A shortage of iwi environmental managers has created headaches for councils trying to obtain greater Māori input.
At a Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit (NRSBU) meeting last month, general manager of regional sewerage and landfill Nathan Clarke said the unit hadn’t liaised with iwi as well as it would like, and there were “unfinished conversations.”.
At a strategic level, there hadn’t been issues, he said, but at a tactical level, there was “definitely a problem”.
In the Nelson City Council’s jurisdiction, a cultural health index was included in resource consents for four overflow discharges. The index allows iwi to assess the cultural and biological health of a stream or catchment.
Clarke said the unit waited four years for the index, but it was never done, so that responsibility was removed from the consents because they “couldn’t get anybody to do it”.
A NRSBU report noted that the disposal of human waste to waterways was “unacceptable to iwi and undesirable to the community.”.
The NRSBU was “cognisant” of iwi concerns about discharge of treated wastewater effluent to water and was planning on increasing the amount it discharges to land or supplies for industrial reuse, the report said.
Iwi priorities in the activity management plan 2024–2034 were listed as protection and restoration of the mauri of wai (water), no discharge of wastewater to wai or to areas of wāhi tapu (sacred sites) and mahinga kai (food and resource gathering) and no infrastructure on or near these areas, or in areas prone to flooding.
Currently, around 10% of dry weather-treated wastewater discharge is applied to land, although this represents less than 1% of the total annual discharge.
Māori ward councillor Kahu Pakipaki said from discussions with iwi representatives, he had heard that they weren’t resourced well enough to be able to respond to the council’s demands.
Pakipaki believed there were three FTE environment managers across eight iwi, and the rest were in part-time roles.
As a result, consultation tended to be “really only with whoever is in a position to respond,” he said.
Pakipaki told Stuff that aggressive recruiting by central government was one factor in the shortage.
“You can’t fault whānau for taking an extra $30,000, especially at a time like this.”
Clarke also told the Stuff that many of the people who had been doing cultural assessments were now working remotely for central Government, and being paid more than they were earning in Nelson.
Paki Paki said he raised the issue to see what councils may be able to do to help iwi have the capacity to respond.
The Together Te Tauihu partnership agreement between the top of south councils and iwi signed last month would allow for a “more concise and streamlined ability” for iwi to be able to respond, but it also “consolidated and focused the needs of council.”.
“For regulatory authorities to be able to engage with Māori in terms of their statutory requirements, that’s always been a bit of a problem,” Paki Paki said.