A Water Conservation Order on our two largest rivers would impact everyone. Say NO to the WCO and Join the Rally, Sept 19th We all want to enhance and improve the Ngaruroro River
Hawke’s Bay Growers, Farmers, Business Owners, Local Authorities, Iwi and Environmental Groups have been working together to protect our rivers. But we believe a Water Conservation Order on our largest river will be detri
mental to Hawke’s Bay’s economy and lead to the loss of jobs. It will also impact hugely on the urban and municipal supplies. Let’s work together and stand strong against the WCO to create a better future for Hawke’s Bay. Fact Sheet:
• 5 Authorities have brought an application for a water conservation order on the Ngarurro and Clive River. Fish and Game NZ is one of the main applicants.
• Tutaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamu catchments project (TANK) which also takes in the Heretaunga Plains aquifer system is working well. It aims to recognise, and account for all the values (environmental, social, cultural, and economic) our communities hold, not just the environmental considerations the applicants have. This Water Consent Application cuts across this process.
• By including the clause “hydraulically connected groundwaters”, in the application, the applicants have effectively linked all consented water use in the Heretaunga Plains, including municipal, industrial, and irrigation (but excluding domestic, stock drinking water, and firefighting). This is not just about growers, it is all urban, and industrial water use as well.
• There is no justification in the application, or in fact, to slash the allocated volumes, from 55,474 l/sec to 1581 l/sec. Clause 9 c iii, “No resource consent may be granted or rule included in a regional plan that….. will authorise the abstraction of water from any part of the Lower Ngaruroro river from Whanawana to the coast, tributaries to the lower Ngaruroro, and hydraulically connected groundwaters to the lower Ngaruroro, in excess of an allocable volume of 1581 litres/sec at flows less than….. 70,986 litres/sec”
• In not allowing “material alteration of the river channel”, this order will effectively halt flood protection work, and will put property and potentially lives at risk. Clause 9 a, “No resource consent may be granted or rule included in a regional plan that will cause the material alteration of the channel cross section, meandering pattern, mobile bed, and braided river characteristics of the Lower Ngaruroro”
Even though the applicants have later stated that this order “does not restrict…. maintenance of any road, ford or bridge….. or operation of the Ngaruroro Flood Protection Drainage Scheme”, they further state that none of the maintenance activities stated above would “compromise the protection of the outstanding characteristics and features identified for the waters specified in the schedules”
• Current consented volumes are roughly 31% municipal, 17% industrial, and 52% irrigation. Of the consented volumes, most of the municipal and industrial are utilised, but only half the irrigation consented volumes are used.
• Increasing the minimum flow at Fernhill for all consent holders from 2400 l/sec to 4200 l/sec will see the number of ban days increase from the current levels of a few days, to almost two thirds of the irrigation season. This loss of security of supply will decimate primary sector investment.
• Imposing bans on water extraction once minimum flows of 2400l/sec are reached have negligible effect. Recent science has modelled that if all abstraction ceased when 2400 l/sec was reached, the river would improve just 19%. If just irrigation ceased, flows would improve only about 4%. (That is all irrigation, including hydraulically connected, not just surface and surface connected as presently)
• The main reason river flows decline is less rainfall in the upper catchments, not abstraction. Imposing bans don’t make any significant difference.
• The Tribunal has notified a pre-hearing meeting set for 15th September to determine procedural matters for the substantive hearing. At this stage they have not set a hearing date
