Paula Thompson BOP Regional Councillor www.envbop.govt.nz

The government has this week released its Fresh Water Reforms. In brief, this provides for a ‘package of initiatives that recognises the strategic value of fresh water to New Zealand's economy and way of life'.

The initiatives are:

• A National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, i.e. policy that directs how fresh water in and around New Zealand will be managed.
• A ‘Clean Up Fund'.
• Support for new irrigation storage and distribution projects.

The National Policy Statement is a framework to help councils improve water management. This takes effect from July 2011. It gives clear direction on fresh water management, sets limits on fresh water quality and it sets limits on how much fresh water can be used. There is $35 million over five years to get irrigation projects underway and a proposed – not yet in government budget – investment of $400m for government to take an equity stake in regional irrigation projects.
The government is also providing a contestable ‘Clean up Fund' of $15m to help with the clean up of lakes, rivers and aquifers with a total commitment of $264m.
This is serious stuff. The regional councils of New Zealand have the responsibility for the management of land, air and water and the council's regional policy statements set out the overarching rules on these matters across the various regions. The government sacked the Canterbury Regional Council when it ran into problems of being unable to effectively allocate the fresh water resource in the Canterbury region. It is only right that we should be on top of the game when it comes to these matters – i.e. appropriate allocation of fresh water-quality irrigation initiatives to enable better use of land etcetera. But there will be conflicts and issues to carefully work through. On the one hand, we need to be enabling productive use of land, i.e. farming activity, but also needing to ensure fair allocation of a precious resource and maintenance and improvement of the quality. New Zealand promotes ‘clean and green' and pristine natural fresh water is an integral part of that brand; here in Bay of Plenty we have 12 lakes, eight major rivers and management of the fresh water resources are essential ‘parts of the business'. Approximately $34m has been spent over the last 10 years on the Rotorua Lakes ‘Clean up' with $5m coming from the government and the balance from the council. There is an agreement in place between the government, Rotorua District Council and the regional council that will see approximately $144m spent on clean up of the Rotorua Lakes, with the government paying half and the councils equally sharing the balance. This is significant investment as is investing in sustainable solutions to nutrient discharge, which is the significant contributor to the problem.
Fresh Water in New Zealand is part of our brand and essential to our livelihoods and lives. It is, as the government says ‘about maximising our economic opportunities while protecting our environment – water is New Zealand's most plentiful natural resource and gives us competitive advantage over other countries particularly in our primary and tourism industries...”
Gosh; life was a whole lot simpler as a child. I thought it rained and that there was plenty of water for everyone.