Wairau/ Awatere Resource Management Plan 29 July 2014 Self Regulation Recognise, support and promote initiatives such as self regulation by resource users themselves, where those users have a track record of compliance with performance standards in the Plan. Investigate self regulation through approved environmental management systems, which may benefit resource users and the Council through reduced consent administration, within one year of this Plan becoming operative. Guidelines Provide information on appropriate land use practices and encourage use of voluntary guidelines and best practices. Education Assist resource users to understand and implement the results of research into the effects of land use patterns and land management practices. Rural Awards The Council will recognise environmentally sound farming Programme practice by supporting the Marlborough Rural Environment Awards. Riparian The Council will prepare, in consultation with relevant parties, Management a riparian management strategy to provide further guidance on Strategy the appropriate management of riparian margins so that their habitat, water quality, amenity and public access benefits are recognised and enhanced. Management Water Quality Management Plans will be required as a means of Plans demonstrating on an ongoing basis that any adverse effects on water quality resulting from dairy farming will be avoided, remedied, or sufficiently mitigated. They provide the ability to consider all farm management practices that have the potential to adversely affect surface water and groundwater and manage these risks in an integrated way. This also enables the dairy farmer to progressively plan farm upgrades based on priority or, in the case of new farms, at the time of establishment. Water Quality Management Plans can be used to support applications for land use consent to convert the use of land to dairying. Nutrient Management Plans will be required as a means to demonstrate how nutrient inputs associated with dairy farming are to be managed to ensure any adverse effects on water quality will be avoided, remedied, or mitigated. Nutrient Management Plans should be written documents, incorporating a nutrient budget, developed by an accredited nutrient adviser using OVERSEER® or similar, that describes how the major plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and potassium, and any other of importance to specialist crops) will be managed, including all sources of nutrient, for example discharges from farm dairy effluent systems, animal discharges, atmospheric nitrogen fixation. 12 - 10