Water Wars Challenges of Town And Country

Transcription

1 Canterbury Water Management Strategy: A Collaborative Governance Approach to Achieving Sustainable Water Management Water Wars Challenges of Town And Country Lincoln Hot Science Series Prof Dr Bryan Bryan Jenkins Jenkins - Waterways Centre, Chief Executive, Environment Canterbury University of Canterbury and Lincoln University

2 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN NZ Regional Councils formed in 1989 with geographical boundaries based on catchments Regulatory body for resource management with elected council Resource Management Act (1991): effects-based management to promote sustainable management Ministry for the Environment established with powers to produce national policies and standards Appeals to the Environment Court with ability to review technical merit

3 SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER IN CANTERBURY 58% of NZ s allocated water 70% of NZ s irrigated land 65% of NZ s hydro storage High quality untreated water for Christchurch Braided rivers, high country and coastal lakes, and lowland streams Driest region in terms of Potential Evapotranspiration Deficit

4 SUSTAINABILITY LIMITS Rapid increase in demand for water - expansion of dairying Water Availability - run-of-river takes on restriction - groundwater zones at allocation limits Cumulative Effects of Water Use - water quality impacts from intensification - ecological health effects from diminished flows

5 RMA LIMITATIONS Management of diffuse sources Allocation based on first-come first-served Management of sustainability limits and cumulative effects Absence of precautionary approach Reactive role for regulator Effects-based rather than outcomes-based Adversarial nature of decision processes

6 PARADIGM SHIFT NEEDED IN WATER MANAGEMENT Water allocation and availability which addresses sustainability limits and climate variability Management of cumulative effects of water takes and land use intensification Shift from effects-based management of individual consents to integrated management based on water management zones

7 GOVERNANCE MODELS FOR COMMON RESOURCES Leviathan Model - Direct Government provision of services with integration of policy and operational functions Privatisation Model - Private sector provision of services with government role as regulator Self Governing Community Model - Community determination of resource management requirements

8 LIMITATIONS OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY AND MARKETS Evenly balanced council led to polarisation of debate Political conflict between different levels of government Markets not price sensitive due to high infrastructure costs and efficiency of operating at design flows Environmental issues not addressed by markets: failure at sustainability limits, externalities associated with use, differential impacts of transfers Economic efficiency not achieved by markets: greater efficiency from catchment management

9 SUCCESS WITH INFORMAL COLLABORATIVE WORK Subcatchment - Living Streams: land use and waterways - Water User Groups: takes tied to same environmental flow monitoring point - Cluster Groups: groundwater subzones for consent reviews Catchments - Community Catchment Plan: to address specific issue - Community Trust: programme coordination of government and community actions

10 SELF MANAGED COMMUNITIES Alternative to government direction and privatisation options Relevant to multiple users of scarce renewable resource where use affects others Cooperative strategy worked out with users Mutual monitoring of resource and its use Commitment to rules Agreed enforcement and conflict resolution approaches Multiple layers of nested enterprises for larger systems

11 MULTIPLE LEVELS National: national policies and standards, treaty matters, hydro-generation Regional: water availability, land use intensification Catchment: sustainability limits, cumulative effects, reliability of supply Subcatchment: environmental flows, streams and riparian margins Property: irrigation and land use practices

12 STAGES IN CANTERBURY WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Stage 1: Initial study of water availability issues in Canterbury ECan water management investigations and planning Stage 2: Potential major storage sites Stage 3: Multi-stakeholder review of storage options Stage 4: Integrated water management strategy development Implementation of CWMS

13 STAGE 1: STUDY OF WATER AVAILABILITY Initial study by ECan, MAF and MfE (2002): Irrigation the dominant consumptive use (89%): potential to double irrigated area Run-of-river and groundwater withdrawal reaching sustainability limits and cannot meet future demands On an annual basis water is available to meet future demand but would require storage Future development requires strategic integrated water resource management

14 MAP OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

15 SHIFT FROM TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS TO COLLABORATIVE STRATEGY Stage 2: Technical investigation of storage options Stage 3 multi-stakeholder evaluation identified: - need to address water quality risk for land use intensification - desire for integrated solution that minimised storage Stage 4 strategy development based on: - stakeholder and community engagement on options - strategic investigations of outcomes - sustainability appraisal of options

16 STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION Oversight by Canterbury Mayoral Forum with Steering Group drawn from major water interests Multi-stakeholder consultation on uses and benefits: fundamental principles Steering Group definition, stakeholder and public consultation: strategic options Multi-stakeholder workshops: targets Public and stakeholder review of draft strategy: strategic framework

17 STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS Impact of land use intensification on water quality Identification of priority restoration programmes Storage options that are most likely to be sustainable Efficiency and ecological enhancements through integrated water management Integration of water for energy security and irrigation availability Economic modelling of production and ecosystem services Governance structures for sustainable management

18 WATER REDISTRIBUTION

19 NITRATE MODELLING IN SHALLOW GROUNDWATER Current Land Use Full Intensification Shallow Groundwater Nitrate Concentration Shallow Groundwater Nitrate Concentration All extensive converted to intensive (dairy 4 cow)

20 SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL Framework founded on four pillars of sustainability (economic, social, cultural and environmental) Management of water on the basis of capital assets Evaluation criteria incorporating minimum acceptable position (bottom lines) and desirable objective position (top line) Comparative analysis of strategic options: bottom line higher than business-as-usual Sustainability requires improvements to existing practices not just new development

21 FIGURE 6: COMPARISON OF SUSTAINABILITY PROFILES FOR ALL OPTIONS

22 SOME KEY ISSUES Integrated water management needed to provide new water - water use efficiency of existing allocations - storage meeting sustainability criteria New water needed to - generate revenue for new infrastructure - increase reliability to involve existing users - reduce pressure on lowland streams

23 FURTHER KEY ISSUES Further land use intensification constrained unless - existing land use practices improve - future development better than current best practice Transition from existing processes - statutory backing needed to achieve collaboration alternative to current adversarial processes

24 IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGY Parallel development of proactive implementation programmes to achieve multiple targets - regional implementation programme including environmental restoration, storage and distribution, iwi management plans, consent reconfiguration through brokerage - zone implementation programmes including environmental restoration, water use efficiency, land use practice improvement, customary use Contrast with RMA style - applicant-driven development within environmental constraints set by plans and consents

25 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION COLLABORATION Regional Committee - members chair, 2 RC, 4 TA, 10 zone, 7 community, 3 runanga, 1 Ngai Tahu - addresses regional issues - develop regional implementation programme 10 Zone Committees - members RC, TA, 6-7 community, runanga - address zone issues - develop zone implementation programmes

26 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Regulatory approach not suited to management of resource at sustainability limits Representative democracy and multiple political levels led to conflict at governance level Need for different governance approach that is stakeholder/community led Need for nested approach to deal with issues at different geographical scales