Clearest springs in world need protection
A fragile aquifer that feeds some of the clearest water measured anywhere in the world is legally unprotected and must be saved before it’s too late, a special tribunal has heard.
The first day of the Water Conservation Order hearing for Te Waikoropupu¯ Springs in Golden Bay started on Tuesday.
Iwi Nga¯ti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Andrew Yuill are the co-applicants for the order.
Yuill said while the springs were of international importance, it was the arthur marble aquifer that was ‘‘at the heart’’ of the application.
The ‘‘remarkable system’’ which sustained the springs was ‘‘virtually unknown’’ to most people, but still remained unprotected legally.
Yuill said there was ‘‘nothing on earth that produces such stunningly clear water’’ and in such large quantities.
The springs are the largest coldwater springs in the Southern Hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water in the world.
If granted, the order would give the springs, the arthur marble aquifer, and associated water bodies the equivalent to National Park status.
Te Waikoropupu¯ was a ‘‘unique’’ and ‘‘priceless treasure’’ and its aquifer gave us a window into the vast system that moves and lives underneath us, Yuill said.
The clarity of the water rising from the aquifer depended on the absence of two things: fine sediment, and coloured dissolved organic matter.
Regular nutrient monitoring in the springs revealed an increase in nitrogen levels. It took 10 years for water from the aquifer to reach the surface of the springs.
‘‘Almost all of the irrigation the Takaka Valley has been installed in the last 10 years … we have not yet seen the effect of that water that went down [to the aquifer].’’
Because the aquifer is still largely unknown to scientists, Yuill explained that a precautionary approach was important before the clarity of the springs was lost forever.
‘‘The fragile aquifer ecology must not be poisoned,’’ he said.
Chairwoman Camilla Owen congratulated the applicants.
Although the springs themselves were already registered as Wahi Tapu, sacred, and have been listed since 2009 as waters of national importance, the aquifer that feeds them is not.
It was the country’s first order to protect an underground water system.
‘‘You are making legal history,’’ Owen said. ‘‘That has a downside as well, because the path is not necessarily straight, and it’s a harder endeavour to forge a path.’’
Nga¯ti Tama trustee Leanne Manson spoke of the deep spiritual and cultural significance of Te Waikoropupu¯ to iwi, who had taken its role as kaitiaki (guardian) over the springs seriously for decades.
She paused, overwhelmed with emotion, as she recalled her own mother’s battle to save the springs. Other Nga¯ ti Tama trustees were seen wiping tears from their eyes.
The iwi had undertaken many years of ‘‘proactive involvement’’ in resource management processes, she said.
The iwi had fought to prevent the Tasman District Council from granting water consents to a commercial bottling operation near the springs, and another company from excessive water takes from the Waingaro River.
Maree Baker Galloway, lawyer for the applicants, said in her statement that the order was being sought to place a ‘‘set of restrictions’’ on local authorities around issuing consents and permitting activities in its regional plan. very