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Our Long-Term Plan 2024–2034 describes our vision for Otago as:

Our environment and communities are healthy and connected ki uta ki tai (from the mountains to the sea)

Our ambition is to make significant progress towards realising our vision over the next ten years by aligning our work programmes across several focus areas.

We have identified outcomes for each focus area and indicators to measure progress.

Focus area Outcome Indicators Result as of June 2026
Partnership Otago Regional Council has effective and meaningful partnerships with mana whenua, creating better outcomes for our region. P1 In June 2024, the maturity of the partnership was improving, with progress made in some important areas, but there is more work to do.
Communities Otago has cohesive and engaged communities that are connected to the environment and each other. C1 – C3 Overall, progress toward cohesive and engaged communities in Otago is positive but uneven.
Environment Otago has a healthy environment ki uta ki tai (from the mountains to the sea), including thriving ecosystems and communities, as well as flourishing biodiversity. E1 – E11 Progress is being made, but environmental decline is outpacing improvement in many areas.
Resilience and climate Otago builds resilience in a way that contributes to community and environmental wellbeing through planned and well-managed responses to shocks and stresses, including natural hazards. Otago is a climate-resilient region that plans for and invests in initiatives that reduce emissions and help us adapt to our changing climate. R1 – R5 Otago is making steady progress toward becoming a more resilient and climate-ready region. While these trends are encouraging, continued effort is needed to translate preparedness and system improvements into consistently resilient communities across the region.
Transport Otago has an integrated transport system that contributes to the accessibility and connectivity of our community, reduces congestion and supports community wellbeing aspirations. T1 – T4 Progress toward an integrated, accessible, and wellbeing-focused transport system in Otago is strong.

The indicators show how things are currently trending across Otago.

Legend:  Improving trend    Inconclusive   Declining trend Baseline only/in development

To explore the data behind each indicator, click on ‘read more’.

Outcome indicators

P1: Maturity of the Partnership with Mana Whenua

In June 2024, the relationship between the Council and mana whenua was found to be robust and constructive. A review would need to be undertaken to understand if this has changed since then.

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C1: Trust and Satisfaction

Community trust in ORC is rising, with strong satisfaction in our work.

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C2: Participation and Diversity of Engagement

Public participation in Otago is mixed, with significant opportunities to broaden involvement and reach more diverse people.

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C3: Regional Economic Prosperity

Economically, Otago has been showing positive signs in recent years but there is growing inequality.

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E1: Freshwater Quality

While water quality is still good in Otago’s headwaters and natural catchments, in many parts of the region it is degrading.

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E2: Freshwater Quantity

For most of Otago, there is plenty of water for ecosystems and people. In some areas management still allows ecological impacts and risks water availability.

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E3: Groundwater Quality

In most places in Otago, groundwater quality generally meets Drinking Water Standards, except in some parts of North Otago, Taieri, and Ettrick.

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A3: Percentage of monitored river and stream sites graded fair or better for aquatic ecosystem health is increasing

E4: Groundwater Quantity

Groundwater quantity is generally good across Otago, but some areas are vulnerable during seasonal dry periods and dry years.

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E5: Lake Water Quality

Our shallow lowland lakes tend to have poor and declining water quality. Otago’s high-country deep lakes currently have very good water quality, but there are early signs of reduced resilience.

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E6: Wetland Extent and Condition

Despite historic loss and ongoing pressure, Otago still has more than 10,000 hectares of mapped wetlands.

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E7: Indigenous Biodiversity

Otago’s indigenous species and ecosystems are declining.

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E8: Air Quality

While several towns still regularly exceed national standards in winter, air quality in 6 out of 7 monitored towns is improving very slowly. Alexandra is not improving.

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E9: Estuary Health

Otago’s estuaries have historically lost a large proportion of saltmarsh, many currently have muddiness levels that reduce ecosystem function, and a number of intermittently closed estuaries are at higher risk of eutrophication.

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E10: Marine Health

In some parts of Otago, coastal water quality is declining, affecting the resilience of key marine ecosystems, such as kelp forests, in the face of rising ocean temperatures and acidification.

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E11: Soil Health

Soil health in Otago is generally good across the majority of monitored sites, but in some land uses soil compaction, nutrient depletion, and oversupply are an issue.

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R1: Risk Awareness and Readiness

Awareness of natural hazard risks is increasing, and more people are taking steps to prepare. However, further progress is needed to ensure truly resilient communities.

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R2: Exposure

Exposure to natural hazards is assessed by ORC at a regional level, and work programmes and priority areas are identified and developed considering the level of exposure.

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R3: Infrastructure Management

ORC’s maturity in the management of its flood and drainage infrastructure is improving.

