Te Waikoropupū Springs Water Conservation order begins in Takaka

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

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 Waikoropupū Springs in Golden Bay started on Tuesday.

Iwi Ngāti 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 remained unprotected legally.

Yuill said there was 'nothing on earth that produces such stunningly clear water' and in such large quantities.

READ MORE:

​* [Te Waikoropupū Springs clarity improves over past 25 years

*](https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/103105775/te-waikoropup-springs-clarity-improves-over-past-25-years) Protecting Te Waikoropupū Springs' purity holds deep spiritual significance to iwi

* [Te Waikoropupu Springs campaigners fear council will grant consents

* Te Waikoropupū Springs flow highly modified, says TDC in Water Conservation Order application submission](https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/102485785/te-waikoropup-springs-flow-highly-modified-says-tdc-in-water-conservation-order-application-submission)

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 Waikoropupū 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.'

Ngāti Tama trustee Leanne Manson spoke of the deep spiritual and cultural significance of Te Waikoropupū to iwi, who had taken its role as kaitiaki (guardian) over the springs very seriously for decades. 

She paused, overwhelmed with emotion, as she recalled her own mother's battle to save the springs. Other Ngāti Tama trustees were seen wiping tears from their eyes.

The iwi had undertaken many years of 'proactive involvement' in resource management processes, she said.

They included High Court battles with significant time, money and resources spent to preserve the springs' health from over-allocation of water.

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.

The majority of submitters over the upcoming days will present evidence in support of granting the Water Conservation Order, while some are asking for it to be granted with changes.

A small number of submitters do not support the order. They include one of the three Golden Bay/Mohua iwi, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua.

The hearing is scheduled to run until mid-May. The tribunal will then prepare a report that either includes a draft order or a recommendation that the application be declined.

The special tribunal considering the application has gathered for the Environmental Protection Authority hearing at the recreation centre, in Takaka.