As our economy continues to grow, so too does the pressure on this region’s natural resources.
This is especially the case with water, as an increasing number of people take freshwater from the ground and our rivers, lakes and streams to live or help to run their businesses. In some parts of the Bay of Plenty too much water is being taken.
The Regional Natural Resources Plan promotes the sustainable and integrated management of land and water resources within the Bay of Plenty. This Plan gets updated as we get a better understanding on the health of these resources.
Based on the current rules, a permitted take for surface water is anything under 15m3 (15,000L) per day. For ground water it’s up to 35m3 (35,000L) per day. If your water take is more than these thresholds you need to apply for a consent. In addition, if your water take is within 100 metres of a natural wetland, you will need a consent regardless of the volume.
Water take consents
Resource consents help to ensure that our natural and physical resources are allocated and used efficiently and sustainably. In the Bay of Plenty we currently have more than 1300 consents to take and use water from ground and surface water sources, but we know there are many more users out there.
So we can all get an accurate understanding of how much water is available we need to know how much water is being taken from all users.
- Log into WUDMS (Water Use Data Management System)