Freshwater national direction

The NPS-FM requires councils to provide for fish passage, and to identify and remediate existing barriers. It is supported by the NES-F, which provides for the construction of in-stream structures as a permitted activity subject to conditions, and requires a resource consent if these conditions cannot be met.

Councils and land users have said that the amount of information required by the NES-F on the design of in-stream structures is too onerous. There are also concerns it can be difficult to satisfy the permitted activity conditions for constructing and using a culvert.

We are consulting on whether to simplify fish passage regulations in the NES-F or retain the current regulations. To simplify the regulations, we would:

• move information requirements¹⁹ for each structure type into a single regulation that applies to all structure types²⁰
• remove requirements that do not directly inform how likely a structure is to impede fish passage (eg, the material used in construction²¹)
• amend the permitted activity conditions for culverts to reflect updated practice and provide for boxed culverts²²
• remove some permitted activity conditions for culverts (eg, water velocity)²³
• consider whether temporary structures (eg, used in temporary works like gravel extraction) need to be treated differently to permanent structures, and whether this would be best achieved via a new permitted activity standard in the NES-F or by allowing councils to be less stringent than the NES-F for this purpose.

For further information on this topic, refer to the impact analysis document entitled Interim Regulatory Impact Statement: Amending the fish passage regulations in the NES Freshwater.

^{19 Information requirements are within regulations 63(3), 64(3), 65(3), 66(3) and 67(3) of the NES-F.}

^{20 Regulation 62(3) of the NES-F.}

^{21 For example, requirements in the NES-F for material of structure for culverts (regulation 63(3)(i)), weirs (regulation 64(3)(g)), flap gates (regulation 65(3)(f)) and dams (regulation 66(3)(f)).}

^{22 Reword regulation 70(2)(e) of the NES-F to replace the 25% diameter requirement with 1/3 for circular or 300 mm for boxed culverts.}

^{23 Remove regulation 70(2)(b), (c) and (g) of the NES-F; remove requirement at 70(2)(f) that the substrate is stable (retain requirement that substrate is present).}