National Direction Reforms: Package Three – Freshwater

Changes to National Direction for freshwater management are proposed to “rebalance” the NPS-FM for all water users

Background

The Government has released three consultation packages detailing proposed changes to a number of National Direction instruments targeted at infrastructure, housing, agriculture, and freshwater.

This article focuses on Package Three (Freshwater) and is the fifth in a series detailing those proposed changes. You can read more about the full range of proposals here. Submissions are due on 27 July 2025.

Package Three outlines options for amending the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater. Specific proposals in the form of an exposure draft will be released for further consultation at a later stage.

Proposed changes to NPS-FM / NES-F – key elements

The Government has committed to replacing the NPS-FM to “better reflect the interests of all users” and “to allow district councils more flexibility in how they meet environmental limits”. Following amendments to the RMA to extend the deadline for giving effect to the NPS-FM, it is seeking feedback on whether certain changes should be made now, or whether it would be better to wait and implement changes under the new resource management legislation.

Key matters on which the Government is seeking feedback in relation to the NPS-FM and the NES-F are set out below.

Multiple objectives

The NPS-FM contains a single objective – to manage resources in a way that prioritises the health and wellbeing of water-bodies and freshwater ecosystems, followed by the health needs of people, and then the ability to provide for social, economic and cultural wellbeing.

The Government proposes to replace that objective with multiple objectives, relating to:

• balancing the health of the environment, people, social, cultural and economic wellbeing – rather than prioritising environmental outcomes;
• consideration of the pace and cost of change and who bears the cost
• provision for vegetable growing and water security and
• a requirement to maintain or improve freshwater quality.

Te Mana o te Wai

One of the most contentious aspects of the proposed changes will be the proposal to “rebalance” Te Mana o te Wai. Te Mana o te Wai is a concept that establishes a hierarchy of obligations, with the health and well-being of water bodies and ecosystems first, the health needs of people second, followed by social, economic, and cultural well-being.

The Government has identified three options for consultation:

• Remove the hierarchy of obligations, clarify that Te Mana o te Wai does not apply to consenting decisions, provide for progressive improvement over time, and require active engagement with tangata whenua;
• Reinstate Te Mana o te Wai provisions from the NPS-FM 2017, which require regional planning instruments to recognise the connection between water and the broader environment (i.e., health of the environment, the water and people).
• Remove Te Mana o te Wai altogether.

National Objectives Framework

The proposal is to review the National Objectives Framework (NOF) process (by which councils are to set objectives for their freshwater bodies) to make it more flexible to implement and focus the NOF and national bottom lines on matters critical at the national level.

This includes considering:

• which values associated water should be compulsory and which should be optional;
• which attributes and national bottom lines are critical for councils to manage at a national level;
• whether councils should have more flexibility to deviate from national bottom lines or whether national bottom lines are required at all.

Commercial vegetable growing

The Government is consulting on two options to enable commercial vegetable growing, on the basis that New Zealand is dependant on domestic production of fresh vegetables, which is an intensive land use that risks discharges of sediment and nutrients to the environment.

The two options are including a new objective signalling that enabling domestic supply of fresh vegetables is a priority, or developing new national standards that permit commercial vegetable growing (for example, based on a freshwater farm plan approach). The Government has signalled that the new resource management framework may provide a better opportunity to permit commercial vegetable growing.

Water security and storage

The Government is consulting on:

• providing direction to councils through a new objective or policy to address the issue of water security as part of climate change resilience; and
• developing new national standards that permit the construction of off-stream water storage – draft standards are provided for feedback.

The consultation package does not address the allocation of water relating to off-stream storage – water allocation is not within the scope of this consultation and will be address as part of the new legislation.

Wetlands

The Government is concerned that the wetland regulations are restricting activities in and around low-value “induced wetlands”.

Key matters for consultation include:

• Defining “induced wetlands”, ie those that have been unintentionally developed as a result of human activity, and exclude them from the NPS-FM/ NES-F;
• Removing the pasture exclusion from the definition of ‘natural inland wetland’ to reduce the complexity of the ecological assessment necessary to determine whether the regulations apply;
• Introducing a new permitted activity standard and consenting pathway for farming activities that are unlikely to have an adverse effect on a wetland;
• Amendments to make it easier to construct wetlands, e.g., through permitted activity standards;
• Removing the requirement for councils to map wetlands within 10 years.

Other matters

Other key aspects of the consultation package include:

• Simplifying the fish passage regulations as they relate to constructing and using culverts.
• Improving the rules for use and reporting in respect of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.
• Introducing a new requirement for drinking water source risk management areas to be mapped.

There are no specific changes to the freshwater farm plans framework in the consultation document, but it does note that the freshwater farm plan system is currently being reviewed, and improvements will be finalised by the end of 2025.

Want to know more?

If you have any questions about proposed changes to the national direction and how to submit, please contact our specialist Resource Management team.

PDF available here.