Waikato Regional Plan

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About the plan •
Plan review - Freshwater Policy •
Read the plan •
Proposed changes •
Changes to the plan •
Monitoring the plan

What's in the Waikato Regional Plan Read the plan online (e-plan)

Waikato Regional Plan 2007 cover image The Waikato Regional Plan implements the Regional Policy Statement. The plan contains policy and methods to manage the natural and physical resources of the Waikato region.

Plan status

The Waikato Regional Plan is operative.

Note: There is currently one Proposed plan change to the Regional Plan - Proposed Waikato Regional Plan Change 1- Waikato and Waipa River Catchment. The plan change introduces new rules to manage farming activities that may adversely affect freshwater quality in the Waikato and Waipa river catchment. It also contains objectives and policies which generally apply to all activities that affect water quality in these catchments.

What area does the plan cover?

The plan applies across the whole of the Waikato region, although some objectives, policies and rules apply only in specific parts of the region.

The plan does not apply to the coastal marine area (CMA) below mean high water springs. For objectives, policies and rules in this area refer to the Regional Coastal Plan.

Freshwater Policy Review

We have commenced a review of the Waikato Regional Plan and the Waikato Regional Policy Statement to give effect to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) 2020.

Find out more about the review

Freshwater Management Amendments to the Waikato Regional Plan

Clause 3.22 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 requires regional councils to include a specific policy regarding natural inland wetlands in regional plans. This policy was inserted into the Waikato Regional Plan in 2021 as Policy 3.A.2. The Minister for the Environment subsequently made changes to this clause and further changes were made in the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024. Waikato Regional Council is therefore required to amend the Waikato Regional Plan to include the updated policy wording.

On 5 December 2024, in accordance with s55(2A) of the Resource Management Act 1991, Policy 3.A.2 in Section 3A of the Waikato Regional Plan was amended to incorporate the changes made to clause 3.22 of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020.

The required amendments to Policy 3.A.2 in Section 3A of the Waikato Regional Plan are set out here. The amended plan can be read below.

Public notice of Amendments to Waikato Regional Plan - 5 December 2024
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Read the plan

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What's in the plan?
Read the plan online (e-plan)
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What's in the plan?

Expand below to view the full table of contents. To find out about rules that apply to particular activities, please refer to the activity guide within the plan itself.

Table of contents

To read the plan, take a look under the 'Read the plan online (e-plan)' tab.

Waikato Regional Plan

Chairman's Foreword
Reader's guide
	Introduction
	Structure of the plan
	Abbreviations and symbols
	Relationships between rules and resource consents
	Activity guide

1	Approaches to resource management
	1.1	Introduction
	1.2	Approaches to resource management
	1.3	Monitoring the effectiveness of the plan
	1.4	Review of the plan
	1.5	Processes to address cross-boundary issues
	1.6	Responsibilities of resource users under the RMA

2	Matters of significance to Maori
	2.1	Introduction
	2.2	Iwi in the Waikato region
	2.3	Tangata Whenua relationship with natural and physical resources

3	Water module
	3.1	Water resources
	3.2	Management of water resources
	3.3	Water takes
	3.4	Efficient use of water
	3.5	Discharges
	3.6	Damming and diverting
	3.7	Wetlands
	3.8	Drilling
	3.9	Non-point source discharges
	3.10	Lake Taupo Catchment

4	River and lake bed module
	4.1	River and lake bed management
	4.2	River and lake bed structures
	4.3	River and lake bed disturbances
	4.4	Lake Taupo mooring maps

5	Land and soil module
	5.1	Accelerated erosion
	5.2	Discharges onto or into land
	5.3	Contaminated land

6	Air module
	6.1	Regional and local air management
	6.2	The discharge of agrichemicals into air
	6.3	Regional ambient air quality guidelines
	6.4	Guidelines for assessment

7	Geothermal module
	7.1	Clarification of the Relationship between the Water and Geothermal Modules
	7.2	Background and explanation
	7.3	Issues and objectives
	7.4	Policies
	7.5	General non-regulatory implementation methods
	7.6	Regional rules
	7.7	Environmental results anticipated
	7.8	Monitoring Options
	7.9	Maps of Geothermal Systems
	7.10	Maps of significant geothermal features and geothermal water features

8	Information requirements
	8.1	Assessment criteria and information requirements

Glossary

Maps

The plan contains objectives, policies and implementation methods for:

matters of significance to Māori
water quality, flows and levels
water takes
efficient use of water
discharges
damming and diverting
wetlands
drilling
non-point source discharges
structures on the beds of rivers and lakes
river and lake bed disturbance
accelerated erosion
discharges onto or into land
contaminated sites
air quality
spray drift
cross boundary processes
monitoring and review
information requirements for resource consents.

