Greater Wellington is reminding water consent holders to be aware of the conditions of their consents, after an Environment Court Judge fined Masterton District Council and Master Roads & Services for breaching consent conditions associated with the operation of Henley Lake.

Masterton District Council and Master Roads & Services Ltd pleaded guilty to three charges in front of Judge Craig Thompson on 15 December relating to an incident over a weekend in February 2008 which resulted in approximately 40% of the flow in the Ruamahanga River being taken for Henley Lake.

The Judge required MDC and MRS to pay $6200 towards an environmental enhancement project within the catchment and a contribution towards costs incurred investigating the incident.

Greater Wellington Manager Environmental Regulation Al Cross says the judge’s decision is a timely reminder for all water consent holders going into summer.

“Conditions on water consents are put in place to ensure there is enough flow to preserve the water quality for a healthy river system and all the plants and animals within it. The conditions also ensure there is enough flow for other users. They are there to ensure everyone has an opportunity to enjoy their rivers.

“The beginning of summer is a good time for people to check the conditions of their consents to make sure they operate within them during any potential dry periods when river flows drop away.”

MDC holds resource consents relating to the operation of Henley Lake. Conditions on the consents limit the amount of water to be taken from the Ruamahanga River, when river flows are low, to a maximum rate of 150 litres per second. An additional 500 litres per second was taken during the incident, causing a significant drop in the river level.

Mr Cross says the incident occurred during a period of extremely low flow in the Ruamahanga River as Wairarapa was in the middle of a protracted drought, and all other water users with resource consents to take water from the river were under a full ban.

Mr Cross says all parties have since worked together to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“MDC and its contractors have fully cooperated with the investigation and implemented a number of new procedures to ensure that they can fully comply with their consent conditions,” says Mr Cross.

For more information, please contact

Al Cross
Manager Environmental Regulation
Greater Wellington
P 04 802 0309
M 027 201 3571

Jim Flack
Communications Adviser
Greater Wellington
P 06 370 5642
M 027 228 3067

To read the original article online, click here.

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