Minutes of Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee

1. Welcome/Karakia /Apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone and Councillor Martin Williams led the group in a karakia to open the meeting.

Apologies for lateness were extended by Councillor Jerf van Beek. Katarina Kawana was noted as absent.

2. Conflict of interest declarations

There were no conflicts of interest declared.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee meeting held on 12 June 2024

Resolution

Minutes of the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee held on Wednesday, 12 June 2024, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record.

Siers/Harding

CARRIED

The Chief Executive advised that the Wairoa Flood reviews will be released at 10am today and will update the committee later in the day.

4.	Public Forum
	There were no speakers for the public forum.

Biosecurity Annual Report 2023-2024 and Operational Plan 2024-2025

Iain Maxwell introduced the item and Matt Short, Catchment Management Lead - Biosecurity and Mark Mitchell, Principal Advisor Biosecurity Biodiversity who delivered a presentation. Discussions covered:

· 2023-2024 achievements include 293,056 ha of monitoring as part of PCA, 151 (active) rook nests treated, completed aerial operation to control Alligator Weed at Lake Whatumā, over 2,000 pest plant visits, 16,791 ha surveyed and controlled for wilding conifers.

Michelle McIlroy joined the meeting online at 9.18am

· The Senegal Tea infestation control needs to be delivered at peak seeding/flowering time.-2

· Properties that failed possum monitoring are for the most part addressed through education to bring them on board. Possum control at a catchment scale has been very successful up in Ruakituri area. PCA possum control doesn’t use 1080.

· Feral cats are well established in HB and are managed at sites of high biodiversity value but not subject to large scale control by HBRC.

· To implement a new (pest) control programme, a review of the Regional Pest Management Plan is necessary so that the right controls, supported by adequate funding and resources, are put in place and monitored for results.

· CNG may have been spread by Cyclone Gabrielle via the Tukituki however the true impacts are still being investigated.

· Golden Clam in currently subject to MPI national response and control and e-DNA monitoring results in HB have all been clear to date.

· MoU between Biosecurity NZ, DoC, and regional councils sets out how we will work together to manage long term problem pests that arrive in the country.

· While new pests aren’t in the operational plan they are very much kept in sight through the biosecurity sector group.

· HBRC actively works with kaimahi.

EICC138/24

Resolutions

1. That Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and considers the Biosecurity Annual Report 2023-2024 and Operational Plan 2024-2025 staff report.

2. The Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee recommends that Hawke’s Bay Regional Council:

2.1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, and that Council can exercise its discretion and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community or persons likely to have an interest in the decision.

2.2. Adopts the Biosecurity Operational Plan for 2024-2025.

Siers/Roadley

CARRIED

Coastal and River Bird Survey findings

Iain Maxwell introduced Dr Hayley Ataera, the new Science Manager who started with Council on Monday. Becky Shanahan, Senior Scientist Marine & Coasts, Annabel Beattie, Senior Scientist - Terrestrial Ecology and Nikki McArthur, Independent Contractor, introduced the item and delivered a presentation that shared key findings of the survey carried out, as reported in the agenda.

Councillor Hinewai Ormsby left the meeting at 9.57am

Discussions covered:

· 292 km of rivers and 321km of HB coastline were surveyed in November 2023 and January 2024.

· Most notably, serious local declines in Pohowera (banded dotterel) were found at the Wairoa River mouth and along the Napier to Haumoana coastline.

Councillor Jerf van Beek arrived at 10.08am

· Conclusions include that extreme weather events can lead to serious declines in bird populations at catchment and regional scales.

· Several river and coastal bird species have a high degree of vulnerability to extreme weather events and climate change while many other species appear to have been unaffected by Cyclone Gabrielle, possibly due to ‘lucky’ timing, e.g. at the very end of the breeding season.

· It is uncertain whether declines are due to mortality or changing habitat use, therefore speed and likelihood of population recovery is not known. Most likely that mortality following the cyclone was due to disturbance and destruction of habitat and loss of food sources.

· Best chance to mitigate against loss of bird populations is landscape scale mammalian predator control on river corridors and the coast. Careful management of coastal defences and retreat to create room for landward migration of coastal ecosystems is another useful mitigation.

· Next steps will be to repeat these surveys in 3-5 years to measure population recoveries.

EICC139/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Coastal and River Bird Survey findings staff report.

Harding/Kirton

CARRIED

The meeting adjourned at 10.50am and reconvened at 11.05am

Our Landscapes – LiDAR partnership project with Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research

Iain Maxwell introduced Dr Ashton Eaves, Senior Scientist – Land and Dr Kathleen Kozyniak, Team Leader Marine, Air & Land Science, who introduced the item. Presentations and discussions covered:

· The four tools developed are for: erosion mapping– to identify land vulnerable to erosion; improved land characterisation; vegetation mapping and ecosystem services mapping.

