Catherine Delahunty: Water issues highlight struggle

Catherine Delahunty

The issues associated with water in the Hawke's Bay region have been high profile recently because they highlight a national, and indeed international, struggle over access to water. This struggle includes the ownership of water, the sustainability of aquifers, the sale of bottled water and the expansion of large irrigation schemes to increase the intensification of agriculture and horticulture. All of this is taking place in a context of degraded water quality and the disturbing statistic that 60 per cent of our monitored rivers are too polluted for people to swim in.

The recent draft decision from a board of inquiry into the proposed Ruataniwha dam is part of this ongoing saga, over what is an acceptable level of pollution. The board of inquiry set a nitrate limit for 2030 to protect water quality, which farmers planning to increase production may not be able to meet by that date. However, Hawke's Bay Regional Council is continuing to promote the dam and seem to be burying their heads and ratepayers' money in the sand over this issue.

Hawke's Bay is also the site of a major debate over bottled water. If no one owns the water as the Government claims, then how is it possible for private companies to get access to aquifers that allow them to bottle and sell water overseas? The export of water from the Heretaunga aquifer is a slap in the face for desperate orchardists whose crops are suffering as a result of drought. The aquifer is the lifeblood of the area and its value was upheld recently in the Environment Court when Ngati Kahungunu won the point of principle that the aquifer's sustainability cannot be sacrificed in regional plans.

The water conflicts that are forcing many groups into the courtroom are being driven by the regional council's underlying ethos towards development and the investment arm pushing for the Ruataniwha dam. The first question in my mind is whether this is in fact the role of the regional council. Isn't the regional council mandated via the Resource Management Act to be the protector of water resources for the wider benefit of the region, not just the few?

Isn't it outrageous that private sector companies should be allowed to bottle and export water when locals need it and tangata whenua have a proprietorial interest that is being ignored? Isn't it a concern that between $12 million and $20 million of ratepayers' money has been spent promoting the Ruataniwha scheme, which possibly will benefit a group of landowners at the expense of water quality?

It is deeply ironic that iwi and environment groups are forced to pour scarce dollars into court cases against the regional council to try and establish a sustainable bottom line for water. However, the Government has not helped the situation. It has signalled to regional councils via the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management and the National Objectives Framework for water, that water can be commodified and gambled away to commercial interests.

It can be polluted in one part of a region just so long as it's nice and clean in another part. It has set weak standards.

It must be remembered that rivers and aquifers in places like Hawke's Bay are already suffering from sediment, pathogen and nutrient pollution. The damage needs to be cleaned up - not exacerbated by an arm of the body supposed to be setting the standard that will look after water in the future.

The regional council could lead the commitment to water quality and help inspire a new generation of water managers working with the tangata whenua as kaitiaki rather than fighting them through the courts. If all the energy that is going into prioritising short-term gain over the common good was re-focused on valuing water for all its vital contributions to the ecosystem and the community, the regional council would be respected for their doing their job.

Catherine Delahunty is a Green Party MP and the party's spokeswoman for water quality and rights.

Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.