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R4: Regional Collaboration

ORC is collaborating more and more with other councils and agencies on resilience-related projects and work programmes.

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R5: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

ORC’s organisational greenhouse gas emissions per employee is decreasing, as are overall regional greenhouse gas emissions.

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T1: Usage of buses and ferry

The usage of public transport in Otago is increasing.

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T2: Affordability for Public Transport Users

Prior to 2023/24, bus fares in Otago appeared to be less affordable than the New Zealand average. Over the past two years affordability in Otago has been more comparable with the rest of the country.

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A3: Percentage of monitored river and stream sites graded fair or better for aquatic ecosystem health is increasing

T3: Accessibility and Inclusion (Total Mobility)

The number of registered card holders has almost doubled over the last four years and coverage has increased, indicating that the service is supporting a greater number of users.

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A3: Percentage of monitored river and stream sites graded fair or better for aquatic ecosystem health is increasing

T4: Public Transport Fleet Emissions

CO2 and NO2 emissions from the public transport fleet are decreasing.

Read more

Impact matrix

The impact of our various work programmes is shown in the Impact Matrix.

Legend:
  High impact
  Medium impact
  Low impact
  Negligible impact
Work programmes P1: Maturity of the Partnership with mana whenua C1: Trust & Satisfaction C2: Participation and diversity of engagement C3: Regional Economy E1: Freshwater Quality E2: Freshwater Quantity E3: Groundwater Quality E4: Groundwater Quantity E5: Lake Water Quality E6: Wetland Extent and Condition E7: Indigenous Biodiversity E8: Air Quality E9: Estuary health E10: Marine health E11: Soil Health R1: Risk Awareness & Readiness R2: Exposure R3: Infrastructure Management R4: Regional Collaboration R5: Greenhouse Gas Emissions T1: Usage of Busses & Ferry T2: Affordability T3: Accessibility & Inclusion T4: Fleet Emissions
Council meetings, governance functions and support H H H                         L                
Regional strategy development and implementation H M M H H H H H H H H H H H H M H   H H H H H  
Iwi partnership practice and relationship management H M H M H H H H H H H   H H   M M   H          
Strategic stakeholder engagement H H H M H H H H H H H H H H H M M   H L H   H  
Organisational planning, reporting, improvement and assurance   H M L                                        
Customer Service L H     M M M M M M M M M M M           H   H  
Communications, media, campaigns, digital channels and publications H H H   M M M M M M M M M M M H     M L H   H  
Regional Policy Statement and regional plan leadership H M M H H H H H H H H H H H H L H   H H        
District plan support L M   L           M H L     M M H   H L        
Central government policy input M M   L H H H H H H H H H H H M H   H M H H H H
Collaboration with central government and local councils M M   L H H H H H H H H H H H H H   H M H H H H
Resource consent processing H H   M H H H H H H H H H H H                  
Consent condition monitoring H H   L H H H H H H H H H H H                  
Education and enforcement for consent breaches H H   L H H H H H H H H H H H                  
Pollution incident response H H   L H   H   H H H H H H H                  
Harbourmaster services M H   H                 H H                    
State of the Environment monitoring (land, water, air, coast) H M   L H H H H H H H H H H H H                
Environmental data analysis and reporting H M   L H H H H H H H H H H H H                
Science advice supporting policy, strategy, and operations H M   L H H H H H H H H H H H                  
Catchment advisory services L H H M H H H H H H H   H H H L       L        
Integrated Catchment Action Planning H H H M H H H H H H H   H H H         M        
Environmental project delivery H H H L M M M M M M M M M M           M        
Environmental funding provision, including ECO Fund and other funds M H M L M M M M M M M   M M           M        
Regional Pest Management Plan maintenance H M M H           H H   M H                    
Pest surveillance and compliance M H   L           H H     H                    
Pest programmes M H   L           H H     H                    
Pest information and guidance M H   L           H H     H                    
Site-specific natural hazard resilience programmes H H M M                       H H H H          
Natural hazard mapping, risk assessment, investigation and mitigation M M   M           L     L L   H H H H          
Flood warning services L H   H                       H                
Flood protection and drainage scheme maintenance L H   H M           H   H M   L H H            
Flood scheme community liaison L H M L                       H L H M          
River management H H   M H       H H H   H H   L H H            
Emergency Coordination Centre operations H H   H                       H L   H          
Emergency management workforce training L M   L                       L L   M          
Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Plan delivery H M   M                       H L   H          
Civil Defence advisory services L H M L                       H M   H          
Provide public transport and total mobility services M H   H                               H H H H H
Regional Land Transport Planning   M M H                               H H H H H
Fleet, offices and depot management       L                               H        

24/7 Pollution Hotline

0800 800 033

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0800 474 082

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