Resource Management Act

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Resource Management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Regulations 2010

The Resource Management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Regulations 2010 were made by Order in Council on 23 August 2010, and notified in the New Zealand Gazette on 26 August. The regulations came into effect on 10 November 2010.

To view the regulations, please see:

Resource Management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Regulations 2010

Overview of the regulations

This webpage provides an initial overview of the regulations. It includes information on the following topics:

• Why these regulations have been made
• Who the regulations apply to
• When the regulations take effect *
• How the regulations will work in practice
• Determining your rate of take
• Minimum requirements to measure and report water use
• Local flexibility

* Deadlines for compliance for ‘renewed’ consents granted after 10 November 2010 have changed by notice in the New Zealand Gazette. Guidance on this webpage now reflects this change. For more information, please see ‘Changed compliance deadlines for renewed consents’.

Why these regulations have been made

Accurate, complete and current water information is a critical building block in establishing a water management system in which water is effectively allocated and efficiently used. Essentially, we cannot manage what we don’t measure.

Currently, most water abstractions in New Zealand are not being measured. 2006 estimates suggest only a third of the total volume of water allocated by resource consent is subject to active measurement. The Resource Management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Regulations 2010 will increase this figure to 92% by 10 November 2012, and 98% by 10 November 2016.

In addition to ensuring consistent measuring and reporting of actual water taken at national, regional and catchment levels, the regulations will also:

• enable water users and regulators to easily determine compliance with water take consents
• provide accurate information about actual (consented) water taken in any catchment (including the catchments of groundwater resources)
• improve allocative efficiency through accurate measurement of water abstracted for consumptive uses
• ensure the comprehensive uptake of water measuring in a cost effective and timely way.

Who the regulations apply to

The regulations apply to holders of water permits (resource consents) which allow fresh water to be taken at a rate of 5 litres/second or more (see Regulation 4). This means that the regulations do not apply to:

• people who do not require a resource consent for their water take (permitted takes), including:
  • individual households or businesses that take water from a reticulated supply
  • takes that are specifically permitted in section 14 of the RMA including takes for an individual’s domestic purposes, for animals’ drinking water, or for fire-fighting
  • any takes which are permitted by a rule in a regional plan
• holders of permits for water takes that only allow water to be taken at a rate of less than 5 litres/second.

The regulations also do not apply to:

• holders of permits for non-consumptive takes (irrespective of the rate of that take), which are described in the regulations as takes where the same amount of water is returned to the same water body at or near the location from which it was taken; and there is no significant delay between the taking and returning of the water
• holders of permits for takes of coastal or geothermal water.

When the regulations take effect

While the regulations take effect on 10 November 2010, transitional provisions provide a lead-in time for:

• holders of resource consents granted before 10 November 2010 (see Regulation 13)
• holders of renewed resource consents granted after 10 November 2010 but before the relevant transitional deadline see (Resource Management (Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes) Notice 2011).

Date that the resource consent was granted	Date that regulations must be complied with
Any consents granted before 10 November 2010	Depends on the allowable rate of take specified in the permit: 20 litres/second or more: from 10 November 2012 10 litres/second or more, but less than 20 litres/second: from 10 November 2014 5 litres/second or more, but less than 10 litres/second: from 10 November 2016.
Renewed consents granted after 10 November 2010, but before the relevant transitional deadline	As above, or from the first day that water is taken, whichever is the later date.
New consents granted after 10 November 2010	From the day that water is first taken under the resource consent.

How the regulations will work in practice

The regulations will be monitored and enforced by regional councils.

Three key points about how the regulations will work in practice include:

• Regulations apply without needing to change or impose consent conditions
• Relationship to less or more stringent requirements
• Relationship between Regulation 8 and any existing reporting requirement

Regulations apply without needing to change or impose consent conditions

The regulations have been made under section 360(1)(d) of the Resource Management Act (RMA). An important feature of regulations made under this part of the RMA is that they apply directly to holders of qualifying water permits (see ‘Who the regulations apply to’). This is different to regulations made under section 43 of the RMA (national environmental standards), where minimum requirements need to be reflected in consent conditions.

