This paper examines the effectiveness of New Zealand's Resource Management Act in managing freshwater resources.
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A distinctive feature of the New Zealand situation is the extent to which Parliament has delegated the sustainable management of freshwater resources to catchment based regional councils. Regional councils exercise a pivotal role in water resource planning but without much guidance or technical assistance from central government.
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Contrary to New Zealand's `clean green' image, water pollution is alarmingly high in relation to its small population size. The Act puts particular emphasis on improving water quality by empowering regional councils to address this concern in policy statements and plans.
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Water allocation policies in New Zealand are dominated by a supply-oriented biophysical perspective based on prescribing minimum flows and maximum extraction thresholds to safeguard the life-supporting capacity of ecosystems. Despite persistent attempts by central government to encourage regional councils to adopt competitive tendering and tradable permits for allocating water, most regional councils favour allocation procedures based on community consultation and political compromise.
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Water Conservation Orders are a special provision in the Act for protecting outstanding amenity or intrinsic values of waters in their natural state. However, no new applications have been made under the RMA since 1991.
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The RMA has brought about significant procedural improvements in water resource planning, by means of a cooperative, consultative approach. However, limited attention has been given to issues of water allocation to promote the sustainable use of increasingly scarce resources. The policies and rules in recently notified plans now regulate point source as well as non-point source discharges. Nevertheless, central government may need to reassess its role if it wishes to achieve a significant improvement in water quality and there needs to be greater coordination of water resource monitoring systems operated by regional councils to provide a national overview.