Dec 2017 1 Arrow River Social Values Assessment Prepared for the Otago Regional Council www.greenaway.co.nz Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 2 Arrow River Social Values Assessment December 2017 Prepared for: Otago Regional Council By: Rob Greenaway & Associates www.greenaway.co.nz Version status: 14 December 2017. Final Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 3 Contents 1  Executive summary ................................................................................................................................... 4  2  Setting access and management ............................................................................................................. 6  2.1  Access ............................................................................................................................................... 6  2.2  Department of Conservation ............................................................................................................ 11  2.2.1  Conservation Management Strategy ......................................................................................... 11  2.3  Queenstown Lakes District Council ................................................................................................. 13  2.4  Otago Regional Council ................................................................................................................... 15  3  Recreation significance .......................................................................................................................... 17  3.1  New Zealand Recreational River Use Study: specialisation, motivation and site preference ........................................................................................................................................ 17  3.2  Water Bodies of National Importance .............................................................................................. 17  3.3  New Zealand Recreational River Survey ......................................................................................... 18  3.4  National Inventory of Wild and Scenic Rivers .................................................................................. 18  3.5  A list of rivers and lakes deserving inclusion in a Schedule of Protected Waters ............................ 19  4  Activity data ............................................................................................................................................. 21  4.1  Trout fishing ..................................................................................................................................... 21  4.2  Walking and cycling ......................................................................................................................... 23  4.3  Gold fossicking ................................................................................................................................ 24  4.4  Other activities ................................................................................................................................. 25  5  Flow regime .............................................................................................................................................. 26  6  Consultation summary ............................................................................................................................ 29  7  Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 34  8  References ............................................................................................................................................... 36  Figures Figure 1: Public lands Upper Arrow River. Source – Walking Access Commission ....................................... 7  Figure 2: Public lands Arrow River Macetown to Arrowtown. Source – Walking Access Commission .......... 8  Figure 3: Public lands Arrow River at Arrowtown. Source – Walking Access Commission ............................ 9  Figure 4: Public lands lower Arrow River. Source – Walking Access Commission ...................................... 10  Figure 5: DOC ROS classification CMS Map 8.7 ......................................................................................... 11  Figure 6: Arrow River Bridges Ride ............................................................................................................. 23  Figure 7: Arrow River gold fossicking area .................................................................................................. 24  Figure 8: Community uses of the Arrow River ............................................................................................. 25  Figure 9: Arrow River naturalised and recorded flows 2016, Cornwall St .................................................... 26  Figure 10: Flow duration – Arrow River 2011 – 2017 annual. % of time above the flow shown ................... 27  Figure 11: Arrow River modelled abstractions 2013 – 2017 measured at Cornwall St ................................ 27  Figure 12: Flow duration – Arrow River 2011 – 2017 monthly. % of time above the flow shown ................. 28  Tables Table 1: Concessions issued by DOC for Arrow River Marginal Strip and Macetown Historic Reserve ...... 13  Table 2: Arrowtown Community Visioning 2017 Draft Report: River water findings ..................................... 15  Table 3: Reasons for fishing the Arrow River (Unwin 2013) n=18 ............................................................... 21  Table 4: Reasons for fishing the Arrow River (Unwin 2009) n=10 ............................................................... 21  Table 5: Angling activity by month for three national angler surveys ........................................................... 22  Table 6: Arrow River low flow data (Olsen et al 2017) ................................................................................. 