Water Allocation In New Zealand

Freshwater Management

Water is considered an indispensable component of life. It is used for numerous competing activities in New Zealand and contributes to the social, economic and cultural well-being of its people. The wetlands, rivers and lakes are used in national parks and it is used for consumption purposes as well, which includes household consumption, industrial purposes and livestock consumption. It is estimated that 77 percent of water is allocated for irrigation purpose, which is considered the largest user of abstracted water. According to author Dingfelder, the government of New Zealand has attempted to introduce several policies and programs in order to maintain the accountability of the amount of water being used by the people. The regulations under the program were applicable to major part of the total national volume of water usage, which is authorized through resource consents[1]. Several policies and programs initiated by the government in order to maintain the balance between the amount of water to be used and the amount of water that must remain in the water bodies have been discussed further.

Freshwater is said to have culture values as well. The Maori believes that water is a fundamental element of life, both spiritually and physically, as it represents the lifeblood of mother earth and tears of sky father[2]. They believe that water signifies a spiritual connection between the present and the past and is a treasure that the ancestors have left behind for their descendants for the purpose of sustaining life, which they must safeguard at any cost. The Maori believes that the water bodies are capable of nurturing living beings and by polluting them this ability is threatened. In the modern era, the traditional values related to water have overlapped with other values related to water, that is, water is valuable but as a factor of economic development that is responsible for the well-being of the people[3].

In New Zealand, Regional council is in charge of supervising the amount of quantity of freshwater in lakes, wetlands, aquifers, and the rivers. According to the Resource management Act 1991 (RMA), people are allowed to use or take the fresh water only if the water is used for fire-fighting purposes or it is used for reasonable domestic need of the individual or for an individual’s animals or if there is a rule in the resource consent or regional plan. However, under no circumstances, the using or taking of water shall have an adverse impact on the environment.

Regulations under RMA

The usage of water includes trade-offs between the amount of water that can be allocated for domestic use and the amount of the water that must remain in the water body in order safeguard the aquatic species in the water. When there is an increase in the allocation of water, the reliability of the water supply decreases, therefore compromises must be made under such circumstances[4]. The government introduced the Resource Management Regulations (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) to be informed about the usage of water by the people.

The regional council at present allows small water takes from the lakes, aquifers and the rivers subject to the condition that taking and using of water shall not have an adverse effect on the other prevailing water bodies. In case usage of water takes place without complying with the rules related to such water takes, the activity shall require authorization by resource consent. Any person may apply for a ‘water permit’ or resource consent, the Council shall evaluate the potential environmental effects of the water take and then decide whether to grant permission[5]. If permission is granted the council shall specify the conditions for taking and using the water, which must be fulfilled. A water permit may be granted for a period of 35 years but may be cancelled if not used for a long period. The fresh water is allocated by the Council based on ‘first-in, first-served’, which means that the Council shall not withhold the allocation for future activities. However, a water permit does not confer any ownership or property rights in the resource, it only confers a right to use or take water subject to the availability of the water resource.

Councils have different approaches while dealing with a fully or an over allocated water resource. Some councils have specified the amount of water that can be taken for groundwater aquifers and some rivers whereas some councils do not grant allocation unless there is availability of water resources[6]. In case of over allocation of water resources, the council may apply a rationing scheme where the prevailing resource consent shall be reviewed and adjusted in order to reduce allocation or reduce the water tales, especially when there is a shortage of water.

Since 2009, the New Zealand has been introducing new reforms to make progress in the management of freshwater. The government established Land and Water Forum (LAWF) for preparing land and water management. In the year 2010, the government enforced the Resource management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Regulations which is applicable to 98 percent of the total national quantity of water use authorized by resource consent. The National policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 requires the regional councils to make necessary amendments in the regional plans to advance the management of the quality and the quantity of the freshwater. The essential amendments include specifying the allocation limits and minimum flow and level of water; reasonable accountability for all the water lakes and incorporating rules to avert over-allocation of water in the plans. The National Policy statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) provides national direction under the RMA 1991 and sets out the limits for the quantity and quality of the fresh water that would be consistent all over the country.

Water Usage

However, there are several problems associated with the present system of water allocation. There are almost no proper strategic plans to deal with the increase in the demand for water[7]. Moreover, some council has not specified the limits on water allocation, which results in public unrest. Further, where there is not sufficient water to meet all the demands, the first-in, first-served process fails to guarantee that the water is allocated to the social, environmental, economic or cultural values.

Furthermore, when the amount of water allocated is closer to the allocation limit, there is a rush, which accelerates the issues associated with the first-in, first-served system, and it becomes hard to deal with the impact of number of small water takes or discharges into the water resources[8]. The resource consent is not flexible in nature and once a water body has no more water to allocate it becomes difficult to access high valued water permits. Most importantly, the people involved in the allocation of water in New Zealand lack efficient skills and experience to manage the water issues and the absence of required level of expertise affect the capability of the local, regional and central governmental agencies to manage water related issues.

The increasing demand for freshwater in New Zealand calls for a good and effective allocation process which would establish a balance between the competitive values that the society has for the water bodies. An effective allocation process must be such that it enables the regional councils to make appropriate decisions regarding allocation of the water and reallocation of abstracted water to the highest social, cultural, economic and environmental issues after considering the future and present needs.

