National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 – Amended January 2024

The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM) sets out the objectives and policies for freshwater management under the Resource Management Act 1991.

The NPS-FM came into effect on 3 September 2020 and replaced the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (amended 2017).

On 13 December 2023, the Court of Appeal in Muaūpoko Tribal Authority Incorporated v Minister for the Environment and Te Rūnanga o Raukawa Incorporated [2023] NZCA 641 quashed Clause 3.33 and Appendix 5 of the NPS-FM (Specified vegetable growing areas). This version of the National Policy Statement incorporates that change.

Read the updated National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPS-FM)