Freshwater national direction

Currently, the NPS-FM’s sole objective sets out a hierarchy of obligations to ensure that natural and physical resources are managed in a way that prioritises:

• first, the health and well-being of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems
• second, the health needs of people (such as drinking water)
• third, the ability of people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural well-being, now and in the future.

The Government is concerned this hierarchy is currently being interpreted as requiring pristine water quality to be achieved, before allowing any other uses of freshwater. This is not consistent with the Government’s intention for how the NPS-FM should be applied.

The NPS-FM used to have multiple objectives before it was amended in 2020 to have a single objective. Multiple objectives require councils to provide for multiple outcomes and can better reflect the interests of all water users. This is a more balanced approach than the current hierarchy in the NPS-FM’s single objective.

The objectives proposed in this discussion document, particularly those relating to costs and timeframes, are intended to help ensure that efforts to improve freshwater quality are realistic and practical for communities and sector groups.

The Government is consulting on whether to replace the NPS-FM’s single objective (clause 2.1 of the NPS-FM) with multiple new objectives. The potential new objectives are summarised below.

In the 2017 version of the NPS-FM, councils were directed to safeguard the life-supporting capacity of fresh water, as well as enabling communities to provide for their economic well-being (among other outcomes).⁹

We are consulting on introducing a new objective that will direct councils to:

• safeguard the life-supporting capacity of freshwater and the health of people and communities
• while enabling communities to provide for their social, cultural and economic well-being, including productive economic opportunities.

This objective would not operate as a hierarchy but would require councils to provide for these matters equally within their planning documents.

^{9 This is covered in a number of objectives in the 2017 version of the NPS-FM (PDF, 756KB), including Objectives A1, A4, B1 and B5, and Policies A7 and B8.}

The NPS-FM does not specifically require councils, when setting targets and controls on resource use, to consider the anticipated costs, or to inform their communities about these costs.

The NPS-FM has often been misinterpreted as requiring water quality and bottom lines to be achieved or complied with immediately. However, the NPS-FM has never specified a timeframe by which targets and limits must be met. This is a choice for councils and communities.

We are consulting on introducing a new objective to consider the pace and cost of change, and who bears the cost. This would support councils and communities to have balanced conversations about their aspirations for the environment. It would require councils to consider:

• communities’ long-term goals/visions for freshwater
• the cost of change and who bears the cost (including what the trade-offs are)
• within what timeframes change should occur, recognising that improving freshwater quality will require iterative, gradual improvement over a long time and through multiple planning cycles.

This is expected to increase recognition that change takes time. Long timeframes for improving water quality have always been appropriate and are, in some cases, unavoidable.

We are also consulting on new objectives to enable the continued domestic supply of fresh vegetables, and to address water security. The detail of those objectives is covered in Part 2.4 and Part 2.5.

The NPS-FM requires freshwater quality to be maintained or improved.¹⁰ Freshwater quality has to be at least maintained everywhere and may need to be improved if it is below a national bottom line or if councils/communities choose to aim for improvement. Targets have to be set at or above the national bottom line or current state.

We are consulting on including the requirement to maintain or improve freshwater quality as a new objective.

For further information on this topic, refer to the impact analysis document entitled Interim Regulatory Impact Statement: Replacing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.

^{10 These requirements are expressed through Policy 5 in clause 2.2 of the NPS-FM, combined with clause 3.11, which sets out the process for setting targets.}