Rural water quality important to ORC

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The Otago Regional Council continues to face big challenges over rural water quality awareness and deadlines, including for replacing old water privileges arising from 19th-century gold mining.

Commenting in the council's latest annual report, ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead and chief executive Peter Bodeker said raising awareness of rural water quality issues in the ORC Water Plan had been a priority.

In the joint statement, included in the annual report for the financial year ending on June 30 last year, the two leaders noted the Water Plan set out the level of water quality "we want to have in our rivers, lakes and groundwater".

The ORC had a "target to meet those levels of water quality" in 2025.

"We also have rules which come into effect in 2020 that limit the level of contaminants that may enter waterways from land use changes," they said.

"We alone cannot achieve these targets."

The ORC could only "engage, educate, monitor and encourage those in our community" whose activities could have "a direct impact on the quality of our waterways".

A survey showed 91% of landholders were aware of the ORC water quality provisions, and that was "great".

"[However] we need to ensure that landholders understand their responsibilities for water quality, how their activities may impact on water quality, and what the quality of water coming off their farms and entering waterways actually is."

The ORC had been working with "our rural communities" and stakeholder groups such as Dairy NZ, Federated Farmers, Beef and Lamb, and the forestry industry, to "get key messages out about water quality, options and best practice".

The aim was that the ORC and the groups could together "achieve the limits for the level of contaminants discharged" and "ultimately achieve the water quality we want in Otago".

And when it came to water allocation, the ORC wanted to ensure that "we get the balance right between the amount of water people are allowed to take for irrigation and other purposes" and "protecting the aquatic habitats and natural character of our rivers".

The ORC had continued its programme of work for setting minimum flows for certain rivers around Otago, including the Lindis, Clutha, Cardrona and Manuherikia.

ORC staff had also been working with people holding mining privileges, as they would need to replace them with resource consents to take water before they expired in 2021.

"We are encouraging those with mining privileges to form groups wherever practicable, and seeking group resource consents to taken water."

In this way there would be "many efficiencies to be gained, resulting in more sustainable water use".

The ORC's work had included producing a water user's manual and video, and writing to all mining privilege holders.

ORC staff had also been holding meetings, including with groups of affected landholders, rural professionals, stakeholders and lawyers, they said.