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LEGAL FRAMEWORK AT THE NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL LEVELNew approaches to planning anddecision-making for fresh water: cooperativewater management in New ZealandClive Howard-Williams, Chief Scientist, National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, Christchurch;Alastair Bisley, Chairman, Land and Water Forum, Ministry for the Environment, and Ken Taylor,Director Investigations and Monitoring, Canterbury Regional Council, New ZealandDespite its clean and green image, New Zealand has experiencedmany of the same disputes over water quantityand degrading water quality that are found in othernations. Adversarial processes and litigation have dominatedwater allocation and permit applications, leading to stalemateand inaction. In 2008 stakeholders agreed at the national levelto embark on a collaborative process to improve freshwatermanagement and governance. Successful experimentation withcollaborative processes has also proceeded at the regional level,especially in the Canterbury region.New Zealand’s water resourcesNew Zealand’s natural landscape, including mountains and naturalforest, occupies 43 per cent of its surface and contains near-pristinerivers, lakes and wetlands. The remaining land area comprisesplanted forest (5 per cent) farmland (52 per cent) and urban development,mostly in lowlands that are now almost devoid of naturalvegetation. 1 New Zealand’s economy depends significantly on pastoral,arable and horticultural farming. Given the intensification ofland use over the last 20 years, it is not surprising that the countryexperiences problems with both the quality and quantity of water. 2Abundant fresh water is seen as one of New Zealand’s greatesteconomic resources. 3 By international standards, New Zealand hasa high level of clean fresh water per person with a total renewablewater resource of 84,000 m 3 per person per year. Current annualwater consumption is less than 5 per cent of the New Zealand supply(runoff to the sea) and yet:• there are sometimes shortages in some places• the areas where water resources are fully allocated are increasing• occasional droughts occur across large areas of the country withsignificant impacts on the national economy• water quality degradation is putting increasing pressure on thefreshwater environment.Problems with water managementAs in most countries there are multiple interests in water. Theseinclude cultural, spiritual and identity; recreational, social andpersonal; environmental; and economic interests. Sometimes theycomplement each other and at others they compete.New Zealand’s Resource Management Act of 1991 introducedan effects-based approach in which permits for water uses (takesand discharges) are based on the effects of the use.Although permits are time-limited, existing permitholders “enjoy significant protection of their priorityover newer entrants.” 4 Once effects indicate thatthe resource is fully allocated, no new entrants to theresource are permitted. But regulatory barriers to thetransfer of permits make it difficult for water to move tothe most productive users. Furthermore, effects-basedconsenting often allows the provision of permits toalready compromised water bodies on the basis that thenew consent will have only minor effects – resulting incontinuing and worsening cumulative effects.The debate about economic uses of water has beendifficult to resolve and processes for allocating waterhave been the subject of litigation in many catchments.Several principal issues needed to be resolved:• competing interests where the parties seldomengaged except in court• the effective exclusion of Mori from governanceand management in many catchments• inconsistent policy and planning• poor use of science and knowledge• lack of acknowledgement of the need to set andmanage within limits – the only policy mechanismwe know of to deal with cumulative effects.Responses at the national levelIn response to the difficulties of managing water in a litigiousenvironment, a group of around 50 key stakeholdersfrom all sides of the debate established the Land and WaterForum (LWF) in 2008. Their approach was sparked bya report on Scandinavian collaborative approaches to theresolution of complex and contested environmental issues,which suggested that they could be fruitfully applied inNew Zealand. 5 There was also a sense that unless all theparties were prepared to engage with each other directlyover the whole range of freshwater issues, conflict andstalemate would persist with damaging consequences forthe environment and economy.The LWF consisted of a plenary group of over 50 organizationsand agencies with a stake in water management[ 178 ]