Essential Freshwater

There are a number of rules in the NES-F that come into force from 3 September 2020. These include:

• feedlots (excludes stock hold areas, e.g. standoff and feed pads)
• restrictions on agricultural intensification, for the following activities:
  • increases in the area of land used for dairy farming, from any other type of farming, by more than 10ha
  • conversion of more than 10ha of forestry to any form of pastoral farming
  • increases in the area of land used for irrigated pasture for dairy farming by more than 10ha
  • increases in the area of land used for dairy support activities above the annual highest area between 2014/15 and 2018/19
  • increases in the area of land used for intensive winter grazing above the annual highest area between 2014/15 and 2018/19
• river and wetland protection, including restrictions on:
  • vegetation removal, earthworks/land disturbance, drainage or taking, damming or diverting water from in or around a natural wetland
  • reclamation of rivers
  • certain structures that can impede fish passage.

The remaining rules in the NES-F apply from 2021. These include:

• intensive winter grazing (from 1 May 2022)
• stock holding areas (from 1 July 2021)
• synthetic nitrogen-fertiliser cap of 190 kg N/yr for pastoral land (from 1 July 2021).

Cattle (beef and dairy), deer and pigs are required to be excluded from wetlands, lakes and rivers with a bed width over 1m. The minimum setback of stock exclusion from the bed is 3m, except where existing permanent fencing is in place. The timeframes for these requirements vary from 1 July 2023 to 1 July 2025 depending on stock type and slope classification, except where the farm is established after 3 September in which case the requirements apply immediately.

The amendment strengthens the existing 2010 regulations to meter flows and provide records to council by requiring those over 5 litres of water per second to telemeter water use. The dates for meeting this requirement depend on the rate of take, with those larger takes being earlier.

Some key changes introduced through the NPS-FM 2020:

• The Te Mana o te Wai framework has been strengthened with a change to the hierarchy of obligations. The new hierarchy places the health and wellbeing of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems first.
• Expectations and direction about involving Māori in freshwater decision-making has been strengthened.
• New compulsory values and attributes have been included.
• There is now a requirement for regional councils to map, monitor and manage wetlands and obstacles to fish passage.

Our planning framework will need to be updated to give effect to these changes.

The NPS-FM post-dates all of Waikato Regional Council plans and, as a later-in-time piece of national direction, carries full weight in consent decision-making.

New NPS-FM objectives and policies will impact the different stages of the consenting process. It is a requirement of the RMA (i.e. s104(1)(b)) to have regard to these documents when making the substantive decisions on applications. In addition, the objectives and policies of the new NPS-FM will, where relevant, inform Council’s assessment of effects for the purpose of determining if applications are required to be notified (either public or limited).

In effect, when processing a consent application, the provisions of the NPS-FM must now be given due weight alongside all other matters specified in s104 RMA.  Council expects that applicants will provide an assessment of their proposals against any of the relevant policies when lodging their applications

View the public notice and changes to the Waikato Regional Plan here.

View the Government’s information on how the requirements of the programme work in practice and factsheets on policies and regulations on the Essential Freshwater package on the Ministry for the Environment website.