Iwi changes support for protection of springs

An iwi has made a last minute U-turn and decided to support an order to protect the country’s largest cold water springs.

A special tribunal for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) to protect Te Waikoropupu¯ Springs in Golden Bay heard on Thursday that Nga¯ti Ra¯rua has back tracked on its original submission.

Te Ru¯nanga o Nga¯ti Ra¯rua chair Olivia Hall said all three Golden Bay iwi now stood ‘‘united’’ together.

In light of recent knowledge obtained and its discussions with the iwi who applied for the order, it had changed its tribunal recommendation to one of support.

It now sought a recommendation that all three iwi that represent Golden Bay/Mohua – Nga¯ti Tama, Nga¯ti Ra¯rua and Te Atiawa – be given equal acknowledgement of their manawhenua rights and kaitiaki (guardianship) status in the order.

Te Waikoropupu¯ Springs are the largest coldwater springs in the southern hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water in the world.

Iwi Nga¯ti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Andrew Yuill are the co-applicants for the order.

If granted, the order would give the springs, the aquifer that feeds them and their associated water bodies the highest form of national protection.

In its original submission, Nga¯ti Ra¯rua said it did not support the order because it had not been properly consulted by Nga¯ti Tama and preferred that a model like Te Awa Tupuna be given to Te Waikoropupu¯, such as on the Whanganui River.

The Maori-based model gives iwi more rights, while also giving the water body legal rights similar to a person.

However, Hall said that recent knowledge had led the iwi to believe that it was ‘‘possible’’ to create with the other iwi manawhenua a framework such as this, that would sit above Resource Management Act constructs.

Another submitter said that although he supported the Water Conservation Order, he believed it was ‘‘too broad’’.

Gold miner Matthew Crawford, who has applied for a resource consent to set up a small-scale gold mining operation behind the springs, said the order ‘‘sidetracked’’ the actual problems at hand.

‘‘What I would like to see is a Water Conservation Order which allows room for people to prove that their projects will have no effect on the aquifer systems or [the springs].’’

If the order was put in place, he may not be allowed to proceed with his operation. ‘‘Everything that I have worked so hard towards would be at risk from a WCO that has been put in place to protect aquifer systems and rivers that my project will not impact.’’

Crawford said a WCO was ‘‘essential’’ to protect the future, however, if not managed or written correctly it had the potential for major unnecessary effects on the people of Golden Bay.