This presentation was given at the 2019 Catchment Management Notwork meeting, which was held on the 11 October in Tullamore. All our local authorities and other bodies responsible for implementing the Water Framework Directive in Ireland attended to share knowledge and learn from each other.
2. 1. Invitation to speak at
a conference:
“Nutrient Loss Mitigations
for Compliance in
Agriculture”
2. And an international
workshop:
“Managing N losses
to waters”
Feb 2019
3. Organised a study
trip
3.
4. Researchers
Farmers
Industry
Advisors
Policy people
Research farm visits
Working farm visits
Researchers
Institutes
Policy people
Irrigation company
Ken Taylor’s team
Presentations
Field visit
Researchers
Advisors
Industry
Council
Researchers
Farmers
Field visits
Farm orgs
Council
Maori culture
Field visit
Departments
Industry
10. Lake Ellesmere
200 km2 in size, 2m deep
Culturally very significant
Biodiversity hotspot
Massive algal blooms
Significant dairy industry
Very challenging to address
Lesson 1:
• New Zealand has pushed their
environment too far.
• Their ‘social licence’ to farm is at risk.
• They have a long way to come back
• What can we learn from their
experiences?
11. What are they doing
about it?
1. Driving on the science
2. Philosophy for managing water
3. Regulation and catchment management
4. A strong new action plan
14. Lesson 2:
• We can learn from each other on on-
farm research and catchment tools and
models
• They are more advanced in precision
agriculture
• They have had to innovate quicker
• What can we learn from their
experiences?
15. Integrated and holistic health and wellbeing of a water body as a sustaining life force.
“When Te Mana o Te Wai is given effect, the water body will sustain the full range of
environmental, social, cultural and economic values held by iwi and the community”
Te mana o te wai is now a policy objective
Lesson 3:
• Powerful sentiment in this Maori
concept. Consistent with integrated
catchment management (ICM)
• We have made a good start with ICM,
but we have some distance to travel
• We should be encouraged to broaden
the application of ICM
• What can we learn from their
experiences?
16. “Don’ tell me what to do. Tell me what the
problem is and I’ll figure out how to fix it”
“We believe that if farmers are fully engaged in the
process, they will take ownership of the solution”
18. Lesson 4:
• They have built a nationally applicable
farm support model that is providing
consistency in decision support and can
be used to scale up to catchments
• But there are challenges with using it as
a regulatory tool
• What can we learn from their
experiences?
19. Lake Rotorua
• Highly regulated
catchment
• Catchment nutrient
balance calculated
• Mandatory farm
reduction targets
Lake Rerewhakaaitu
• Less regulated
catchment
• Farm plans developed
• Voluntary nutrient
reductions
“Can we innovate during the
transition ?”
“Will our efforts be enough?”
21. Catchment based models and management - N
Inputs
2.6 mg/l N
(low salinity)
Black box
11 mg/l N
Progress needed to
quantify the link
between farm scale
actions and water
quality outcomes
at the catchment
scale, so you know
when enough is
enough
Lesson 5:
• They are more advanced in whole farm
plans
• We are more advanced in catchment
modelling
• We both have some distance to go with
catchment nutrient budgets
• What can we learn from their
experiences?
Outputs
22. New Zealanders value our freshwater. Our
rivers and lakes, and how we care for and
use them, are a fundamental part of who
we are. We respect the mana of our
freshwater – Te Mana o te Wai.
New Zealanders want to be able to swim,
fish, gather mahinga kai, and enjoy
freshwater as our parents and grandparents
did. We also need clean water to drink and
irrigation to support a sustainable economy.
23. Key actions
• Bring freshwater to a healthy
state within a generation
• Full suite of WFD type indicators
• Higher standard for swimming
• No more draining wetlands
• Protect threatened species
• Fish passage
• Minimum flows
• Drinking water source protection
• Tighter UWW regulation
The health and wellbeing of the
water will be put first in
decision-making; providing for
essential human needs, such as
drinking water, will be second,
and other uses will follow.
24. Key actions - agriculture
• All farmers to have a farm plan to manage risks
to water by 2025
• Tightly restrict any further intensification until all
regions have a freshwater management plan.
From 2020, no new conversion to dairy or
irrigation unless there is evidence it will not
increase pollution
• Reduce N loss in high N catchments within 5
years
• Exclude cattle, deer and pigs from water ways.
5m setback + fence
• Standards for winter grazing, feedlots, stock
holding areas - less erosion and less pollution
from sediment, nutrients and pathogens
25. Lesson 6:
• They are taking the issues seriously
• They have created a vision
• There is leadership to drive solutions
• There is interest here in their approach
• What can we learn from their policies?
26. • Ministeries
• 16 regional councils
• District councils (e.g. 10 in Christchurch)
• Local iwi
NZ governance IRL governance
LocalAuthority Waters Programme:
Catchment Assessment Team
Waters and Communities Office
Senior policy makers - all Ministries
Project management -
Water Ministry
EPA
Local authorities
Regional Implementation (x5)
1. Senior management committee – LAs + EPA
2. Operational committee – All implementing bodies
Community
water officers
Catchment
scientists
Sustainability
advisors
Technical
leadership
All
implementing
bodies
Local
stakeholders
National
stakeholders
An adversarial approach A collaborative approach
V
Lesson 7:
• Their governance is a bit disjointed and
not joined up
• There is huge interest internationally
on our governance and our
collaborative approach – we should be
very proud of it
• They are learning from us?
27. What did I learn?
• ‘Relentless’ in pursuit of our plans. Don’t want to get where NZ are.
• We must continue to develop the evidence. That includes all of us.
• Need to broaden our water thinking into ICM – multiple benefits
• Need to put on-farm and local measures into the catchment context
• We should be proud of our structures and our collaborative process.
It plays to our strengths and we need to continue to nurture it
28. Acknowledgements • All our hosts
• My 3 companions
• Our NZ and Danish
colleagues who have,
and will be returning to
learn from us
• EPA for supporting my
application
Lesson 8: Study visits are
invaluable. They bring
perspective, reflection, new
ideas, and networking.