OUT AND ABOUT WITH BLAIR Feedback wanted on future of city’s rivers

MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter

What does Nelson value about its freshwater?

That’s the question that Nelson City Council is trying to answer as it redevelops its freshwater management plan.

“The first step is getting communities to look at what they want, looking out into the future,” says Adrienne Gravatt, council’s senior planning advisor – environmental planning.

“In a perfect world, what would you like to see these waterways as? How would you like to use them, and what do you feel is of value within them?”

In 2020, the Government introduced new freshwater management policies that eventually aim to reverse past damage to bring waterways and ecosystems to a healthy state within a generation.

“Our water quality standards, in a national sense, are actually very high, so we’re starting from a very good position,” says Dennis Bush-King, council’s acting manager environ- mental planning.

But the region’s waterways still have their challenges.

In the rural river catchments, such as the Wakapuaka and Whangamoa, as well as the upper reaches of the Roding, nutrient levels and sedimentation are some of the main challenges.

In urban waterways however – like those in Stoke – which tend to be smaller streams that have low flow during summer months, elevated temperatures and excessive water takes are causes for concern.

Council needs to know what residents value about the waterways in each of the proposed Freshwater Management Units (FMUs) –Whangamoa, Wakapuaka, Maitai, Stoke, and Roding – so it knows to what it needs to achieve in each area.

For major waterways easily accessible by the public, such as the Maitai River, swimmability may be important, but for Stoke’s shallow streams, amenity and ecological value may be more important.

“We are looking for the public