6. Recommendations
Conclusions and additional recommendations relating to the planning context within which a CFPS will be undertaken.
Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.
Luna Leopold
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In this website we have described what is involved if agencies and Manawhenua decide to implement a CFPS. We have included case studies to illustrate:
In this final section we conclude the report by including a final set of recommendations that relate to the planning context within which a CFPS will be undertaken.
- the steps in the process;
- the range of analyses that can be undertaken with the data Manawhenua collect;
- how to present the data collected in a summary format; and
- how agencies have responded to the cultural flow preferences of Manawhenua.
In this final section we conclude the report by including a final set of recommendations that relate to the planning context within which a CFPS will be undertaken.
Additional Recommendations
Fully engage Manawhenua in every aspect of flow assessment and allocative decision-making.
Manawhenua should be involved in setting goals for waterbodies, defining flow needs and then negotiating which aspects of flow recommendations will be implemented.
Values and practices of Manawhenua should be given due recognition and provided for when assessing the development and management of water resources infrastructure, including during siting, design, and operations.
Values and practices of Manawhenua should be given due recognition and provided for when assessing the development and management of water resources infrastructure, including during siting, design, and operations.
Be very clear about the Manawhenua values that the flow provisions are to recognise and provide for.
The benefits from allocating river flows should be accompanied by explicitly and comprehensively assessing and justifying to Manawhenua the trade-offs between cultural preferences and other human water demands.
Differences in river types need to be understood. Water withdrawals differ in their levels and types of impacts. Some water sources are more sensitive and vulnerable to withdrawals than others. Thus, sensitivity needs to be discussed with Manawhenua.
Differences in river types need to be understood. Water withdrawals differ in their levels and types of impacts. Some water sources are more sensitive and vulnerable to withdrawals than others. Thus, sensitivity needs to be discussed with Manawhenua.
Focus on protecting whole, functioning ecosystems.
The entire interconnected river system, ki uta ki tai, and its key attributes should be considered in a flows assessment.
To protect the health of the whole ecosystem and ecosystem-related values, adequate knowledge needs to be gained of the ways that river flows, in particular, affect species (especially taonga species), key habitats, processes and ecosystem components.
Every effort should be made to maintain or restore, to the greatest extent possible, the functions and processes that Manawhenua believe essential to a river’s healthy state.
To protect the health of the whole ecosystem and ecosystem-related values, adequate knowledge needs to be gained of the ways that river flows, in particular, affect species (especially taonga species), key habitats, processes and ecosystem components.
Every effort should be made to maintain or restore, to the greatest extent possible, the functions and processes that Manawhenua believe essential to a river’s healthy state.
Define flow needs using a holistic approach.
The indigenous species in a river have evolved life cycles that respond to natural flow regimes and are adapted to and reliant on specific hydrological events. The needs of indigenous species are to be prioritized in river management.
It needs to be clear to Manawhenua how the hydrologic regime and its inter- and intra-annual variability, in terms of the magnitude, frequency, timing, duration and rate of change of different hydrologic conditions, from high to low flows, is to be maintained.
Hydrologic regimes that are protective of the full range of indigenous species, and ecosystems that naturally occur or could be expected to naturally occur in the catchment, should be maintained or restored.
Single minimum flow recommendations provide an inadequate basis for flow-based ecosystem maintenance or protection. Manawhenua want to see flow variability. Having identified the minimum flows that they prefer, hydrologists and ecologists are to work with Manawhenua to assist in identifying the variability sought by Manawhenua.
It needs to be clear to Manawhenua how the hydrologic regime and its inter- and intra-annual variability, in terms of the magnitude, frequency, timing, duration and rate of change of different hydrologic conditions, from high to low flows, is to be maintained.
Hydrologic regimes that are protective of the full range of indigenous species, and ecosystems that naturally occur or could be expected to naturally occur in the catchment, should be maintained or restored.
