A national review of the Government’s freshwater management policy and a joint-ministry regional analysis highlighted both positives and concerns about the regional council’s work.
The reports said water quality and ecosystem health were high in many parts of Otago, such as the Upper Clutha and Taieri River catchments and Lakes Wakatipu, Wanaka and Hawea.
However, stormwater contamination in urban areas and intensive farming were putting pressure on water quality and aquatic ecosystems, particularly in the lower river reaches.
The dairy herd in Otago had grown more than sevenfold between 1990 and 2015 and water quality in those areas had deteriorated over the same period.
"Lower reaches of rivers towards the coast tend to have higher Escherichia coli levels, with many sites exceeding the national bottom line for E. coli in the [freshwater management policy]. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are also often elevated. Groundwater quality is generally good, but several monitored sites have very high nitrate levels, particularly in the volcanic aquifers south of Oamaru. High E. coli levels are found in many lowland areas."
The reports said the ORC was one of the councils making the most progress towards implementing the freshwater management policy and had among the most capacity and capability to address the challenges it presented, but should assess whether its region-wide limits were sufficient to achieve objectives in individual catchments and waterways.
But it also noted that, while the ORC thought its Plan Change 6A for water quality met the requirements for limits under the freshwater management policy, stakeholders, including representatives from territorial authorities, environmental organisations and agricultural sectors, had concerns.
The stakeholders said it was unclear how the ORC would help landowners be effective in managing contaminant discharges, or how compliance would be enforced; not all community values were being taken into account; the council was not addressing ecosystem health and human health for recreation, two compulsory values in the government policy; and stakeholders were receiving "mixed messages" from the ORC about the requirements for water users, discharge limits and what types of breaches would be enforced.
ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead said he was "proud" of the fact the council’s standards for compliance far exceeded the bottom lines in the policy, "because we acknowledge the community’s insistence that we encourage the preservation of rural water quality where it is good, and improvement where it is poor".
He was also proud of the effects-based approach the ORC’s Otago Water Plan took to rural water quality.
"The idea is that landowners can adopt whichever land management practices they choose, provided they meet the plan’s requirements to maintain or improve water quality in rural locations. The exception to this is where activities with the greatest potential to harm water quality are prohibited."
He believed the amendments to the ORC’s water plan met the original freshwater management policy requirements for limits.
"However, the national policy statement has been amended twice since 2011. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are now reviewing how we give effect to the 2017 national policy statement."
The ORC was also "continuing to engage with landowners" to ease their concerns about the implementation of Plan Change 6A "and provide increased clarity about their responsibilities to comply with the rural water quality rules".
But ORC Dunstan councillor Michael Laws said the government reports showed "a pretty distinct cleavage between ORC perceptions of itself and those held by its stakeholders".
"The reports illustrate a real and worrying divide between the ORC and its stakeholders. The ORC thinks it has done a fantastic job in implementing national water policy. Local stakeholders, including farmers and environmentalists, are a lot less enthusiastic. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Certainly, the ORC has faltered in its basic mission to maintain and improve Otago’s waterways. It is now playing catch-up without adequate resources or the science to instil public confidence. There has been a deliberate past policy to run a minimalist council, and that has come back to bite us all."
Mr Woodhead said ORC executive staff were preparing a paper on the government reports for the council’s consideration in October.
The national review was conducted by the Ministry for the Environment (MFE) and the regional analysis was a joint MFE and Ministry for Primary Industries effort.
At a glance
• Stakeholders’ concerns about ORC’s approach to freshwater managementUnclear how council to help landowners be effective in managing contaminant discharges.
• Unclear how compliance to be enforced.
• Not all community value being taken into account.
• Not addressing ecosystem health and human health for recreation.
• Stakeholders receiving "mixed messages" about requirements for water users, discharge limits and what types of breaches would be enforced.