The New Zealand Government has been making significant contributions in order to improve the quality of the water by diffusing water pollution and have succeeded in achieving the goal to some extent. The Government is investing in several irrigation projects with the objective of maintaining environmental sustainability and controlling the amount of water allocated to irrigation. The Government has also recognized the cultural and the traditional connections of the ‘iwi’ and ‘hapu’ with the freshwater resources and the economic interest across various industries, thus, contributing to the economy of the country[9].

Under the RMA, the coastal regime is subdivided into three different and intersecting areas, that is, the Coastal environment, Common marine and coastal area and the Coastal marine area (CMA). The objective of the resource management act 1991 is supported by secondary principles, which stipulates that the natural character of the coastal environment and the coastal marine area must be preserved and the cultural values of the Maori along with the increased public access to the coastal marine area must be safeguarded. Section 12 of the RMA restricts the use of the CMA and any proposed activity shall require prior authorization by a National Environment Standard (NES), by a proposed or operative regional coastal plan, or by resource consent. Further restrictions have been imposed on causing marine pollution under section 15 of the RMA Act, which states that prior approval of the operative or proposed regional coastal plan, or resource consent is required for dumping or discharging any harmful substance, contaminants or radioactive waste into the coastal water[10].

Councils Management

The Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 was established to maintain the sustainable management of natural resources. The statute requires marine consent applications to be made to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for performing any discretionary activities within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In 2000, Environment Waikato investigations revealed that the water quality in the Lake Taupo was declining due to an excess discharge of nitrogen in the lake from agricultural sources. Regional Plan Variation 5- Lake Taupo Cachment (RPV5) was introduced to cap the amount of nitrogen that was entering into the lake from rural and urban activities[11].

When a limit is specified, all the contaminants discharged into the water must be accounted for to determine whether the set limit is maintained. The regional authorities must make appropriate decision to manage the contaminant sources and to ensure that the limit is maintained while optimizing the economic benefits of land and water related activities. The regional authority is now enabling diffuse discharges of nitrogen from the productive land to be accounted for at the property level[12]. The discharge allowances are permitted to be transferred to places where they are valued which not only reduces the expense of meeting the set limit but also provide the benefits from productivity[13].

The New Zealand government proposes to discuss with the industries to develop efficient management practice standards for the purpose of discharging the contaminants into the water. In case the councils have selected to allocate catchments and nitrogen or are either approaching full allocation or making over-allocation, therefore, it is pertinent that the councils apply the good management standards over time. This would provide direction to the councils for dealing with the diffuse discharges even when they have not been allocated. The government is required to deal with the discharges of the contaminants and water allocation in the urban areas as well[14]. A good management practice and efficient techniques may be applied in the urban areas as they are applied in the rural areas. However, the discharge and the water allocation management is the responsibility of the Unitary and the District Council.

The allocation regime in Waikato region includes longest river of the country, Waikato River, Lake Taupo, groundwater, canals, and streams. The water systems are partly regulated; therefore, the minimum water flow rate is under control in the region. Limits have been set for volume of groundwater that can be abstracted and for the surface water as well. The water permit is granted for 15 years and consent permits are different for water takes and return flows.

Government Efforts for Improvement

Another form of allocation regime includes the aquaculture. According to the Fishing Act 1996 (FA), the fisheries must perform and discharge their powers and duties to ensure that biological diversity of the aquatic environment is maintained and must comply with the set catch limits imposed by the Minister for primary Industries. The Minister may prohibit specific fishing methods if the fisheries exceed the maximum permissible levels of fishing related mortality or may recommend other regulations[15]. Section 6 of the FA talks about the interrelationship between the FA and the RMA regarding aquaculture. The FA states where the fisheries attempts to assign the access to a specific fishing sector in preference to another sector or when the fisheries would confer professional rights which prohibits other fishers from fishing in any sector of the coastal marine area, the coastal permits becomes unenforceable[16].

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the first-in, first-served allocation system must be modified and market-based approaches must be adopted such as auction, tendering and balloting arrangements where an applicant shall succeed by making a pre-meditated payment for the water resource. The market mechanisms shall permit water allocation except on a first-in, first-served basis and the local or the central government shall not have to make judgments regarding the importance of use of water and collect data to support the decision. Prof Duncan has expressed his views on regulating agricultural land use to manage the quality of water. It may pose a serious challenge to the usage of water and to the environment as a whole. The Government must take initiative to develop scientific methods and formulate effective policies in order to enforce limits on non-point source pollution in New Zealand. Therefore, with the increase in the demand and competition for freshwater resource, it is pertinent that the present system and process of using and allocating water undergoes reforms so that it maintains and maximizes the probability of achieving sustainable development. 

Reference List

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Duhon, Madeline, Hugh McDonald, and Suzi Kerr. "Nitrogen trading in Lake Taupo: An analysis and evaluation of an innovative water management policy." (2015).

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Salmond, Anne. "Tears of Rangi: Water, power, and people in New Zealand." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 4.3 (2014): 285-309.

Snelder, T. H., et al. "The role of science in setting water resource use limits: case studies from New Zealand." Hydrological Sciences Journal 59.3-4 (2014): 844-859.

Walmsley, Michael John. Would a water market system coupled with a beneficial use doctrine similar to that of the western United States help foster sustainability of water resource allocation in New Zealand?. Diss. University of Waikato, 2016.

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