Integrated Catchment Management Plans –A Hamilton City Experience from Creation to Implementation
Annual Conference
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Hamilton City Council (Council) has a number of drivers requiring the preparation of catchment management plans. These include a specific condition of a Comprehensive Stormwater Discharge Consent (WRC 2011) from the Waikato Regional Council (WRC) and legislative imperatives to protect and enhance the Waikato River reflecting the Waikato River Vision and Strategy (Waikato River Authority 2011), and national drivers such the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (2014).
Understanding the effects of Hamilton’s stormwater and assessing options and opportunities for mitigation, improvement and enhancement can be specific to each catchment and their associated receiving environment. Potable water and wastewater assessment is also included to ensure the best outcome from an overall 3-waters perspective, thus creating Integrated Catchment Management Plans (ICMPs).
Council has embarked on a comprehensive 10-year programme to complete ICMPs for each of its catchments. The assessments incorporated in the ICMPs are critical in supporting strategic landuse and infrastructure planning and investment.
To date Council has completed two ICMPs, at contrasting ends of detail and cost. A further three are underway. There have been many lessons learnt along the way, culminating in Council pausing its programme in order to develop a set of ICMP modules to provide guidance to the many technical disciplines preparing individual reports to inform the overall ICMP report. This allows the programme to progress consistently across each separate catchment and creates a robust platform for prioritisation of infrastructure works within the City.
Implementing the direction established by each ICMP is complex. It relies on a number of development stages, with holistic catchment solutions potentially requiring on lot devices (at the time of Building Consent), sub-catchment devices (at the time of Resource Consent), large strategic solutions (Council’s 10-Year Plan) and watercourse protection (City or Regional Councils, Drainage Boards, Land owners).
This paper will consider the drivers, methods and tools used to support delivery of ICMPs, along with implementation and examples of the types of outcomes, pre and post ICMPs.