· A dedicated web page has been developed, where the public can go and see the associated LiDAR reports, webinars and GIS maps.

· Hugh Smith, Manaaki Whenua, spoke about the erosion mapping project which enables modelling erosion at a more detailed channel level for better identifying landslide susceptibility so that planting can be targeted to areas most at risk.

· Nathan Odgers, Manaaki Whenua, spoke about the land characterisation (shape) project which measured the slope, exposure, hydrological parameters, landforms, etc to enable classification of land for use capability, e.g. sustainable production, winter grazing rule maximum slope.

· Dr Jan Schindler, senior researcher Remote Sensing & Data scientist at Manaaki Whenua, spoke to the project deriving regional-scale vegetation layers including short (>3m) vegetation, tree canopy, forests, pine forests and shelter belts.

· This science will be applied by HBRC catchment advisors to use with landowners for very targeted on-farm planning in relation to erosion control, riparian planting, etc.

· Dan Richards, Manaaki Whenua Senior Researcher, spoke to the ecosystem services project which looked at nutrient retention, air pollution removal, carbon stock, runoff retention, shade, ultraviolet protection and landscape with the objectives of developing a framework to fuse LiDAR with other available data for ecosystem service models and to write up a set of software functions to make ecosystem service analysis easier, repeatable, and comparable for ecologists.

· Sam Carrick provided an overview of the LiDAR partnership projects, noting gains from pre-existing relationships and projects built over years, clear benefits of coordinated partnerships with Government, Council and Manaaki Whenua, and inter-staff collaboration for useful research that really benefits from being grounded in the application context.

Councillor Neil Kirton left the meeting at 11:50am

EICC140/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Our Landscapes – LiDAR partnership project with Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research staff report.

van Beek/Harding

CARRIED

Councillor Hinewai Ormsby re-joined the meeting at 12.05pm

3D Aquifer Mapping project closure – What did we find and how will this information be used?

Iain Maxwell introduced Simon Harper, Team Leader Hydrology & Groundwater Science, who introduced the item and provided an overview of the project and its purpose.

· 3D Aquifer mapping project jointly funded by HBRC, GNS Science and Kanoa, uses skyTEM technology to collect geophysical information to enable mapping of the aquifers to provide more accurate information to assist with policy development, e.g. TANK plan change.

· Aimed to map groundwater systems in the Heretaunga, Ruataniwha & Poukawa/ Ōtāne Basins.

Councillor Neil Kirton re-joined the meeting at 12.12pm

· Zara Rawlinson, GNS Science Senior Geophysicist, presented information on how the data was collected and translated, using electrical resistivity, to maps.

· This data has also been used for small surveys related to landslides and off-shore volcanic mapping.

Councillor Hinewai Ormsby left the meeting at 12.20pm

· Products developed by the project include maps of the extent and thickness of the Heretaunga Plains aquitard and numerical groundwater models including transmissivity, which are important for informing groundwater allocations and limits in the Regional Plan.

· Outcomes include a significantly better understanding of the aquifer system, publicly available 3D hydrogeological models for Heretaunga Plains, Ruataniwha Plains and Poukawa and Ōtāne models (assist with drilling and internal-HBRC water resource management).

· This technology can be used to determine contamination source points.

· Dedicated web pages and an interactive StoryMap are accessible online for the public to use to understand the project and how the modelling works.

· Focused on optimal ways of using the data with a numerical ground water model. In terms of deep groundwater system we don’t have drill holes, so only have geophysical data to 300 to 350 meters and would need to drill deeper bores to provide the data to the deep aquifer, which will be expensive.

· HBRC now has one of the best numerical models in the country.

Roll-on benefits include interest from the CRIs, GNS and Te Whakaheke o Te Wai programme to work with us, which is free extra work.

EICC141/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the 3D Aquifer Mapping project closure – What did we find and how will this information be used? staff report.

Harding/van Beek

CARRIED

The meeting adjourned at 12.52pm and reconvened at 1.21pm

Air Quality Monitoring update

Iain Maxwell introduced Dr Kathleen Kozyniak, Team Leader Marine, Air & Land Science, who introduced the item, Jeremy Kidd, Scientist Air Quality and Belinda Harper, Senior Planner, who delivered the update with a presentation. Discussions covered:

· HBRC PM10 monitoring began in 2005 as the result of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality coming into effect (in 2004) and intended to address the detrimental health effects of air pollution.

· Results of the project showed the BAM (pre 2021) was reading PM10 30% less accurate, so switched to better quality optical sensor (using this data from March 2022) for monitoring which revealed more exceedances than previously thought.

· Next steps are to make the public aware of the state of the air sheds’ air quality due to the public health implications.

