Auckland Regional Plan: Sediment Control

Review of Sediment Management

The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) is commencing a review of its approach to land disturbing activities/sediment management in the Region.
The requirement for a review of the Auckland Regional Plan: Sediment Control (ARP: SC) arose from:

1. Operational experience which has demonstrated limitations in coverage and efficiency of the existing Plan provisions;
2. Accumulating evidence from environmental monitoring that sediment discharges are resulting in serious degradation of some major aquatic ecosystems, and
3. Significantly improved understanding of the effects of sediment particularly on marine communities, and
4. Earthworks and sediment management issues being raised by a number of submitters to the Annual Plan.
   

The ARC currently manages land disturbing activities, erosion, sediment generation and deposition through:

• The Auckland Regional Policy Statement (ARPS)
• The Auckland Regional Plan: Coastal (ARP:C)
  addresses issues associated with discharges (e.g. stormwater) into the coastal marine area. These documents have been prepared under the Resource Management Act.
• The Auckland Regional Plan: Sediment Control (ARP: SC)
  addresses earthworks, vegetation removal and/or clearance (such as forest harvesting), roading/tracking/trenching, and quarries.
• The Proposed Auckland Regional Plan: Air, Land, Water (PARP: ALW)
  covers other sediment-generating activities such as urban stormwater, cultivation, stock access to rivers and streams, works in rivers and streams, landfills and contaminated land

Local councils through their District Plan, have the function of the control of any actual or potential effects of the use, development, or protection of land for a number of specified purposes.

Objectives

The objectives for the review of sediment management are:

Management

• To develop an integrated approach to the management of sediment generation and discharge in the Auckland Region that recognises and provides for the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.

Process

• To identify issues associated with sediment generation and deposition in the Auckland Region.
• To evaluate statutory and non-statutory options for the management of sediment (including integration with other policy areas).
• To implement management options for the management of sediment in the Auckland Region.
  

An improved understanding of the adverse effects of sediment generation and deposition on social, cultural, environmental (particularly on aquatic ecosystems) and economic well-beings due to technological advancements enhance the possibility of making substantial improvements to the management framework.

The review provides the opportunity to integrate all regional and local councils sediment management regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to ensure there are no gaps or duplication of effort. It will also provide the opportunity to better protect sensitive receiving environments and to address the management of landslide prone land and stream bank erosion in rural areas. Corresponding projects currently being implemented include Stock Access to Rivers and Streams and the Management of Headwater Streams.

Please email us at planinfo@arc.govt.nz if you wish to be involved in this review of sediment and erosion management.