Te Waikoropupū Springs campaigners concerned at water report delay
Friday, 28 February 2020
Campaigners for Golden Bay's Te Waikoropupū Springs are frustrated that a water conservation report has still not been released.
Save Our Springs coordinator Kevin Moran said it had been nearly twenty months since the Water Conservation Order (WCO) hearing closed.
It was 'frustrating and concerning' they were still awaiting the Special Tribunal to release its draft recommendations to the Minister for Environment David Parker.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) website says it expects the tribunal to release its findings by February.
Campaigners say the delay is disturbing as nitrate levels measured by Friends of Golden Bay in the springs had risen by 30 per cent over four years, from 0.4 mg/L to 0.52mg/L. The environmental group has sent over 600 weekly samples to date for laboratory testing. However, Tasman District Council staff have disputed the nitrate trend.
**READ MORE:
* Te Waikoropupū Springs report delay surprises Environment Minister
* 'Ongoing silence' over Te Waikoropupū Springs conservation bid alarms
* Fears for Te Waikoropupū Springs but council disputes nitrate trend**
High nitrate levels are thought to damage the delicate stygofauna in the aquifer, the organisms responsible for the spring's clarity.
Moran said he remembered being with former Environment Minister Nick Smith at the springs when he was giving a speech in winter 2017. The MP believed the water conservation decision was was going to be about a year from when the hearing closed.
'This clock is ticking.'
EPA spokesperson Erina Marwick said it had not been given a specific date by the tribunal for the report's release.
The WCO application, made by Ngāti Tama Ki Te Waipounamu Trust and Golden Bay resident Andrew Yuill, seeks to protect the springs, the Arthur Marble Aquifer and associated water bodies.
Te Waikoropupū are the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand and contain some of the clearest water ever measured. To local iwi, they are sacred.
Moran said he was also concerned further water allocation rights might be 'snuck through' before the order to protect the springs and aquifer was made law.
A meeting had allegedly taken place this week behind closed doors between the Tasman District Council (TDC) staff and dairy farmers on a wait-list for increased water allocation in the recharge area.
He was concerned the council might appeal the WCO once the report is released, and then use the opportunity to allocate 'as much water as they can push through'.
He sought a council guarantee that the unofficial moratorium on granting water rights would stay in force until the WCO became law.
However, council spokesperson Chris Choat said Moran's allegations were unfounded.
The meeting was one of many taking place in Takaka regarding the upcoming freshwater policy changes.
'We have met with local landowners to understand the economic consequences of the changes proposed by the FLAG [freshwater land advisory group], including economic impacts from the proposed cease takes to protect water flows,' he said.
'This is a legal requirement to assist the council in meeting its obligations under section 32 of the Resource Management Act. The council must consider the economic, social, cultural and environmental consequences of the range of policy choices.'
Choat said the council 'couldn't even contemplate appealing' the WCO until they actually saw the tribunal's recommendations.
'There's nothing being snuck through, we are adhering to the agreements. We are waiting for that WCO outcome as eagerly as Save Our Springs.'
In an email to Moran, council Chief Executive Janine Dowding and his insinuations about staff were 'without any credible foundation'.
'In fact your suggestion about extra allocation of water overlooks the fact that the 'unofficial moratorium' is because landowners have refrained from putting in applications for further water abstraction.'