The Otago Regional Council has put forward a policy it claims will clean up and preserve Otago's waterways.
A draft of the council's long-awaited proposed plan change 6A (water quality) was presented to the council's policy and submissions committee this week, setting limits on contaminants such as nitrogen, E. coli, and phosphorous being discharged from land to water.
It will go out for consultation with statutory agencies and stakeholders in about a week's time before being publicly notified in March.
While the council had widely informally consulted on the concepts behind the change, Cr Michael Deaker said it was exciting to see the draft plan change "leave the building" after so long.
Cr Gretchen Robertson said the policy had "robust scientific backing" as well as community support and input through the consultation, so it would be a success.
"Healthy waterways are achievable. We know what has to be done and what farmers can do now to reach those targets."
The council wanted people to continue to use the land productively, and that was possible to do as well as have clean water, she said.
The region had a problem with nitrogen infiltration into groundwater and it would mean farming could not go on as usual in some sensitive areas, so it was important people had the targets suggested in the draft to reach, she said.
Cr Gerry Eckhoff said he supported the draft policy but was concerned the policies around nitrogen losses would cause "some anxieties into the future", especially with dairy farming.
Farmers did not have control over rainfall and much of the nitrogen came from clovers.
"If there is a wet season it's very difficult for the farming industry to manage this appropriately."
Chairman Stephen Woodhead said the council had been looking at the issue since 2005 and a lot of science, time and money had been spent getting to this point.
"We've held our line we're going down rather than the proscriptive land-use approach."
However, there were still prohibited activities, such as the discharge of animal waste on to saturated land or where it resulted in ponding, or any discharge into a water body which developed an odour.
The "innovative" approach, which many failed to understand, would require strong work with communities in the next "five, eight, 10 years to achieve results".
"This is the easy part."
Cr David Shepherd said the informal consultation process had been "very stimulating and gratifying" and it was "great we're prepared to stand out on our own and fight the battle on the basis of principle".
The draft policy also contains changes around alteration of regionally significant wetland or beds of rivers or lakes, and discharges of sewage and waste.
The committee agreed the plan would be released for consultation once completed in the coming week, with the aim of submissions closing on May 2, hearings being held in July and August, and a decision being made in September.
