Decision
The Decision of the Hearings Commissioner on the review of Groundwater consents in the Rakaia Selwyn Groundwater Allocation Zone is issued.
Read the Decision.

A series of dry winters has reduced the flows in lowland streams fed from groundwater. In addition, extensive abstraction of groundwater in 'red zones', like the Rakaia-Selwyn groundwater allocation zone, has lowered the levels even further.

Environment Canterbury is reviewing over 600 consents in the Rakaia-Selwyn groundwater zone to reduce the effects of abstraction on the area’s lowland streams. Although this means that the conditions applied to permits to take water may be more restrictive, it will also mean long-term security of supply for existing consent holders.

Background

Rakaia-Selwyn consent holders have been kept informed of developments in this programme through letters and had number of opportunities to attend public meetings.

The programme aims to propose a consistent set of conditions for all water resource consents so that all consents have:

• clear annual limits on the amount of water each water consent holder can abstract;
• flowmeters and data loggers to record the amount of water being abstracted - water takes over 350,000 cubic metres/year to communicate that information to Environment Canterbury via telemetry;
• restrictions on abstractions from shallow wells that have a direct effect on streamflows to minimise the effects on the streams.

Longer term, Environment Canterbury will be working with the community in developing a mechanism for varying the amount of water that can be abstracted, according to how much water is in the groundwater system (referred to by some as “adaptive management”).

An advisory group was appointed in August 2006, made up of 12 people with varying interests in the water resource. The purpose of the group is to provide input on the implementation of the programme and to assist in communicating with stakeholder groups and the wider community effectively.

The advisory group includes representatives from Ngai Tahu, Federated Farmers, Irrigation New Zealand, Fish and Game, Selwyn District Council, the Water Rights Trust, the Waihora Ellesmere Trust, the Dunsandel water-users group and Horticulture NZ.

January 2008 update

Since June 2007, we have been sending out review notices, according to the dates specified on individual consents.

A consents review team of 3 staff with technical support from an external contractor has been set up and has been working on developing water metering conditions, annual allocation limits and where appropriate, minimum flow conditions.

Notices of review have so far been issued for approximately 435 resource consents and we estimate that another 200 will be considered for review between now and May 2008. 74 consents to date have been identified as needing a new or modified stream-depletion condition.

Environment Canterbury sent out the first set of proposed conditions to 34 consent holders in the Irwell area during November 2007. In the letter, we presented a number of options, including:

• accepting the proposed consent conditions without change by completing and returning the acceptance form enclosed with them
• taking advantage of a one-to-one discussion with an Environment Canterbury representative before deciding whether to accept the proposed conditions or proposing alternative conditions - the first half hour of the first one-to-one session will be free
• proposing alternative conditions within 40 working days of receiving the proposed conditions.

Similar options will be available to all consent-holders as they receive their own proposed conditions.

After the review letter has been sent out, the review process is similar to a resource consent application. Environment Canterbury officers will make a recommendation to independent commissioners for each set of proposed conditions. It is anticipated that all consent reviews will be decided on a non-notified basis, but there will be an opportunity for consent holders to present evidence to the commissioners if they wish.

Where consent conditions can be readily agreed, we estimate that the charge will be $800.00 (excluding GST). If the cost is less, we will charge the actual amount.

Environment Canterbury’s “user-pays” charging policy means that all time spent on consent reviews beyond the technical briefings and the first half hour of any one-to-one session will be charged to the consent holder. Consent-holders should ask for an estimate of the likely charge that would apply if, for example, they are considering presenting a case to the commissioners.

Find out more

Rakaia-Selwyn water resource consent reviews

Annual Allocation Factsheet (pdf 62 kB)
Flowmeter Factsheet (pdf 35 kB)
Calculating Annual Allocation Volume Using Schedule WQN9 of proposed NRRP (pdf 2.22 MB)

Restorative Programme for Lowland Streams

Advisory Group: Terms of Reference (pdf 147 kB)
Irwell Technical Meeting Questions and Answerss December 2007 (pdf 37 kB)
Summary of Community Input - Public Meeting Notes - November 2006 (pdf 46 kB)
Questions Arising from Public Meeting - November 2006 (pdf 47 kB)
Questions Arising from 1st Group Meeting - September 5 2006 (pdf 1.38 MB)