Generally considered to have three concepts:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Accounting | An inventory of the locations of water takes and discharges and quantum of allocation to each user or discharge source. |
| Allocation | A process whereby a total amount of water that may be extracted, or an amount of contaminants that may be discharged, is divided and distributed to individuals, or groups of individuals for their use. The individual amounts of a resource so allocated are often referred to as allocations, and the total can be said to be the total allocation. |
| Attribute | An aspect of a water body that needs to be managed to provide for a given value. |
| Catchment | The total area of land draining into a river, reservoir, or other body of water. |
| Contaminant | Biological (eg, bacterial and viral pathogens) or chemical (eg, toxicants) introductions capable of producing an adverse effect in a water body. |
| Diffuse discharge | Pollutants sourced from widespread or dispersed sources (eg, from pasture runoff of animal wastes, fertiliser and sediments, as well as runoff of pollutants from paved surfaces in urban areas). Also called non-point source discharges. |
| Discharge | The release of contaminants into the environment either directly into water, or onto (or into) land. |
| Efficient use of water |
|
| Equitable management | Management regimes that are fair to all resource users. |
| Fresh water | Naturally occurring water on the Earth’s surface in bogs, wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers. |
| Freshwater body | Means fresh water in a river, lake, stream, pond, wetland, or aquifer, or any part thereof, that is not located within the coastal marine area. |
| Freshwater objectives | Describes the intended environmental outcomes(s) (definition from National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management). Freshwater objectives are set in regional planning documents and describe the desired state of the water body, having taken into account all desired values. |
| Good management practice (GMP) | GMP refers to the evolving suite of tools or practical measures that could be put in place at a land user, sector and industry level to help achieve community-agreed outcomes (in this case for water quality). |
| Governance | The institutional arrangements for resource management decision-making. |
| Groundwater | Water located underground in rock crevices and in the pores of geologic material. It supplies springs and wells. |
| Iwi Chairs Forum | The Iwi Chairs Forum was convened at Takahanga Marae in Kaikōura in 2005. The Forum meets four times a year to discuss and enable Māori aspirations in the spheres of cultural, social, economic, environmental and political development. All iwi chairpersons have an open invitation to participate in, and contribute to, the Forum. Crown representatives, Members of Parliament and stakeholder and community groups are regularly invited to present at hui on projects and issues that concern iwi. More information about the Iwi Chairs Forum can be found at http://www.iwichairs.maori.nz/. |
| Iwi Leaders Group | The Fresh Water Iwi Leaders Groups (ILG) was established in 2007 by the Iwi Chairs Forum to advance the interests of all iwi in relation to fresh water through direct engagement with the Crown. The group also participated in the Land and Water Forum. The group comprises the leaders of Ngāi Tahu, Whanganui, Waikato-Tainui, Te Arawa and Tūwharetoa. As with other Iwi Leaders Groups, the Fresh Water ILG reports to the Iwi Chairs Forum at their quarterly hui. Their publications can be found on the Iwi Chairs website at: http://www.iwichairs.maori.nz/Kaupapa/Fresh-Water/. |
| Land and Water Forum | The Land and Water Forum brings together industry groups, environmental and recreational NGOs, iwi, scientists, and other organisations with a stake in freshwater and land management. The Forum’s objective is to develop a shared vision and a common way forward among all those with an interest in water, through a stakeholder-led collaborative process. The first phase of the Forum’s work lasted from August 2009 to August 2010 and resulted in the report A Fresh Start for Freshwater. On 18 May 2012, the Forum released the Second Report of the Land and Water Forum. And on 15 November 2012, the Forum released the Third Report of the Land and Water Forum on managing within limits. Further information and the Forum’s three reports can be found at www.landandwater.org.nz. |
| Limit | The maximum amount of resource use available, which allows a freshwater objective to be met (definition from National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management). |
| National bottom line | A value which all water bodies must provide for with associated minimum states. |
| National Objectives Framework | A national framework which guides and directs regional decision-making in the setting of freshwater objectives (and subsequent limits). |
| Outstanding freshwater body | A water body with outstanding values, including ecological, landscape, recreational and spiritual values (definition from the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management). |
| Over allocation | The situation where the resource:
This applies to both water quantity and quality (definition from National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management). |
| Permits | In the context of this paper, resource consents issued under section 14 and section 15 of the RMA to take, divert or dam water, or to discharge contaminants. |
| Point source discharge | Discharge of contaminants into a water body from a single fixed point, such as a pipe or drain (eg, from the likes of sewerage, factory and dairy shed outfalls). (See Diffuse discharge). |
| Quantity | The amount of water (eg, flow) in a water body. In the context of limits it refers to the amount of water that can be removed from a water body. |
| Quality | Refers to the quality of a water body and in the context of limits refers to the total amount of discharge in a catchment. |
| Resource users | Those that use land and water (by taking, diverting or damming water, or by discharging contaminants to water or to land). |
| Scarcity | The state of being scarce or in short supply; shortage. |
| Stewardship | The act of taking care of or managing something, for example, property, an organisation, money or valuable objects. |
| Transfer | The reassignment of an allocation from one person to another. Usually used in the context of the transfer of a resource consent (or part thereof) from one person to another. |
| Values | Values include both uses of fresh water and intrinsic values. National values are listed in the preamble of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. |
| Water take(s) | The removal of water from a water body for use (eg, for irrigation). |
Glossary
March 2013
© Ministry for the Environment