Regional councils are responsible for management of the marine space from the Mean High-Water Spring (MHWS) out to 12nm, with overlapping policies that have jurisdiction over this zone. The 2020 National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) outlines how regional councils need to manage freshwater while taking into account the sensitive receiving environments. While freshwater management via limits set in the National Objectives Framework are well defined, there are currently no national limits for estuaries to drive management upstream leaving a grey area in integrated management. Additionally, challenges remain with linking estuarine health to catchment reductions in stressor concentrations both temporally and spatially.
This has provided regional councils with a challenge as to the best way to manage estuarine systems, linking freshwater modelling/monitoring, and the required reductions of stressors, to outcomes for estuarine health. Many estuarine specific models have high levels of uncertainty.
Currently regional councils are at different phases of implementing both the NPS-FM, and whether estuarine outcomes are included as attributes within planning documents. This talk will outline some of the approaches taken by different councils to improve estuary condition through the NPS-FM. It will highlight pitfalls, potential ways to undertake this work, and lessons learnt.