Fish & Game has played a major role in protecting some of New Zealand's outstanding wild and scenic waterways through the application of Water Conservation Orders (WCOs).

 

Over the last few years, NC Fish & Game and Environmental Defence Society (EDS) have been engaging with Environment Canterbury and other river advocates to clarify who has the responsibility for monitoring and managing the Rakaia and other WCOs. After years of concerns about degradation of river health and fishery values raised by local anglers, Fish & Game, iwi, community members and others, the public debate over the management of the Rakaia River flared up in the national media in late 2021, following the leaking of a draft Environment Canterbury technical report (The Rakaia Water Balance Report) and the resignation of its author, a senior Environment Canterbury hydrologist. Environment Canterbury’s response was to distance itself from the report’s findings, confirming and accelerating public concerns about exceedance of consent limits for water-takers, inadequate monitoring and poor enforcement of consent conditions resulting in the Rakaia River being “impeded and manipulated” beyond the level anticipated in the WCO.

In response, NC Fish & Game and EDS joined forces and agreed to seek a declaratory judgement from the Environment Court to determine the fundamental question of who has the responsibility for WCO monitoring and enforcement, which has national implications in terms of the protection offered by all WCOs. This declaratory judgement is the critical first step in addressing the environmental problems faced by the Rakaia River. It will also determine who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the WCO, not just in Canterbury but all over New Zealand. The Rakaia River’s problems have arisen because of significant intensification in land and water use in recent decades, an overly complex water management regime, a lack of adequate resource and compliance monitoring, and is intensified by a lack of management response from Environment Canterbury. Initially, it looked as if non-compliance was a significant issue, but as time has gone by, the focus has shifted to Environment Canterbury’s failures in land and water management. It seems remedial action can only be achieved progressively through plan changes, reconsenting processes and WCO amendments.

 

During winter, staff and our legal/expert advisors participated in mitigation meetings, as instructed by the Environment Court. The limited outcomes from the mitigation process included refinements to the legal questions. The next phase and formal official hearing is scheduled to take place in late November 2024.

 

Media specific to Rakaia WCO

Several Newsroom media articles written by David Williams have reported on the debate over the health and management of the Rakaia River and the subsequent Rakaia WCO Declaratory Proceedings hearing. Fish & Game is determined to continue to advocate for improving the health of the Rakaia River and ensuring WCO is a powerful instrument for setting rules that recognise and protect the outstanding values of NZ wild and scenic water bodies.