Clause 3.7: NOF process

When implementing the NOF, councils and tangata whenua must apply the hierarchy of obligations in clause 1.3(5), as discussed in the section Clause 1.3: The fundamental concept of Te Mana o te Wai and its use in the NOF.

At each step in the process, the NPS-FM directs councils to:

• involve tangata whenua to the extent they wish
• collaborate with tangata whenua and enable them to identify and manage Māori values
• engage with communities.

Councils must also:

• use a ki uta ki tai, integrated, approach, manage cumulative effects and take into account the challenges and changing circumstances of climate change
• use the best available information and not delay until they can acquire better, more or other data
• maintain the health and well-being of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems at the baseline level
• improve the health and well-being of water bodies and freshwater ecosystems if it is below a national bottom line, or if so desired by tangata whenua or communities.

The NOF process outlines the steps to achieve the long-term visions for freshwater in a region. It instructs councils to set out a roadmap from the current state of its water bodies to the aspirational visions and transparent goals. This includes measurable interim steps of targets and timeframes, and a feedback loop to allow for adjustments if the process does not stay on track.

Cascading steps

To meet the NOF requirements, councils must follow a series of steps. These lead to a suite of plan provisions, each giving effect to the one preceding it. This forms a cascade:

Long-term vision — values — environmental outcomes — flows/levels and TAS — limits and action plans (see figure 3).

Some steps are required to be recorded in the regional plan as specific plan elements (eg, environmental outcomes as objectives and limits, and environmental flows and levels as rules), or in the regional policy statement (long-term visions). The inclusion of action plans in the regional plan is optional (clause 3.15(4)).

Figure 3: Freshwater NPS-FM cascade from vision setting to methods

Steps in the process

1. Identify FMUs (clause 3.8) and set long-term vision (clause 3.3).
2. Identify values (clause 3.9). These must include the four compulsory national values (appendix 1A), plus any other applicable national value (appendix 1B) and any other values identified.
3. Set environmental outcomes. Councils then set out the intended state of the ecosystem for each value that applies to an FMU (or part of an FMU). These outcomes must be expressed as objectives in the regional plan (clause 3.9) and must achieve the long-term vision set out as an objective in the Regional Policy Statement (clause 3.3).
4. Identify attributes and baseline states. The council identifies attributes for all values that can measure the extent to which environmental outcomes are achieved. All relevant attributes from appendices 2A and 2B for the compulsory values must be used, additional attributes may also be identified for both the compulsory and other values. The baseline state must be established for each attribute (‘baselines state’ is defined in clause 1.4).
5. Set TASs. The council must set target attribute states for all attributes that are relevant to each value, in order to reach the environmental outcomes in an FMU. The TASs in appendices 2A and 2B must be expressed in the units mentioned in the respective table. TASs must be set at the baseline state or better (clause 3.10 and definitions 1.4) and above the national bottom line if one is specified (unless an exception applies as per clause 3.31, 3.32 or 3.33). Attributes related to the value ‘human contact’ must be set above the baseline state (clause 3.11(3)).
   
   Each TAS must have a timeframe for achieving it. If this is longer than 10 years, councils must set interim TASs as stepping stones to the final TAS.
6. Set environmental flows and levels. Councils must also set flows and levels, to achieve the outcomes for the water quantity component of ecosystem health (and any other values where that component is relevant), and for all relevant long-term visions (clause 3.16).
7. Achieving TASs and environmental flows and levels. To achieve TASs councils need to set limits, prepare action plans and may impose consent conditions. For attributes in appendix 2A, councils must set limits on resource use. For attributes in appendix 2B, councils must prepare action plans. For environmental flows and levels, councils must set water take limits. For all other attributes, councils may set either of these to achieve the TAS. Further limits, action plans and consent conditions may be set additionally to help achieve all these TASs. Any limits need to be included in the regional plan (clause 3.14 and clause 3.17).

8.  Monitor and feedback loop. Councils will set up a monitoring programme (clause 3.18) that will measure environmental state of the water bodies and freshwater ecosystems by monitoring attributes to assess whether they are on track to reach the TASs. Councils will assess trends (clause 3.19) and adjust the limits, action plans and consent conditions where necessary (clause 3.20).

The feedback loop in step 7 is a repetitive cycle taken on a regular basis (eg, monthly monitoring and annual reporting on data) with assessments of whether attributes are tracking along their (interim) targets. Reviews are required at least every five years.

Councils must set goals in a transparent manner. The roadmap through interim TASs should show realistic, achievable steps over regular intervals, with an equitable distribution of the requirements for improvement.

Best practice is to frontload the burden of improvement and have regular and transparent communications with the public about how the region’s water bodies and ecosystems are tracking towards the TAS and environmental outcomes, and how these all reflect the long‑term vision.

The steps to the interim targets must be on a pathway to reach the long-term outcomes, taking into account:

• specific local circumstances, such as lag times
• the types of species present
• climate change
• other influences outside the council’s direct control.

Lookup tables

Councils could include a lookup table in their regional plans that set out the long-term vision, environmental outcomes and TASs, broken down into interim targets for fixed periods.

Clear timeframes

In the lookup table, each TAS is anchored to its timeframes. When the monitoring outcomes are placed next to the lookup table, councils can show in a transparent way whether the state of the water bodies and ecosystems is on track. An example of a lookup table for the interim TAS for dissolved oxygen is discussed in table 1.

When limits are set, these can also be usefully included in lookup tables, clarifying the reductions in time and the long-term transition needed.