Chapter 6 - Fresh Water • Protect cultural values; • Maintain amenity values; and • Provide for aquifer recharge. Policy 1.6 To set aside a proportion of the abstraction flow, where appropriate, as additional flow for instream values, over and above the SFR. Policy 1.7 To set the SFR for fresh groundwater resources to: • Prevent damage to the physical structure of the aquifer such as compaction, in particular those areas such as the Southern Valleys Management Zone; • Prevent reductions in the quantity of spring flows, eg. Spring Creek from the Wairau Aquifer; • Prevent a landward shift of the seawater/ freshwater interface; • Protect the instream ecology; and • Provide for maintenance or enhancement of water quality. Policy 1.8 The conditions on all consents to abstract water which were issued prior to this Plan becoming operative may be reviewed under Section 128 (1)(b) of the Act and may be amended to bring the consents into line relative to the SFR’s set out in Volume Two. Policy 1.9 To protect the important values of specified surface water bodies by classifying the damming of these water bodies as a Non-Complying or Prohibited Activity. The setting of an SFR for the reach of a river is a complex task. The suitability of an environmental habitat is affected by the amount of flow, but is also affected by biological suitability, suspended sediment, water temperature, river bed material and riparian vegetation. SFR’s have been set for only those rivers of significant potential abstraction. Even for these rivers further study of all factors is required and programmed to be undertaken in the future. Depending on the results, the SFR’s may be amended as a Plan change. It is not possible to continually monitor flows along the entire length of a surface water body. For this reason, trigger levels are applied where recorder sites have been established, usually in the upper catchment of the surface water body. The intent of the trigger levels is to achieve the SFR and a corresponding flow relative to the SFR for the remainder of the surface water body. Some water bodies have special values that could be significantly adversely affected by the damming of the water bodies. For this reason, more onerous rules apply. 6 - 3