Te Waikoropupū Springs gets highest legal protection

Thursday, 21 September 2023

Te Waikoropupū Springs in Golden Bay contain the second clearest waters in the country after the Blue Lake in the Nelson Lakes National Park.

Te Waikoropupū Springs in Golden Bay has received the highest level of legal protection from human-induced pollution.

Environment Minister David Parker announced on Thursday that Te Waikoropupū, the country’s largest freshwater springs with the second clearest water after the Blue Lake in the Nelson Lakes National Park, would be protected with a water conservation order (WCO).

The order, that was gazetted on Thursday, will put restrictions on activities that contribute to pollution of the springs and its surrounding waters, including conditions on nitrate levels.

West Coast Tasman MP Damien O'Connor went to Te Waikoropupū Springs on Thursday to mark the Government's decision to proceed with a water conservation order for the nationally significant springs.

It ends a 10-year battle for the order, first lodged by local iwi Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust and long-time Tākaka Valley resident Andrew Yuill in 2013.

Yuill, a digital electronics engineer, said on Thursday the order had been a long time coming, but it was “enormously good” it had been done before the election to prevent further delays.

“I think it will do what’s necessary to protect the springs,” he said.

Yuill paid tribute to the Ngāti Tama iwi members, the expert witnesses involved in their case and the local community, including the Friends of Golden Bay group. As a member of the group he and former industrial chemist Greg Anderson had been monitoring nitrate levels in the springs at least fortnightly since 2016, with donations paying for the work that showed nitrate levels had been rising.

Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Tākaka in Golden Bay, has some of the clearest water ever measured.

“There has been a huge groundswell of support for this conservation order,” Yuill said.

Parker said the water conservation order recognised the springs’ environmental and recreational values, and their significance for iwi/Māori. “Those values will be protected and sustained,” the minister said.

In 2020, a conservation order was recommended by a special tribunal after a hearing in 2018 when it considered evidence about rising nitrate levels threatening the springs exceptional water quality.

The tribunal decision was appealed to the Environment Court which heard the case last year.

In its decision recommending the order the court found the outstanding tikanga Māori, spiritual, ecological and biodiversity values of the springs were at significant risk from human-induced pollution, particularly increasing nitrate levels.

Parker said the order set restrictions on permitting activities or granting consents that would adversely impact water quality or flow rates.

“It aims to manage pollution from catchment land use, especially nitrate concentrations, so that the springs’ water quality is maintained or improved,” he said.

The Tasman District Council will now make changes in its regional plan as required by the WCO, while also updating its plan in line with the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020.

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O’Connor travelled to the Springs on his motorbike yesterday to mark the Government decision.

“It should come as no surprise that our largest freshwater springs, which also have international significance as well, will now have the protection they deserve.

“This order will allow Tasman District Council to work in with local land owners to come up with the solutions that will eventually be put in place. This order is a significant start to that process; thanks to everyone that has worked towards this. It's a great outcome.”