Report 4 - Executive Summary

Comprehensive Urban Stormwater Management Strategy & Action Plan

This Comprehensive Urban Stormwater Management Strategy and Action Plan (Stormwater Strategy) sets out the Waitakere City Council's approach to managing the City's stormwater over the next twenty years. It is intended mainly for Council and staff, as well as key external stakeholders and members of the community with an interest in sustainable stormwater management.

Stormwater runoff as a major source of pollutants entering waterways, and degrading the quality of water in streams and coastal environments is emphasised, with motor vehicles described as the single largest source of pollution of the City's urban water bodies.

Siltation of streams and coastal waters from erosion and the impact of pollutants on waterways are also described as becoming pressing issues, with a significant level of community concern regarding recreation and food gathering, in certain areas.

The Strategy states that in the past the adverse environmental impacts upon the receiving waters and aquatic ecosystems were often overlooked, with the management of water quality being centred on controlling industrial discharges, without consideration of smaller diffuse sources of pollution from roadways, homes and agriculture, or the importance of good urban design.

Because Waitakere is a rapidly growing city, a major focus of the Stormwater Strategy is on preventing future problems through careful design of new development and its stormwater management systems. An additional challenge within the limited resources available is remedying problems arising from past solutions that have proved inadequate.

The integration of best practice catchment management principles with excellence in rural and urban design in both new and established areas, as well as community and business involvement and education programmes is stressed as important for the successful management of stormwater needs in the long-term.

The need for stormwater systems and management to be consistent with and actively contribute to a range of other environmental and community outcomes is considered vital for improving the City's stormwater systems, ensuring the safety of people and property and improving the quality of the environment.

This Strategy sets out Waitakere City Council's vision for holistic management of stormwater in conjunction with iwi and the community. The Strategy:

• sets out a vision for sustainable stormwater management;
• summarises the issues ;
• identifies key internal and external stakeholders;
• describes the national, regional and local policy and management framework ;
• sets out goals and objectives;
• outlines policies;
• establishes priorities;
• outlines options and implementation methods;
• establishes monitoring measures; and
• assesses costs and benefits.

The Strategy reflects the legislative and strategic context at both national and regional levels, the iwi perspective and the Council's own strategic direction, which all point to the need for a shift to a more holistic focus for managing stormwater, recognising the need for total water cycle management, and for ensuring that any adverse effects on the environment are avoided, remedied or mitigated. The support of iwi groups, key stakeholders and the community are also described as having an essential role in achieving a sustainable future for the City.

One of the main aims of the Strategy is to ensure that the diverse areas of expertise from throughout the whole Council continue their involvement in sustainable stormwater management.

This Stormwater Strategy identifies the issues, values and opportunities associated with stormwater quality and quantity. It sets a direction and priorities for implementation that will enable Council to address these issues over the next twenty years.

The methodology for identifying stormwater management units throughout the City and the generic issues associated with urban stormwater is outlined. This includes the type of issues and community uses present in each stormwater management unit and the classification of the stormwater management units and their coastal receiving environments, according to their sensitivity and ecological values, in order to devise appropriate stormwater management goals.

This information has then been brought together to prioritise the stormwater management units for the purposes of programming comprehensive stormwater catchment management plans and funding allocation for capital works.

The issues identified in this strategy that are posed by stormwater are:

• loss of habitat quality and quantity
• point source contamination of water
• non-point source contamination of water
• flooding
• accelerated erosion and land instability
• land development potential
• altering the natural water balance
• existing stormwater infrastructure
• community use

The report concludes with a detailed summary of objectives, policies, explanations and implementation methods for each of the identified stormwater-related issues, so that these can be applied to the catchments in their order of priority.

Report 4 - Full Version

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Draft Comprehensive Urban Stormwater Strategy and Action Plan Summary Full Report (Size 1.9M)