The Government has been consulting on proposals to amend the:
- National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM)
- Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) Regulations 2020 (NES-F)
And seeked feedbacks on proposals including:
- Rebalancing freshwater management through multiple objectives
- Rebalancing Te Mana o te Wai
- Providing flexibility in the National Objectives Framework
- Enabling commercial vegetable growing
- Addressing water security and water storage
- Simplifying wetlands provisions
- Simplifying fish passage regulations
- Addressing remaining issues with the farmer-facing regulations (ie, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser)
- Including mapping requirements for drinking water sources.
Feedback was also sought on whether proposed changes should be implemented now under the RMA, or incorporated into the upcoming RMA replacement legislation.
More information on this submission here.
The Nature and Climate group of the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum made the following submission: 2025-07-27 Freshwater ND submission – NC group of NTCF July 2025