EICC142/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Air Quality Monitoring update staff report.

van Beek/Harding

CARRIED

10.

Public Waterways and Ecosystem Restoration Fund Project Report

Iain Maxwell introduced the item and Warwick Hesketh, Principal Advisor Catchment Management, delivered a presentation about the Hāpara Takatū project. The presentation and discussions covered:

· ‘Shovel-ready projects’ were required to meet certain criteria: add value in terms of environmental outcomes, provide employment opportunities, and to start straight away.

· Actual total of 840ha protected or retired

· Contractors took on additional staff, trained them and retained them for longer.

· Dove-tailed into other HBRC programmes of work, e.g. Maraetotara Stream Trust.

Shows the value of having some well-planned projects on a wish list that can be undertaken when the opportunity arises.

EICC143/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Public Waterways & Ecosystem Restoration Fund Project Report.

Roadley/van Beek

CARRIED

11.

Update on the IRG flood control and drainage programme

Chris Dolley introduced Jon Kingsford, Manager Regional Projects, and Jess Bennett, Programme Finance & Controls Manager, who provided the update which noted:

· Contracts have recently been awarded for tranche 4 of Upper Tukituki gravel extraction targeting the extraction of 59,500 m3 from reaches either side of the State Highway bridge in Waipawa and Makaretu rivers.

· Engagement with mana whenua is under way on cultural values and cultural impact assessments, with the ongoing support of the Māori Partnerships team.

· Clive River (immediately adjacent to Farndon Road) erosion protection work, where the road and 3^rd party infrastructure are threatened, has commenced and expected to be completed by the end of this year.

· Recommissioning / revitalisation of the Maraenui stop bank, which will be a secondary protection, which has been vegetated for a long time, is part of the work programme and the team will be working closely with the golf course.

EICC144/24

Resolution

That the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Update on the IRG flood control and drainage programme staff report.

Harding/Siers

CARRIED

12.

Update on the North Island Weather Events resilience programme

Chris Dolley introduced the item, advising the Infrastructure Programme Management Office (IPMO) is up and running, before Jon Kingsford and Jess Bennett highlighted:

· Adapted HBRC policies and processes, e.g. procurement, where possible rather than starting from scratch.

· Agreed with Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) that a Programme Steering Committee will replace the Programme Assurance Committee, with Terms of Reference to be finalised. This includes the CIP and HBRC Chief Executives and the Chief executives of TLAs are invited to the meetings relevant to them.

· Comms and engagement for Wairoa has been taken out of IPMO and will now be led by Lawrence Yule.

· Projects are running in parallel, as opposed to sequential. There are some challenges for this approach, e.g. working through preliminary design, then having to re-work which can impact on schedules.

· Two preferred suppliers; one for tier 1 projects, and another for tier 2 have been determined through the RFP process.

· Key challenges across all of the projects relate to land access, e.g. time taken to develop, engage and secure agreements with access.

Councillor Hinewai Ormsby re-joined the meeting at 2.30pm

· Wairoa stakeholder group and Tātau Tātau o te Wairoa are pushing for other options to protect Māori land in Wairoa, which haven’t been put to the Tripartite meetings for consideration.

· Councillors have expressed the desire to assign a councillor lead for each of the NIWE projects, to then be linked into the comms and engagement plan.

· Factoring in climate change is reflected in the increased base flows used for flood modelling.

Councillor Thompson Hokianga left the meeting at 2.42pm

· The partly developed draft comms and engagement plan for Wairoa has been turned over to Lawrence Yule, who will finalise it to reflect more recent learnings from flood events before taking it to the Tripartite (WDC, HBRC & TTotW) for agreement. An application has been submitted for funding for an independent comms advisor for the project.

· The precise reason the dedicated delivery team was set up was to successfully deliver the scale of work required.

· With climate change factors included, the Whirinaki stopbank will now have to be higher and wider than previously designed and subsequently substantially higher costs.

EICC145/24

Resolution

That the Environmental and Integrated Catchments Committee receives and notes the Update on the North Island Weather Events resilience programme staff report.

Kirton/Ormsby

CARRIED

The Chair noted action points:

· Share Winter grazing rules with EICC members

· How the LiDAR info will be integrated into HBRC work programmes and shared with the public

· Share the HBRC statutory functions in coastal area relating to Regional Policy Statement and pest control with EICC members

· Request for a 3D aquifer mapping workshop for councillors

· Councillor NIWE project councillor leads to be discussed with ELT

· Investigate reviving Environmental Awards

The group offered a karakia to close the meeting.

Closure:

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 3.02pm on Wednesday 11 September 2024.

Signed as a true and correct record.

Date: by EICC resolution 4 December 2024 Chair: Sophie Siers