Achieving sustainable municipal water supply through integrated water and land use planning

There is an increasing demand for water especially from agribusiness, electricity generators and urban growth. In 2010, the majority of consumptive weekly allocations were for irrigation (46 percent) and hydro generation (41 percent) with the remainder shared among public drinking supply, industry and stock watering. An increasing number of catchments are either over-allocated or nearing full allocation. By 2012 it is predicted that freshwater resources in our most economically significant regions will be fully allocated to users. The effects of climate change are only going to exacerbate this situation particularly in eastern parts of New Zealand where droughts are predicted to increase. The demand for water is outstripping supply. All these factors are going to make it increasingly difficult for councils and municipal suppliers to protect existing supplies for municipal water and secure additional supplies to provide for the long term growth of towns and cities.

To ensure that councils and municipal suppliers can continue to obtain water to provide for municipal supply to accommodate existing and future economic and social needs of communities, central and regional government must recognise the importance of municipal supply. Central and regional government regulatory frameworks need to prioritise allocation of water for critical activities such as municipal supply.

However, with such privileges come responsibilities for councils and municipal suppliers to justify the volumes of water required for municipal supply and to ensure it is efficiently and effectively used. To achieve these outcomes councils need to better integrate water and land use planning. This integration needs to occur throughout the various planning and development stages including ensuring growth strategies appropriately consider and identify future water allocation requirements, ensuring structure plans and local area plans etc. incorporate integrated catchment management planning and water assessments, and ensuring large scale subdivision and land use applications identify water use requirements and adopt efficient use mechanisms and devices.

District plans can be very effective tools for achieving water and land use planning integration. However, currently their potential for achieving such outcomes has largely been overlooked. Hamilton City Council’s approach to its District Plan Review provides a useful case study on the various methods that can be incorporated into a district plan to integrate water and land use planning. These methods are not only designed to achieve the efficient use of water, but also result in a range of other benefits including improving water quality and the health of catchments, enhancing amenity values, assisting with climate change adaptation, improving biodiversity, and protecting natural character.