26  Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 4 1 Executive summary Otago Regional Council (ORC) is developing a change to the Regional Plan: Water for Otago (the Water Plan) to set minimum flows and water allocation limits for the Arrow catchment and to manage the amount of water in the Wakatipu Basin aquifers. Section 30 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) requires regional councils to set levels and flows for water bodies, if appropriate. The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (NPSFM) requires every water management unit to have ‘environmental flows and/or levels’ and to phase out over-allocation and ensure efficient water use. ORC began a programme of plan changes in 2004 to set minimum flows and levels for catchments throughout Otago. This report supports the process of setting minimum flows and allocation limits for the Arrow catchment and Wakatipu basin aquifers by describing the social values of the Arrow River (particularly recreation and tourism values), and identifying relevant community preferences for flows. There are a number of historic ‘deemed permits’ in Otago which provide rights to take water which have not yet been required to comply with take restrictions such as minimum flows. On the Arrow River, these permits – if they were taken up – would result in the flow being over- allocated. Under the RMA, the deemed permits expire in 2021. This report supports the process of replacing the permits with resource consents, and will be used in further consultation to identify a preferred flow regime, including limits to water abstraction and/or minimum flows. The preferred option will then be notified as a proposed change to the Water Plan, with opportunities for submissions and input via a public hearing process. This report is based on:  Identifying how the River is accessed, the relevant management objectives of central and local government, and the preferences of the local community as described in local planning publications (Section 2);  A review of literature which describes waterways at the national level, putting the Arrow River’s significance in context (Section 3);  Reviewing available data which might identify and quantify the recreation and tourism uses of the River (Section 4);  Describing the River’s existing flow regime (Section 5);  Summarising consultation outcomes (Section 6);  And concluding with the key findings, and recommendations for setting a future preferred flow regime for social values (Section 7). Key findings are:  The Arrow River has never been identified as significant at the national level and has only local in-river recreation values focused on swimming, paddling (including on boards, tubes and the like), picnicking, angling, walking and cycling, and landscape and scenic values, particularly adjacent to and downstream of Arrowtown; and regional recreation values centred on the River’s use for tourism, including a small amount of angling (with its main fishing value as a hatchery), 4WD excursions, walking and cycling, gold panning, and landscape and scenic values.  The River’s flow has generally been considered to be in a good state for recreation, with a common refrain being that, ‘it ain’t broke and does not need fixing’. Much of the Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 5 discourse over the past decade about the Arrow River has been focused on, for example, riparian values (exotic trees and weeds), the potential for poor water quality from stormwater and irrigation, effects on water quantity from exotic tree growth, and the effects of 4WDs on water quality (via disturbing fine sediment and trout redds).  Flows which sustain the River as a trout hatchery were agreed to be a minimum requirement for fishing. The River was described as always suitable for the activity of angling, with lower flows normally experienced through summer often better suited to the beginner style of fishing carried out at that time and below Arrowtown. More experienced anglers would be most likely to fish at the start of the season up to the weir for a short period in November when flows are normally high and variable (4 to 5 m3/s).  For landscape and scenic values, and local recreation, the current regime was considered quite acceptable (if not normal and taken-for-granted), with low flows in summer suiting kids swimming, and swimming holes having adequate depth – although such settings often come and go with gravel movement.  Since water quantity was considered appropriate now, there was a reluctance to explore the potential for additional abstraction. From the data available, it appears that a flow regime suitable for in-river recreation and scenic and landscape values can be delivered by:  Identifying and maintaining flows which support the River’s trout hatchery values;  Maintaining abstractions at the level currently experienced, and delivering the existing flow regime which is considered appropriate; and  Monitoring and maintaining water quality in the River below Arrowtown. Support for the use of abstracted water in tourism and recreation is evident and are assessed in parallel technical reports for the Plan Change (particularly economics). Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 6 2 Setting access and management This section considers regional recreation planning material in relation to recreation values on the Arrow River, and public access. 2.1 Access Figure 1 to Figure 4 show the public access opportunities to and beside the Arrow River according to the Walking Access Commission’s online mapping system.1 This is rarely accurate – being based on an unverified algorithm query of LINZ data – and does not include easements in favour of the public. The Motatapu Track, for example, is not shown as having public status. Otherwise, the maps appear reasonably comprehensive, showing access to Macetown from Arrowtown via the riverbed and marginal strip (administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC)) and various forms of public land on both sides of the River – administered by DOC and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC)) – from Arrowtown to its confluence with the Kawarau River. Marginal strip extends north from Macetown (north from Figure 1) – although not always on both sides of the River – to the Motatapu Conservation Area (which includes the Treble Cone ski area). The Te Araroa Trail (from Cape Reinga To Bluff) relies on the Motatapu Track from Glendhu Bay to Macetown, and on the Big Hill Track from Macetown to Arrowtown. From Arrowtown it leads southwest to Lake Hayes and does not follow the Arrow River. 1 https://www.wams.org.nz/wams_desktop/index.html Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 7 Figure 1: Public lands Upper Arrow River. Source –Walking Access Commission Key Road (formed and unformed) Conservation land Public reserve land Marginal strip Crown land Hydro area Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 8 Figure 2: Public lands Arrow River Macetown to Arrowtown. Source – Walking Access Commission Key Road (formed and unformed) Conservation land Public reserve land Marginal strip Crown land Hydro area Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 9 Figure 3: Public lands Arrow River at Arrowtown. Source – Walking Access Commission Key Road (formed and unformed) Conservation land Public reserve land Marginal strip Crown land Hydro area Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council 10 Figure 4: Public lands lower Arrow River. Source – Walking Access Commission Key Road (formed and unformed) Conservation land Public reserve land Marginal strip Crown land Hydro area Arrow River Social Values Assessment Rob Greenaway & Associates for the Otago Regional Council