Freshwater national direction

Overview

The Government is consulting on proposals to amend the:  

• National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM)  
• Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) Regulations 2020 (NES-F)  

Further consultation will be undertaken through an exposure draft process, which will have more detail, later this year. 

We are seeking feedback on proposals including: 

• Rebalancing freshwater management through multiple objectives
• Rebalancing Te Mana o te Wai
• Providing flexibility in the National Objectives Framework
• Enabling commercial vegetable growing
• Addressing water security and water storage
• Simplifying wetlands provisions
• Simplifying fish passage regulations
• Addressing remaining issues with the farmer-facing regulations (ie, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser)
• Including mapping requirements for drinking water sources.

Your feedback is also sought on whether proposed changes should be implemented now under the RMA, or incorporated into the upcoming RMA replacement legislation.  

Read the package 3: Freshwater discussion document

See the interim Regulatory Impact Statements for national direction

Other consultations

We are consulting on other proposals for national direction: 

• Consultation on infrastructure, development, and primary sector.
• Consultation on going for housing growth: Providing for urban development in the new resource management system

Note proposed changes to the Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020 and specific amendments to freshwater national direction instruments relating to quarrying and mining only are set out in Package 2: Primary sector.

Webinars

We hosted four online webinars on the proposals in packages 1, 2 and 3 and answered questions.

Package 2: Primary sector and Package 3: Freshwater

Watch the webinar for Package 2: Primary sector and Package 3: Freshwater (YouTube)

Start the webinar at the freshwater section (YouTube)

Slide pack for Package 2 and 3 (PDF, 1MB)

Webinar questions and answers

See responses to questions asked during webinars (PDF, 348KB)

What happens next

This consultation closed on 27 July 2025.

If you have any further questions, please email freshwaterND@mfe.govt.nz.