Proposed Values
What are values?
Upper Acheron River
Values are what is important to you about freshwater.
Understanding what these values are is one of the first steps in ensuring the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) provides for these freshwater values under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPSFM).
The NPSFM identifies four compulsory values which must apply to all Freshwater Management Units (FMUs) and Council must assess whether another nine values listed in the NPSFM also apply (see the table below).
Additional values can also be identified by communities and tangata whenua.
Value | Type of Value |
|---|---|
Ecosystem health – includes values which apply to each of the 5 biophysical components of ecosystem health. | Compulsory |
Human contact | Compulsory |
Threatened species | Compulsory |
Mahinga kai | Compulsory |
Natural form and character | Must be considered |
Drinking water supply | Must be considered |
Wai tapu | Must be considered |
Transport and tauranga waka | Must be considered |
Fishing | Must be considered |
Hydro-electric power generation | Must be considered |
Animal drinking water | Must be considered |
Irrigation, cultivation, and production of food and beverages | Must be considered |
Commercial and industrial use | Must be considered |
See Appendix 1A and 1B of the NPSFM for further details on these values.
The NPSFM recognises Māori approach freshwater management in a different way. Council is working with the nine tangata whenua Iwi within Marlborough to identify specific Māori freshwater values. These values will also be incorporated into the council’s planning and decision-making processes to ensure they are provided for.
What have we heard so far from the community?
In our first round of community engagement, we asked what you valued about freshwater and received almost 400 comments relating to values. Around 20% of these were values applied across the whole Marlborough region, just under another 2% related specifically to the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU.
Combining these values with existing values, for example with those recognised in the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan, other sources of information relating to values and active restoration projects, eleven key values have been identified by the community so far for the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU.
- Ecosystem Health – Healthy freshwater ecosystems sustaining indigenous aquatic life expected in the absence of human disturbance or alteration. The rivers, streams, lakes, tarns and wetlands in the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU including Bowscale Tarn, Lake Sedgemere, Island Lake and Lake McRae, support healthy habitats and freshwater ecosystems for a variety of native flora and fauna including waterfowl.
- Human Contact – Waterbodies support people being able to connect with the water through a range of activities, including swimming, paddling, kayaking, fishing, mahinga kai and food gathering, whitewater rafting and jet boating, when flows or levels are suitable.
- Threatened Species – Critical habitats and ecosystem health necessary to support the presence, abundance, survival, and recovery of a population threatened species. Species specifically identified for the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU – further information to come.
- Mahinga Kai – Kai is safe to harvest and eat and the mauri of the place is intact. Mahinga kai generally refers to freshwater species that have traditionally been used as food, tools, or other resources. It also refers to the places those species are found and to the act of catching or harvesting them. Customary resources are available for use, with customary practices able to be exercised to the extent desired, and tikanga and preferred methods able to be practised. Transfer of knowledge can occur about the preparation, storage and cooking of kai.
- Natural form and character – The high natural character of the Acheron River catchment and numerous tarns, lakes and wetlands and the outstanding natural features and landscape of the upper reaches of the Waiau-toa / Clarence including the Rangitahi / Molesworth Recreation Reserve.
- Wai tapu – The historic well-used system of ara tawhito (trails) connecting coastal settlements through the interior across to the West Coast and to the south, which included resting places, mahinga kai, and burial sites which have special significance to tangata whenua.
- Fishing – Trout and salmon where they are currently present.
- Animal Drinking Water – Water quality and quantity meets the needs of farmed animals, including being palatable and safe.
- Irrigation / Cultivation / Production of Food and Beverages – Water quantity is suitable for the production of food from farmed animals and pasture.
- Recreation and Amenity – The outstanding natural features and landscape of the upper reaches of the Waiau-toa / Clarence including the Rangitahi / Molesworth Recreation Reserve. Recreational activities can take place adjacent to waterways, that do not involve direct water immersion, including walking, biking, camping, horse-riding, four-wheel driving, and hunting.
- Access – Public access to waterbodies and their margins.
The second round of engagement sort to confirm these values and ensure that there were no other values that needed to be identified. The freshwater policy team will use this second round of feedback to firm up each FMUs community freshwater values.
Next steps
Acheron River looking north towards Isolated Saddle.
In order to provide for the values identified there are several other steps that we need to take;
1. Linking each value with an environmental outcome.
An environmental outcome is what success looks like for a value. If an environmental outcome is reached and/or maintained, then a value is being provided for successfully. For information on environmental outcomes and to see what we have proposed for the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU see below:
Go to the Waiau-toa / Clarence FMU Proposed Environmental Outcomes page
2. Assign a way to measure how successfully each value is being provided for.
We can do this using a measurable characteristic known as an attribute. These measures or attributes can be numerical or narrative or a combination of both. There can be multiple measures or attributes for a single value and different values may share some attributes.
By measuring and monitoring these attributes against targets we can track our progress towards its environmental outcome.
Like values, the NPSFM provides some compulsory attributes that must be measured in Appendix 2A and B, but other attributes may also be identified.
Council is currently working on identify these other attributes.
