Environment Court call for lake clean up

Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

Work to clean up Lake Rotorua has taken another step forward thanks to an interim ruling from the Environment Court, according to Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

The Environment Court ruled in favour of a council nitrogen allocation plan, but they also say more provisions are needed in relation to Treaty Settlement land and requested additional evidence on some technical matters.

Regional council chief Fiona McTavish says where once the lake was murky green, it's clear again thanks to temporary alum dosing.

'We've seen a real improvement in water quality indicators since 2011, compared to the previous decade," Fiona says.

"But there's a lot more work for everyone to do before we can say we've achieved sustainable levels of lake health."

Excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous are a problem for lake water quality because they can fuel aquatic plant and algae growth, upsetting natural balance and making the lake less suitable for people to enjoy and gather kai from.

Nutrient sources include animal waste, fertiliser use, geothermal activity, erosion, storm water run-off and sewerage leaks.

Fiona says other tools being used to achieve a shared 320 tonne nitrogen reduction target for Lake Rotorua include funding grants, restoration work, gorse conversions, the use of Matauranga Maori, sewerage system upgrades and engineering innovations.

The new rules are expected to contribute 140 tonnes to the overall reduction target and 29 landowners have already been granted consents under the new framework.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council notified its decision on the new nutrient management rules in August 2017. The Environment Court has been considering four appeals to those rules in two stages.

"The rules were developed over a two-year consultation period and aim to limit nitrogen discharge from rural properties in the Lake Rotorua groundwater catchment through the use of consents, property-specific nutrient allocations and nutrient management plans," says Fiona.

Timeframes have not yet been set for stage two of the Plan Change 10 appeal resolution process. However the Court has given direction for the parties involved in the appeals process to work together to resolve outstanding appeal points.

"We remain committed to working together with our programme partners, appellants and the community to improve water quality and provide certainty to affected landowners as quickly as possible.

"Our new rules are unique to the Lake Rotorua catchment, but I believe that they're well aligned with central government's push to clean up waterways across New Zealand," Fiona says.

-Stuff.co.nz

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