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Proposed National Environmental Standard for Sources of Human Drinking-water

Executive Summary

1 Introduction

2 Statement of the Issue

3 What are the options?

4 Proposed Standard for Sources of Human Drinking-water

5 Efficiency and Effectiveness of the NES

Appendix 1: Compliance with Drinking-water Standards

Appendix 2: Outbreaks of Water-borne Disease in New Zealand

Appendix 3: Estimate of Water-borne Disease Burden in New Zealand

Appendix 4: Original Wording of NES as Notified in Discussion Document

Appendix 5: Drinking-water Supplies, by Population

Appendix 6: Case Study Methodology

Appendix 7: Health Benefit Methods

Appendix 8: Section 43 of the Resource Management Act 1991

References

Appendix 6: Case Study Methodology

Case study catchments were selected to reflect a range of circumstances. Case studies included large communities with very secure supplies, such as Christchurch, and much smaller communities with poor quality supplies, such as Te Karaka (Gisborne District), Lumsden and Winton (Southland District). Sources of supplies included surface water and both deep and shallow groundwater sources. Knowledge of the source catchments varied from extremely well characterised (Christchurch and Hastings groundwater and the Waikato River), to only poorly known (Winton and Lumsden).

Table A4: Case study regions and catchments

The methodologies used to determine the costs to regional councils and drinking-water suppliers are explained in chapter 5. The methodology for determining the costs for consent applicants is set out below.

Consent applicants’ costs

The costs to consent applicants were estimated from the case study catchments using the following steps.

Step 1: Determining numbers and types of consents

Data on catchments was collected from regional council visits. Other stakeholders were contacted for personal or telephone interviews. Data was collected on the number and type of consents in each of the drinking-water catchments, and this data was extrapolated into the future using a variety of trend information on past development in the catchment to estimate the number of consents likely to occur in the catchments over the next 20 years.

Step 2: Application and mitigation costs

Consent application and mitigation costs imposed as a direct requirement of the NES were estimated for each of these catchments. Costs relate to the potential for additional consent requirements or additional refusals likely to result from the NES.

Application and mitigation costs for consent applicants were estimated by an environmental consulting firm. Two categories of costs were estimated:

1. increased costs associated with considering effects on drinking-water sources for different consent application types
2. the cost of upgrading discharge controls (ie, avoidance, remedying or mitigation) in the key categories identified by the consultants as likely to require changes to consent conditions to comply with the NES.

Step 3: Extrapolation to national level

The national costs for resource consent applicants were calculated by extrapolating costs estimated in the case study catchments to a national level. The case study cost estimates were multiplied by the number of catchments in New Zealand with drinking-water sources supplying communities of over 500 people.