This means that the regulations do not require regional councils to:

• review the conditions of consents granted before 10 November 2010
• impose conditions on new or replacement consents granted on or after 10 November 2010.

However, conditions must be imposed to give effect to more stringent requirements, or to impose any requirements on water takes not covered by these regulations (see ‘Relationship to less or more stringent requirements’).

Relationship to less or more stringent requirements

Regulation 12 sets out the relationship between the regulation, and other requirements outside of the regulations (eg, a requirement to measure water taken that is already on a consent by way of an existing condition). This relationship is that:

• the minimum requirements in the regulations do override less stringent consent conditions on water permits covered by the regulations (note: this override occurs from the date that the regulations first apply to a permit. Because the override occurs automatically from that date, the regulations do not require regional councils to review consents to remove less stringent conditions)
• the minimum requirements do not override more stringent requirements.

The one exception is the relationship between Regulation 8 and other reporting requirements.

For the avoidance of doubt, the regulations also do not prevent regional councils from:

• imposing more stringent measurement and/or reporting requirements on future permits covered by these regulations
• imposing any measuring or reporting requirements, including more or less stringent requirements than those in these regulations, on water takes not covered by the regulations (eg, non-consumptive takes, takes of geothermal or coastal water, or takes of fresh water of less than 5 litres/second).

Relationship between Regulation 8 and other reporting requirements

Regulation 8 requires consent holders to provide records to the regional council by 31 July, covering the period 1 July – 30 June (or part thereof), (see ‘Reporting’). These requirements are additional to any other reporting requirements imposed as a condition of consent by a regional council. For example:

Jan Smith holds a water permit that was granted on 20 June 2009, for a period of 10 years. Jan’s permit allows the taking of up to 9 litres/second from a groundwater aquifer for irrigation purposes.

Jan’s permit includes a condition requiring the annual reporting of water use to the regional council. The condition states that records of water use shall be provided by the end of 31 January each year, and those records cover all water taken over the previous calendar year.

The regulations take effect on Jan’s permit on 10 November 2016 (see ‘When the regulations take effect’). Jan’s water use reporting requirements until the permit expires are as follows:

Calendar year	What Jan needs to keep doing to comply with her consent conditions*	Additional reporting that Jan needs to do to comply with these regulations
2017	Report by 31 January 2017 covering water taken during previous calendar year	Report by 31 July 2017 covering water taken between 10 November 2016 and 30 June 2017
2018	Report by 31 January 2018 covering water taken during previous calendar year	Report by 31 July 2018 covering water taken between 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2018
2019	Report by 31 January 2019 covering water taken during previous calendar year	Report by 31 July 2019 covering water taken between 1 July 2018 – 20 June 2019**

Determining your rate of take

For the purposes of the regulations, all water take permit holders need to understand their rate of take in litres per second (litres/second). Knowing this rate is important for two reasons:

1. The regulations only apply to water take consents that enable the taking of 5 litres/second or more (see ‘Who the regulations apply to’)
2. The transition period that applies for certain permit holders is dependent on the maximum rate of take, in litres/second, allowed by a condition of that consent (see ‘When the regulations take effect’).

Regulation 5 provides direction for permit holders on how to determine this rate for the purposes of the regulations. Because there is considerable variation in how consent conditions setting maximum rates of take are worded, this direction covers a range of potential scenarios including:

• Where a consent specifies a rate in litres/second
• Where a consent does not specify a rate in litres/second

Where a consent specifies a rate in litres/second

Many water take consents specify a maximum allowable rate of take in litres/second. For example:

The rate at which water is taken from Acme Creek, shall not exceed 23 litres per second.

Sometimes consents may have additional rates too. For example:

The rate at which water is taken from Acme Creek, shall not exceed 23 litres per second, with a volume not exceeding 1,987 cubic metres per day.

In either case, the rate for the purposes of the regulations is simply the rate stated in litres/second – other rates (such as the daily rate in the second example) should be ignored for the purpose of the regulations. So for both of these examples, the rate for the purpose of the regulations is 23 litres/second, which means that:

• the regulations do apply (see Regulation 4(1))
• if either consent was granted on or after 10 November 2010, then the regulations apply to that consent from the day water is first taken. Otherwise the consent holder has until 10 November 2012 to comply (see Regulation 13).

Some consents include more than one rate in litres/second – for example, a rate in summer and a different rate in winter. In these cases, the greatest of these rates applies for the purpose of these regulations.

Where a consent does not specify any rate in litres/second

Some consents (usually consents for groundwater takes) do not include a maximum rate of take in litres/second, but rather they specify a maximum volume that may be taken over a longer period, such as a daily, weekly or even annual rate. Many of these consents have two or more such ‘alternative’ rates.

For these consents, each of the alternative rates needs to be converted into a litre/second rate – if there is more than one alternative rate, then after conversion, the greatest of those rates applies for the purposes of the regulations. The standard conversion formula for converting alternative rates into a litre/second rate is shown below:

Alternative rate	Divide alternative rate by this figure to determine rate in litre/second	Conversion formula
Hourly (cubic metres per hour)	3.6	Litres/second rate = m3/hour / 3.6
Daily (cubic metres per day)	86.4	Litres/second rate = m3/day / 86.4
Weekly (cubic metres per week)	604.8	Litres/second rate = m3/week / 604.8
Annual (cubic metres per year)	31536	Litres/second rate = m3/year/ 31536

Remember, if the consent includes an ‘alternative rate’ and also a rate in litres/second, no conversion is necessary – the stated litres/second rate always applies for the purposes of the regulations.

Other possible scenarios include permits:

• that do not specify any rate at all (unlimited takes): these permits are to be treated as if they specify a rate of 20 litres/second (for the purposes of the regulations)
• that specify only a rate that is not a fixed number (for example, a consent to take river water up to a specified percentage of total river flow): these permits are also to be treated as if they specify a rate of 20 litres/second (for the purposes of the regulations)
• to take a certain number of 'head' or 'sluice-head' (generally these are old mining privileges): the regulations direct that a "head" or "sluice-head" means 28.3 litres/second (eg, a mining privilege allowing 2 head of water to be taken means it allows 56.6 litres/second to be taken, for the purpose of the regulations).

Minimum requirements to measure and report water use

The minimum requirements cover:

• How records are kept
• Specific water measuring device/system requirements
• Verification
• Reporting requirements

How records are kept

These requirements are set out in Regulation 6(1) – 6(5). They state how measurements shall be collated into ‘records’, and how those records shall be kept.

It is important to understand the difference between ‘measurements’ and ‘records’, for the purposes of the regulations:

‘Measurements’:

Are the individual data outputs from water measuring devices or systems. These data outputs usually occur at regular intervals (eg, every 15 minutes). Each data output reflects the volume of water taken during that specific interval.

The regulations require that measurements of water taken are ‘continuous’, but they do not prescribe a minimum time period (interval) between individual measurements.

‘Records’:

Are the aggregate total of all measurements over a particular period of time.

In the regulations, the period over which records must be kept is daily, though the regulations provide regional councils with the unlimited discretion to approve the keeping of weekly, rather than daily records (see ‘Local flexibility’).

For water measuring devices or systems fitted with an automated device to keep records (such as a datalogger or telemetry unit), this requirement is met by configuring that device to record daily (or weekly) volumes taken. In the absence of such an automated device, permit holders will need to manually read their water meters every day (or every week, if approved).

Daily records (or weekly records, if approved) must then be combined to produce an annual record of water taken. The resulting ‘annual record’ is not a single annual volume – it is a record showing actual water taken on each day of the year (or each week, if approved).

On days (or weeks, if approved) where no water is taken, the records must specify the volume of water taken as zero cubic metres. This ensures that records are continuous, and by eliminating gaps in the annual record, it also avoids any perception that incomplete records have been provided. The requirement to specify zero during periods when no water is taken is another factor to consider when configuring automated means of keeping records.

Records must also be kept in a format that is auditable, in the opinion of the regional council. In general terms, this means that permit holders will need to keep archives of original records in case of loss, damage or errors found during later auditing that may need original data to be checked. Regional councils may offer more specific direction on how to keep records in a manner that satisfies this requirement.

General guidance is now available to help water users manage their data (see ‘Water Measurement and Reporting Quality Assurance Program’).

Specific water measuring device/system requirements

These requirements are set out in Regulation 6(6). They relate to the actual water measuring device or system that is used to create ‘the records’.

The water measuring device or system must:

Requirement	Explanation
Accurately measure water taken	The maximum allowable error range depends on how water is taken. For water taken by a full pipe, the device or system must measure water taken to within +/- 5% of the actual volume taken (note: a full pipe is defined in Regulation 3 as a closed pipe or conduit that is full of water when it is conveying water). For water taken by any other method (for example, by an open channel or a partially full pipe), measurements must be within +/- 10% of the actual volume taken
Be able to provide data in a form suitable for electronic storage	This is not a requirement to fit a an electronic storage device (ie, datalogger or telemetry unit). The requirement is that the water measuring device or system is compatible with such devices.
Be suited to the qualities of water it is measuring	Environmental conditions (such as the temperature, algae content, and sediment content of the water being taken) can affect the accuracy of water use records. Non-statutory guidance is now available to help consent holders and service providers decide which devices and systems are the best for their particular conditions (see 'Water Measurement and Reporting Quality Assurance Program').
Is sealed and is as tamper-proof as practicable	It is important that all practicable steps are taken to protect the integrity of water use records collected by a water measuring device or system (including any electronic devices used to keep and/or store records).
Is installed at the location from which water is taken	Many consents detail the precise location from which water can be taken from a river, stream or groundwater aquifer. Locating the device or system at this point means all water taken under that consent is subject to measurement – removing the risk that some water is lost (eg, through leakage) between the point of take and where the device or system is taking measurements. There are circumstances where it is not practicable to locate the device exactly at the point of take (eg, where the point of take is located in the bed of a constantly shifting braided river, locating the device or system at that point would mean it was regularly destroyed by floods). The regulations provide regional councils with unlimited discretion to approve an alternative location that is as near as practicable to the point of take (see ‘Local flexibility’).
Has been verified as accurate	See ‘Verification’.

Verification

In the context of these regulations, verification means the checking of a water measuring device or system to make sure it is accurately measuring water taken (for information on accuracy requirements see ‘Specific water measuring device/system requirements’).

The verification requirements are set out in Regulation 7. These requirements cover who can carry out a verification, and how often verifications must be carried out.

Who can carry out a verification: Verification must be also carried out by someone who, in the opinion of the regional council that granted the permit, is a suitably qualified person.

Note: to provide an optional resource for regional councils to decide who is ‘suitably qualified’, and to encourage national consistency, nation-wide certification and accreditation programs have been developed for verification providers (see 'Water Measurement and Reporting Quality Assurance Program').

How often verification is required: an initial verification must be conducted, followed by subsequent verifications at least every five years. 

The initial verification must be conducted before the end of the permit’s first water year. Note that Regulation 3 defines a ‘water year’ as a period during the term of the permit—

1. starting on 1 July or, for the permit’s first water year, starting on the first day on which these regulations apply to the permit; and
2. ending on the next 30 June or, for the permit’s last water year, ending on the last day on which these regulations apply to the permit.

The latest that the initial verification could occur is 30 June in the first water year, but it could occur at any time before that date - even before the regulations first apply to the permit. Irrespective of when the verification occurred, it must have been carried out by a person that, in the opinion of the council, was suitably qualified. 

So, for example:

Date that a consent was granted	New or renewal	Rate of take allowed	First water year under the regulations	When initial verification can occur
1 December 2009	N/A	Up to 20 litres/second	Regulations first apply on 10 November 2012. First water year is therefore 10 November 2012 – 30 June 2013.	Anytime up until 30 June 2013
1 December 2011	Renewal	Up to 20 litres/ second	Regulations first apply on 10 November 2012. First water year is therefore 10 November 2012 – 30 June 2013.	Anytime up until 30 June 2013
1 December 2011	New	Up to 20 litres/second	Regulations apply when first taking water. Assuming that water is first taken on the day that consent is granted, the first water year is therefore 1 December 2011 – 30 June 2012.	Anytime up until 30 June 2012

After that first water year ends, subsequent verifications must occur, so that at any time during later ‘water years’, the measuring device or system must always have been verified by a suitably qualified person sometime within the 5-year period ending when that water year ends.

