A water conservation order is a legal ruling to protect aspects of water bodies. It may be to protect the quantity of the water itself or for any issues relating to the water body as a whole.

New Zealand

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, a Water Conservation Order is used to protect the natural, cultural and recreational values of any water body. Water Conservation Orders came about as a result of lobbying by a group of stakeholders in the late seventies. At that time rivers were managed through the Water & Soil Conservation Act, which was administered by an appointed statutory body (NWASCA) serviced by the Ministry of Works. The engineers of the Ministry of Works argued that there was no need to legislate further as the Act contained provision for setting Minimum Flows. There are currently 15 separate Water Conservation Orders: * Ahuriri River *

Buller River The Buller River ( mi, Kawatiri) is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. One of the country's longest rivers, it flows for from Lake Rotoiti through the Buller Gorge and into the Tasman Sea near the town of Westport. Within the Bull ...

* Grey River * Kawarau River * Lake Wairarapa * Manganuioteao River * Mataura River *

Mohaka River The Mohaka river is on the North Island of New Zealand in the east central region of Hawke’s Bay. Mohaka is a Maori word, roughly translated it means “place for dancing”. The iwi (Māori tribes) associated with the Mohaka River are Ngāt ...

Motueka River The Motueka River is located in the north of the South Island of New Zealand and is a popular tourist destination for watersports and fishing. The Motueka flows from the mountains 40 km west of the city of Nelson in the southeast of the ca ...

Mōtū River Mōtū River is a major waterway in the eastern portion of the North Island of New Zealand. It rises on the slopes of Maungahaumi on the southern side of the Raukumara Range south of Opotiki, heads east and cuts its way through the range, whe ...

Ōreti River The Ōreti River (formerly the Oreti River) is one of the main rivers of Southland, New Zealand, and is long. The river has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because, for much of its length, it supports bre ...

* Rakaia River *

Rangitata River The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The river has a catchment area of , ...

* Rangitīkei River * Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere A water conservation order has been proposed for the

Hurunui River The Hurunui River is the fourth largest of the four principal rivers in north Canterbury, New Zealand, with a catchment area of . The river flows from the eastern side of the Southern Alps, to the Pacific Ocean. Geography The head of the Hurunu ...

in the South Island. Irrigation New Zealand, the national body representing agricultural irrigators and the irrigation industry, opposes water conservation orders. Irrigation NZ considers they no longer have relevance, they lock up the water resource and they may bankrupt the nation.

References

External links

Water Conservation Orders
New Zealand Recreational Canoeing Association web pages describing New Zealand water conservation orders.
Water Conservation Orders

Environmental Defence Society Environmental Defence Society (EDS) is a not-for-profit environmental organisation based in New Zealand. It focuses on issues surrounding the Resource Management Act 1991 and is made up of resource management professionals who are committed to imp ...

RMA Guide web page. Water law Environmental policy in New Zealand Water and the environment Water in New Zealand {{environment-stub