Source: Environmental Protection Authority
10 November 2021
The second week of a hearing on an application to draw an additional 150 million litres of water a day from the Waikato River for Auckland City’s water supply network will reconvene online on Tuesday 16 November 2021.
COVID-19 restrictions in the Waikato region have prevented the hearing from being conducted face-to-face. Holding it online will allow proceedings to be concluded.
The hearing will be livestreamed on the Environmental Protection Authority’s website, and the video recording immediately available to view. A written transcript and other documents presented will be published within 24 to 48 hours.
In June last year, the Minister for the Environment “called in” the application, deeming it to be a proposal of national significance under the Resource Management Act 1991, and referring it to a Board of Inquiry for decision.
The applicant, Watercare Services Limited, is an Auckland Council organisation and the application is for municipal water supply purposes.
It is seeking resource consents associated with the construction, operation and maintenance of a new water intake and new discharge structure on the bed of the Waikato River. The application also includes taking surface water using that intake, and discharges of water, air and river material into the Waikato River adjacent to the site of Watercare’s existing Water Treatment Plant near Tuakau.
Our role in the process
The EPA provides administrative support services to the Board of Inquiry. These range from managing the public consultation, and organising the logistics of the hearing, to commissioning specialist advice to assist the Board.