Single minimum flow recommendations provide an inadequate basis for flow-based ecosystem maintenance or protection. Manawhenua want to see flow variability. Having identified the minimum flows that they prefer, hydrologists and ecologists are to work with Manawhenua to assist in identifying the variability sought by Manawhenua.
Work collaboratively with inter-disciplinary diverse teams of scientists and other experts to make best use of available knowledge and tools that can complement the Matauranga held by Manawhenua.
The process of defining a river’s flow needs should be as inclusive and transparent as possible.
Flows should be derived based on best available information and the professional judgment of as diverse and inter-disciplinary a team of natural, physical, and social scientists as possible. This will be complemented with the Matauranga held by Manawhenua, and knowledge of local communities.
Flows should be derived based on best available information and the professional judgment of as diverse and inter-disciplinary a team of natural, physical, and social scientists as possible. This will be complemented with the Matauranga held by Manawhenua, and knowledge of local communities.
Establish a sound hydrologic foundation to support recommended flow regimes.
Consistent with the conceptualisation of water as an undivided entity, specification of flows should be underpinned by a sound, current hydrologic information system that includes all parts of the water cycle.
The foundation should account for all current water demands, be able to factor in future demands, alternatives for meeting such demands, and the effects of climate change on the hydrology of a catchment.
The hydraulic interconnectivity of groundwater and surface water quantity and quality should be explicitly recognised and provided for.
The foundation should account for all current water demands, be able to factor in future demands, alternatives for meeting such demands, and the effects of climate change on the hydrology of a catchment.
The hydraulic interconnectivity of groundwater and surface water quantity and quality should be explicitly recognised and provided for.
Include vulnerability and risk analyses as elements of flows assessment.
It is important to explicitly consider climate variability and change and their implications for both water resource availability, ecosystem health and cultural preferences.
Adopt a precautionary approach to flow management.
Flows recommendations should be continually refined as new information or opportunities become available, to secure greater confidence in long-term outcomes. This may necessitate committing to modelling the data collected from monitoring and not simply ending the process with data collection.
Discuss with Manawhenua the purpose and practicality of applying adaptive management to the implementation of the recommended flow regime.
Baseline conditions must be carefully documented, outcomes of flow implementation monitored and evaluated.
Before Manawhenua can be confident of an adaptive regime, the criteria that will lead to an adaptive cycle being triggered need to be explicit and agreed with Manawhenua.
Cultural monitoring of responses to flow alteration is necessary to properly inform adaptive management of flows and safeguard values of Manawhenua.
Before Manawhenua can be confident of an adaptive regime, the criteria that will lead to an adaptive cycle being triggered need to be explicit and agreed with Manawhenua.
Cultural monitoring of responses to flow alteration is necessary to properly inform adaptive management of flows and safeguard values of Manawhenua.
Address flows assessment as an integrated component of integrated water resources management.
Water resource sustainability requires a balance of economic, cultural, social and environmental demands to ensure that the needs of current and future generations are not compromised by current usage.
Attention should be given to both recovery of water for the environment in over-allocated systems and protection of flows in systems not yet under stress.
Attention should be given to both recovery of water for the environment in over-allocated systems and protection of flows in systems not yet under stress.
Formally recognise and embed flow principles and provisions for flows assessment in policy and regulatory frameworks.
Legal recognition of flows is needed with, ideally, instream flows are accorded priority over consumptive water uses.
Mechanisms and/or a process should be in place to reallocate water to environmental needs where it has been over-allocated.
Mechanisms and/or a process should be in place to reallocate water to environmental needs where it has been over-allocated.
Invest in capacity-building at regional levels
Flow assessment processes should be used as an opportunity to build awareness of flow principles and concepts, and to develop both technical, cross-cultural and cross-institutional capacity.
The better the collective understanding of flows, concepts and of ways to effect flow implementation from the outset, the more successful the result is likely to be in the long term.
The better the collective understanding of flows, concepts and of ways to effect flow implementation from the outset, the more successful the result is likely to be in the long term.