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Information on Water Allocation in New Zealand

April 2000, Ref. TR96

The purpose of this report was to develop an information base concerning the status of water allocation in each region, and the systems that are being used to allocate water. It was prepared for the Ministry for the Environment by Lincoln Environmental.

Availability:

Contents:

Summary

Acknowledgements

  1. Introduction
    1.1 Project Scope
    1.2 Project Outputs
  2. Methodology
    2.1 Review of Existing Documentation
    2.2 Analysis of Consent Databases
    2.3 Hydrological Analysis of Surface Water Resources
    2.4 Interviews with Council Staff
    2.5 MAF Input
  3. Analysis of Consent Databases
    3.1 Where is the Water Allocated from?
    3.2 What Uses is the Water Allocated to?
    3.3 Measured Water Use
    3.4 Trends in Allocated Volumes
    3.5 Trends in Irrigated Area
    3.6 “At-farm gate” Value of Irrigation Water
  4. Water Resources and Level of Allocation
    4.1 Surface Water
    4.2 Groundwater
  5. Plans
    5.1 Region Wide Plans
    5.2 Resource-Specific Plans
    5.3 Water takes that pre-date the RMA
  6. Environmental Bottom Lines
    6.1 Surface Water
    6.2 Groundwater
    6.3 Restricting Takes in Water-Short Periods
    6.4 Flow Sharing
  7. Allocation Limits
    7.1 Surface Water Allocation Limits
    7.2 Groundwater Allocation Limits
    7.3 Implementation of Allocation Limits
  8. Over and Fully-Allocated Resources
    8.1 Dealing with Over-Allocated Resources
    8.2 New Applications to Take from Fully or Over-Allocated Resources
    8.3 Transferable Water Permits
  9. Setting Aside Water
  10. Measuring Water Use
  11. Guidelines for Reasonable Use
  12. Community Involvement
  13. Other Water Allocation Issues
  14. Miscellaneous
    14.1 Permitted Activities
    14.2 Over-Taking, Unused and Illegal Takes
    14.3 Duration of Consents
    14.4 Funding
    14.5 Enforcement
    14.6 Measuring Success
  15. Resource and Information Needs
    15.1 Obstacles
    15.2 Research Needs
  16. Bibliography

Appendix:

  • Resource Summary and Overview of Water Allocation for each Council
  • Interview Schedule
  • “Value of Irrigation Water” Assumptions of Land-use and Gross Margins

 

 

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