Water measuring devices national environmental standard (NES) consultation workshops
As part of the consultation on the water measuring devices national environmental standard the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry hosted seven workshops around the country. Presentations were also given by Irrigation New Zealand and Regional Councils.
The below questions were frequently asked and answered at the workshops and will help people who were unable to attend with understanding the proposal and preparing their submissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
2. Unusual water take consents 1
3. Discharges and return flows 2
4. Costs of implementing the National Environmental Standard 2
5. Capacity of the water meter industry 2
8. Daily measuring and Data Loggers 3
9. Information yielded from water measuring devices 4
10. Reasonable stock and domestic needs 4
1. Why the NES and why now?
Why is the proposal to make metering compulsory included in a National Environmental Standard (NES) and not a National Policy Statement?
A National Policy Statement (NPS) for freshwater management is being prepared under the government’s Sustainable Water Programme of Action (SWPoA). Government believes that understanding how our water is being used is essential for the success of the national freshwater policy and sustainable water management. As this standard is a straightforward requirement the decision was made to advance the proposed standard ahead of the National Policy Statement.
Why is the NES coming first and is this a precursor to water charging?
This NES proposal is relatively straightforward and is ready to put forward now. Discussions are still happening on the other policies being developed under the water programme. This standard is not connected to charging for water and the government has stated that water will continue to be managed as a public resource.
2. Unusual water take consents
What if my consent to take water has several outlet points?
The proposal only applies to the point of take (natural or artificial water source) irrespective of how many users you have, as the primary interest is how much water is taken from the waterbody. In the case of irrigation schemes and community water supplies only one measuring device should be needed. Household, domestic and stock water use is not covered by the standard.
What if my consent to take water has several intake points?
In the case of consents with several intake points (for example bore fields and community irrigation schemes) questions were asked about whether the requirement “as close to the intake point as possible” would require a measuring device on every point. The intent of the standard is that the common sense options should be chosen and not impractical solutions with overly onerous costs.
3. Discharges and return flows
Some consents permit the taking of water, as well as the discharge or return of water to streams (especially border dyke systems) – will these discharges have to be measured?
No, the proposal only applies to takes at the point of take and not to discharges.
4. Costs of implementing the National Environmental Standard
Who pays for this standard?
The proposal is silent on who pays for the standard’s implementation and this depends on the various regional government’s funding policies. Many regional councils already require water measuring devices on new water take consents, therefore in most cases it will be existing consent holders without measuring devices who the proposal will affect, not new consent applicants.
How can we get costs down so this standard is not so expensive on the consent holder?
The implementation of the standard and how to reduce the cost of implementation is being considered during the development of the standard. Councils will make decisions on the priority of implementing the standard in their region once the standard is a regulation.
Ideas to reduce the costs of implementation suggested at the meetings included a voluntary uptake period for water users to install meters (rather than going down a formal review process). Meter bulk purchasing and lease arrangements were also suggested. We welcome other implementation suggestions.
5. Capacity of the water meter industry
Will there be enough people to install measuring devices, and will they install and be able to maintain and verify accuracy of the meters to a high standard? The discussion document notes in section 6 that there is a need to encourage an industry accreditation scheme for installation and maintenance (including accuracy verification). Industry representatives attending the public meetings agreed that this needed to occur within the industry. Discussion and development of this capacity has been identified as a priority.
6. Accuracy Requirements
Why is the accuracy requirement for pipes +-5% and should this vary with the size of the take?
The accuracy levels are set to be as consistent as possible with current regional rules for meters and the water meter code of practice. Also this figure is achievable in situ from an engineering perspective and is consistent with Australian rules which New Zealand is obliged to be consistent with as part of fair trade agreements.
Why is the accuracy requirement for channels +-10mm and not a percentage of the flow?
There was a lot of discussion regarding the accuracy requirements in an open channel with many meeting participants agreeing that the currently +-10mm is not an adequate requirement (due to the diversity of channel gauge sizes) and accuracy should be attached to a percentage of the flow. We welcome submissions on the best accuracy requirements for channels.
7. Quality of water meters
Are there standards for data loggers and flow meters? How will the quality of meters be ensured?
There were concerns that sometimes the product and installation was inappropriate and compromised accuracy. Water users need to be confident that their investment will work accurately and effectively. Under the standard it will be the responsibility of the regional council to determine the standard and compliance of specific installations. Installation standards and water measuring device quality standards being developed for water meters in Australia will be considered before implementing this proposal.
How will tamper-proof be defined and how can you ensure that meters will be tamper proof?
We accept that tamper proof is difficult to guarantee as people can tamper with meters if they really want to, despite best efforts to prevent it. However, the intent of the proposal is to make devices as tamper proof as possible (given market availability) to guarantee the validity of the data. The government welcomes suggestions on wording.
8. Daily measuring and Data Loggers
Why do we have to measure our water use daily?
It is not the intent of the standard to make water users manually measure their water use every day. The proposal encourages the installation of meters with electronic data logging capacity which means that as water is used the information is stored automatically. Water users can, in effect, install their meter (with a data logger) and retrieve the data to transfer it to the council only when required. In the proposal this is once a year although councils may require the data transfer more often for water management reasons. If this is the case it will be required as a specific consent condition.
Does data storage capacity mean a data logger?
Under the proposal all measuring devices should have data storage capacity, which will require a data logger to be installed where meters do not have this function built in.
Will telemetry be required?
The proposed standard does not require a particular type of technology, however regional councils may recommend or require this sort of technology when needed to manage the water resource especially in sensitive and at risk catchments. Telemetry is especially useful where water user collectives manage water or in water short times and will be required as a specific consent condition.
9. Information yielded from water measuring devices
What are councils and the government going to do with all this information?
The information is useful to users for the management of inputs to their business, identifying energy savings, identifying leakages in their systems and making water efficiency gains. The information is important to regional councils to help manage the resource more sustainably and assess compliance – this is particularly important in drier regions or in water short times.
The information will show water managers the difference between what is allocated on paper and when and how the resource is actually used. Nationally, this data will be collated for natural resource accounting and international sustainability reporting requirements.
10. Reasonable stock and domestic needs
Can’t you simplify amounts for stock and domestic needs so it is clear what the permitted section of water takes are?
The intent of the proposal is not to apply to domestic or stock drinking needs. Many councils have guidance on this or it is considered to be encompassed in permitted activity takes. An investigation into reasonable use (as noted in Section 6 of the discussion document) will complement the implementation of the standard, provide some national consistency and help gauge the potential of efficiency measures. We are interested in your views on this.
Contact for Enquiries
Water Programme of Action
Ministry for the Environment
PO Box 10-362
Wellington
or
Water Programme of Action
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
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