The Government has commenced a public consultation process on proposed freshwater reforms developed in response to increasing public concern over the declining quality of New Zealand’s waterways.
The Action for Healthy Waterways document sets out a package of proposals to address two key government objectives around water:
- Stop further degradation of New Zealand’s freshwater resources and start making immediate improvements so that water quality is materially improving within five years.
- Reverse past damage to bring New Zealand’s freshwater resources, waterways and ecosystems to a healthy state within a generation.
FAR has summarised the key issues of relevance to the arable industry in this information sheet for the arable industry.
Making a submission
FAR will be submitting on the Freshwater Proposals and will also be contributing to a Federated Farmers’ submission. We encourage all members of the arable industry to read the full document, attend consultation meetings and, if they have concerns about the proposals, to make a formal submission. If you are interested in making your own submission, you may the below submission template and information sheet developed by Irrigation New Zealand, of use. The consultation period has been extended to 31 October 2019.
Helpful resources: