An interim decision on a proposed Southland water and land plan has been released after weeks of discussion and debate.
The Environment Southland plan is a regional one intended to give direction and guidance on the sustainable use, development and protection of land and water resources in the Southland region.
An Environment Court hearing, headed by Judge Jane Borthwick, was held in June with 24 appeals from submitters including Ngai Tahu, Federated Farmers, Forest & Bird and Southland Fish & Game.
The appeal process was split into two stages — topic A, which covered the objectives and physiographic zone policies, and topic B, which covered the rules that directly govern land and water use.
The second topic would be heard next year.
Much of the hearing was focused on the wording of aspects of the plan, such as the specifics of the region-wide objectives.
Judge Borthwick released her conclusions on Monday.
A main topic discussed during the hearing was the plan’s objective 6 which stated "There is no reduction in the overall quality of freshwater, and water in estuaries and coastal lagoons, by: (a) maintaining the quality of water in water bodies, estuaries and coastal lagoons, where the water quality is not degraded; and (b) improving the quality of water in water bodies, estuaries and coastal lagoons that have been degraded by human activities."
In their report and recommendations to the regional council, the hearing panel discussed Southland’s declining water quality, identifying agricultural land use as a significant contributor to the state of water quality.
All agreed water quality had declined between 2000-16 in the region’s rivers, lakes and estuaries — but the judge said the objective begged the question: what was meant by "degraded"?
Another important point raised about this topic was the word "overall".
During the hearing, experts giving evidence on water quality and ecology considered the term "overall water quality" problematic.
After all the debate, Judge Borthwick proposed objective 6 be amended to read: "Water quality in each freshwater body will be: (a) maintained where the water quality is not degraded; and (b) improved where the water quality is degraded by human activities."
Other points and conclusions can be found on the Environment Southland website.
A council spokeswoman said Environment Southland staff and the appeals team would carefully consider the findings.
This interim decision would provide some direction for the next part of the plan appeals, which would be heard next year.
