Appeals over springs order
Ten parties have lodged appeals with the Environment Court over a report recommending the protection of Te Waikoropupu Springs in Golden Bay.
They are NZ King Salmon, Trustpower, Save our Springs, Robert and Cherrie Chubb, A P Reilly, Upper Takaka Irrigators, David Scotland and Sally-Anne Neal, Federated Farmers, applicants Nga¯ti Tama Ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Andrew Yuill, and the Tasman District Council.
The Environment Court must now hold an inquiry based on the submissions. The springs are the largest freshwater springs in the Southern Hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water ever measured.
The proposed Water Conservation Order (WCO) seeks the highest form of national protection for the springs, the Arthur Marble Aquifer, and associated water bodies.
After a hearing in 2018, the special tribunal released its report in March recommending the order be granted over both the confined and unconfined Arthur Marble Aquifer, Te Waikoropupu¯ Springs, the main spring, Dancing Sands Spring and Fish Creek Springs.
It also recommended protection of the Takaka River headwaters and to its surface water tributaries and the Waingaro River, and provided controls on water takes and discharges to protect aquifer pressure and water quality.
All of the appeal submissions, which were due on May 1 following an extension because of the Covid-19 lockdown, wrote that overall, they supported an order to protect the springs.
However, the Upper Takaka Irrigators group submitted concerns over how the WCO would impact the continued use and reconsenting of the farmers’ existing consents.
Dairy farmers Robert and Cherrie Chubb wrote they opposed the WCO because ‘‘no indepth economic data’’ had been gathered around how the order could impact primary and secondary industries.
They wrote there was ‘‘uncertainty’’ over the amount and water quality data from Friends of Golden Bay, which lacked ‘‘independence and scrutiny of analysis’’.
In his submission, Save Our Springs co-ordinator Kevin Moran asked that there be ‘‘no provision’’ within the WCO for a potential increase in water abstraction, which had the potential to damage the aquifer.
He asked for improvements to farm management instead, in order to sustain pasture growth.
NZ King Salmon submitted that the report did not allow renewal of resource consents to use, divert or dam water, or discharge to water or discharge to land which may result in contaminating water.
Federated Farmers submitted on water quality limits, and wrote that the protections in the draft order around the springs’ outstanding characteristics were ‘‘inappropriate’’.
The Tasman District Council submitted on the prohibition of resource consents restrictions, alternations of aquifer depth or form, aquifer pressure, existing lawful uses and activities, and water quality protection.
Applicants Nga¯ti Tama and Andrew Yuill sought that ‘‘no further abstraction’’ be allocated from the aquifer and the springs, given the springs’ outstanding qualities.
An Environment inquiry will be scheduled.
Court