approved - more water out of the Ngaruroro
1998 – Ngaruroro: Decrease minimum flow to 2,400 lps,
Increase allocation by 241,920 m3 p wk
2000 - Use the Ngaruroro allocation model in other
major catchments
2004 – Increased allocation from the Tukituki
2008 - Allow abstraction from the Karamu inconsistent
with the operative plan (x 13)
2008 – Approve the Brookvale bores for domestic supply
2014 – Promote continuation of over-allocation in Tukituki
and Ruataniwha
2014 – Increase contaminant concentrations for the Tukituki*
2015 – Renew Ngaruroro consents based on discredited science
Māori – Advice that was mostly
ignored
Ngaruroro – leave more water in
Tukituki – Don’t drop the minimum flow
2001 – HBRC allocation model flawed
2004 – Dogs dying at the river
2006 – Large fluctuations in wells -groundwater
20010 - Bridge Pa residents - no water
More frequent dry streams – longer durations
Fish / eels dying
Increased weed growth in rivers
Priority in freshwater
decision-making
Economics - MPI / MfE similar to the USA
Livestock
Fish and indigenous biodiversity
Rootstock
People
Consequences (water)
Transfer - public ownership to private interests
Increase in property values and rates
Public pay for the water cleanup
Loss of public amenity values / use
Science results
Emerging science for Ngaruroro (4,700 v 2,400 lps)
Tukituki catchment broken – Mainstem and several
tributaries
Onga Onga wells going dry
Another Plan Change for the Tukituki?
Nitrate levels in groundwater on the Ruataniwha Plains
Bridge Pa wells compromised
Karamu tributaries going dry
Regulators should give greater consideration for
‘Cumulative adverse effects’
‘Spring reversal’ and effects on ‘groundwater quality’
Pump test results and their validity
Polluted Freshwater
Environments Mean
• Less traditional use
• More expense to substitute
• Loss of mātauranga Māori me ōna tikanga
• Weakening of cultural association
• Diminished relationships (resource / social)
• Partial loss of cultural strength and identity
• Displacement of tikanga Māori values
Legal Stuff – reinforcement for Maori
• Plan Change 5 – Regional councils must recognise
and provide for the rights and interests of
tangata whenua
• The requirement to maintain or enhance water
quality is not an option, it is something regional
councils must do
• NPS FM – Māori rights here and in Treaty redress
• King Salmon – Part II of the RMA: Where a plan is
clear on policy, there is no need to go through
another Part II analysis for consents
• EDS and others – Declaration – Implement plan
Changing the Law – the pushback
• Maintain can now mean degrade provided
water quality stays within a ‘band’
• Wadeable, swimmable, batheable
• Lower the bar so more rivers qualify
• Exceptions in plans for adverse effects from
‘necessary infrastructure’
• Ngā Matepono ki Te Wai – effectiveness
diminished when changed into policy setting
• LAWF recommendations – 112 not adopted
Lower catchments
• Cumulative effects of contaminants
• Chemical cocktails
• No definitive research on these mixtures
effects on human or aquatic health
• Most research (US, Japan) indicates immune
system or nervous disorders
• Minimal species research in NZ
• Nitrate toxicity for aquatic species –
juveniles and critical life stages
• Native fish – threatened status, diadromous
Radical Idea
HEALTHY WATER