Some of the sections in the plan refer to Waikato Regional Plan maps. These maps show where waterbodies and geothermal systems in the region are classified for specific management purposes.

Geothermal maps
Water allocation maps
Waterbody classification maps

To view all the maps, please refer to the plan in E-plan.

If you need more help or information with any of the plan maps, please contact us.

Read the plan online (e-plan)

Click on the link below to access the plan online.
- You will need to select 'Waikato Regional Plan' from the list of regional plans available.
- Please also note that you need to use Microsoft Edge or Chrome as your web browser. E-plan does not work on Internet Explorer.
- Read the Waikato Regional Plan online (e-plan)
  Ext. link

Download the plan (PDF format)

Proposed changes

Proposed Plan Change 1 to the Waikato Regional Plan seeks to reduce the amount of contaminants entering into the Waikato and Waipā catchments. This helps achieve rivers that have improved water quality, are safe for recreational use and food gathering along their entire length, and meet the requirements of Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato, the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River. The Vision and Strategy was adopted by the Government as part of Treaty Settlement legislation.

The plan change proposes new rules to manage farming activities that may adversely affect freshwater quality in the Waikato and Waipā river catchments. It also contains objectives and policies which generally apply to all activities that affect water quality in these catchments.

Changes to the plan

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Amendments to the plan
Historical plan variations

Amendments to the plan

Changes to the regional plan required by National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat 2023 (NPSGG)

On 27 July 2023, the National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat 2023 (NPSGG) came into force. It directs regional councils to amend regional plans to incorporate provisions 3.2 and 3.3 from the NPSGG as policies, without using the process set out in Schedule 1 to the RMA.

The NPSGG provides policies to guide decision making on resource consents that are required by the National Environmental Standard for GHG emissions from Industrial Process Heat (NES-GG). The NES-GG provides nationally consistent regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the purpose of mitigating climate change by stopping the installation of new coal boilers and placing controls on fossil fuel use in existing boilers.

As of 12 April 2024, NPSGG provisions 3.2 and 3.3 have been inserted into Chapter 6 – Air Module of the Waikato Regional plan as 6.1.3 Policies (6) and (7).

Read the public notice

Historical plan variations

Variation 2 – Geothermal Module: Notified in August 2003. Decisions on submissions were notified in June 2004. The Waikato Regional Council received a number of appeals to the decisions. All these appeals have now been resolved. Variation No.2 – Geothermal Module became operative on Friday, 7 November 2008.
Variation 5 - Lake Taupo catchment: The Waikato Regional Council proposed a variation to protect water quality in Lake Taupo by managing land use and nutrient discharges.
The Environment Court confirmed the provisions of this variation on Friday, 17 June 2011. The variation became operative on Thursday, 7 July 2011.
Variation 6 - Water allocation: The Waikato Regional Council proposed a variation to manage the allocation and use of fresh water over all of the Waikato region.
The Environment Court confirmed the provisions of the variation in February 2012. The variation became operative on Tuesday, 10 April 2012.
Variation 7 - Minor variations and geothermal maps: The purpose of Variation No. 7 was to make minor changes to improve the workability of the plan and to amend the plan's maps showing significant geothermal features and geothermal water features. This variation became operative on 8 December 2010.
Variation 2 (Geothermal module), Variation 5 (Lake Taupo catchment), Variation 6 (Water Allocation) and Variation 7 (Geothermal Maps and minor changes) are incorporated into the online version of this plan.
Plan Change 2 – Taupō Overseer Version: The purpose of Plan Change 2 was to change the Taupō rules in Chapter 3.10 of the Waikato Regional Plan to allow the use of updated Overseer versions for modelling nitrogen leaching. A Streamlined Planning Process was used for the plan change where the Minister for the Environment directed the process and made the final decision. The Minister approved the plan change on Thursday 10 September 2020. This plan change became operative on 12 October 2020.

Find out more about variation 6 - Water allocation

Monitoring the plan

Assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Waikato Regional Plan

The RMA requires us to regularly monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of policies, rules, and methods in the Waikato Regional Plan. You can read the most recent evaluation report.