It should be noted that if the initial verification occurred before the first water year of the permit, this will bring forward when the next verification is required.

Finally, note that councils can request evidence that the regulations have been appropriately verified (see ‘Reporting’). 

Reporting

These requirements are set out in Regulation 8.

Permit holders must provide annual records to the regional council that granted the permit. This requirement applies for the life of the permit, beginning from the date that the regulations first apply to a permit.

Records must be provided no later than one month after the end of the water year. As the ‘water year’ is defined in Regulation 3 as ending on 30 June, records must therefore be provided to the regional council sometime in the following month (ie. and no later than the following 31 July).

Each annual record must also comply with all of the minimum requirements as set out in Regulation 6 (see ‘How records are kept’ and ‘Specific water measuring device/system requirements’).

Separate to the requirement to report annual records, the regional council may request evidence of verification, and permit holders must provide this evidence as soon as practicable.  For this reason, it is important that permit holders obtain a certificate or some other form of evidence from their verifier, and that this evidence is kept for future reference.

In relation to both the annual records, and also the evidence, this shall be provided in writing to the regional council – unless the regional council has requested that the permit holder provides those records or that evidence in electronic form. Regional councils may have their own format preferences (eg, they may be able to provide you with a pre-formatted spreadsheet). If not, an example of a standardised reporting template is included in the guidance document (see ‘Water Measurement and Reporting Quality Assurance Program’).  

Local flexibility

Regulations 9 and 10 enable regional councils to apply discretion for two requirements.

Requirement	Relevant part of regulations	Approval may be granted for this alternative arrangement
Keep daily records	Regulation 6(2) (see ‘How records are kept’)	Keep weekly records
Install water measuring device or system at the location from which the water is taken	Regulation 6(6)(e) (see ‘Specific water measuring device/ system requirements’)	Install water measuring device or system as near as practicable to the location from which water is taken

The regulations do not limit the discretion of regional councils – approvals may be granted, or refused, for any reason.

If the regional council does grant an approval in respect of either requirement, it must provide written notice to the consent holder, and that written notice must specify the period for which the approval is granted (eg, ‘until the expiry date of this permit’).

If the approval is granted for an alternative location for the water measuring device or system, this must also be done by a written notice specifying the location at which the device or system is installed. That location must be, in the opinion of the regional council, as near as practicable to the point where water is taken.

Using consent conditions to grant approvals under the regulations

The regulations are not directive about the form that the written approval needs to take. It is expected that approvals would generally be provided via a letter from the regional council to the consent holder for that purpose. However, it is possible that regional councils may wish to include approvals within consent conditions.

Some existing consents granted before 10 November 2010 allow the keeping of weekly records, and/or specify a location for the device or system that is not at the point of take. These pre-existing conditions do not constitute an automatic approval from the regional council. In this circumstance:

• if the regional council is willing to grant an approval, this needs to be separately confirmed in writing (consistent with the requirements for written approvals outlined above)
• if the regional council does not wish to grant an approval, there is no formal regulatory requirement to advise the consent holder of this. However, it would be best practice for that regional council to contact consent holders in these circumstances to clarify the change in requirements (as of the date that compliance is required).

For consents granted after 10 November 2010, it is possible to grant approvals in consent conditions. This could be achieved in an advisory note which meets the relevant minimum requirements in either Regulation 9 or 10.

Revoking approvals

Regulation 11 enables regional councils to revoke approvals under Regulation 9 and/or 10. The only justification for revoking an approval is if, in the council’s opinion, the approval was granted on the basis of incorrect information provided by the permit holder.

Because there are limited grounds for revoking an approval, regional councils need to give due consideration to the implications of granting an approval. If there is good reason not to grant an approval, then it should be refused, or alternatively, granted for a short period to indicate to the permit holder that the approval may not be extended to the full duration of the permit.

Any decision to revoke an approval must be formalised by way of a written notice that specifies when the approval is revoked. 

Note: if the regional council’s approval was provided via consent condition (and advisory note), a formal review of the consent may be required to facilitate that revocation.

Last updated:12 July 2011