Regional Council 28 November 2017 Report No. 17-232 Information Only - No Decision Required PRESENTATION: DRINKING WATER 1. PRESENTATION 1.1 Peter Callander from Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd. will make a presentation to the Regional Council on drinking water in the Horizons Region. 2. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that Council: a. receives the presentation from Peter Callander. 3. SIGNIFICANCE This is not a significant decision according to the Council’s Policy on Significance and 3.1. Engagement. 4. SUMMARY 4.1. The recent enquiry into the contamination of the Havelock North public water supply has highlighted a number of areas for improvement in the management of public water supplies throughout New Zealand. To ensure Horizons is meeting its requirements regarding the protection of drinking water quality, Horizons – in partnership with territorial authorities and drinking water assessors at Midcentral Health – recently commissioned Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd. to complete a stocktake of water supplies in the Horizons Region and prioritise actions to minimise the risk of contamination. 4.2. A key question around the ongoing management of public water supplies is the roles and responsibilities that each organisation is required to carry out. Maintaining and supporting a continual flow of information between organisations is key to ensuring any risks to public health are identified and communicated to the right people at the right time. Presently, Horizons is working to ensure that this communication is well-established and the relevant relationships between these organisations are maintained. A workshop with all parties was held in late September to discuss the findings of the report and agree to the next steps, with staff at Horizons now scoping an ongoing work programme. 4.3. This presentation by Peter Callander of Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd. provides an overview of the work completed as part of this stock take and risk assessment, as well as recommendations for an ongoing work programme. Roles and Responsibilities 4.4. The brief summary herein provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities outlined in the Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry Report (Stage 1) to provide some context around the information held by different authorities involved in drinking water supply and their responsibilities. This summary does not represent an exhaustive review and the reader is directed to Appendix 4 of the Inquiry report, and the legislation that controls those organisations for additional details. This information has been drawn from the draft report by Pattle Delamore Partners. Presentation: Drinking Water Page 1
Regional Council 28 November 2017 4.5. There are a number of different organisations with responsibilities for managing and monitoring potable drinking water in New Zealand, including regional councils, district councils, and drinking water assessors. Responsibilities of Regional Councils 4.6. Regional councils have responsibilities pertaining to water quality in the regions under both the Resource Management Act (RMA) and also under National Environmental Standard for Sources of Human Drinking Water (NES) regulations. With respect to water quality under the RMA regional councils are responsible for the use of land for the purposes of maintaining and enhancing the water quality of water in water bodies, and the discharge of contaminants into or onto land, air or water and discharges of water into water. 4.7. Drinking water suppliers require resource consent from the regional council to take water and as part of the determination of that consent, the regional council must have regard to the relevant provisions of national environmental standards. 4.8. Under the NES regulations regional councils are specifically required to: 4.8.1. (1) decline applications for consent to discharge or take water for activities that occur upstream of an abstraction point if the activity is likely to introduce or increase determinands in the drinking water to a level unsafe for human consumption following existing treatment; 4.8.2. (2) be satisfied that permitted activities will not result in the introduction or increase of determinands into drinking water supplies such that they become unsafe for human consumption following existing treatment; and 4.8.3. (3) place conditions on consent applications which may lead to, or as a consequence of a significant external event, result in, a significant adverse effect on a drinking water supply point. Conditions must require the consent holder to notify the drinking water supplier and consent authority of any such event. Responsibilities of District Councils The functions of the city and district councils’ are narrower than those of the regional 4.9. council, however they are responsible for creating and implementing district plans, which must not be inconsistent with regional plans. Therefore, their responsibilities overlap with part of the regional council’s responsibilities. District c ouncils’ also have responsibilities as consent holders for water take consents and must comply with the conditions of those consents. 4.10. District c ouncils’ (and regional councils) also have responsibilities under the Local Government Act (LGA), which includes annual reporting on the extent to which a drinking water supply complies with Part 4 and Part 5 of the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand 2005 (revised 2008) (DWSNZ). 4.11. In addition to responsibilities under the LGA, drinking water suppliers (primarily district and city councils) have responsibilities under the Health Act both as local authorities and as drinking water suppliers. A local authority is obliged to inspect its district to ensure that nuisances that may affect (i.e. make liable to contamination) any source of supply that may be used for domestic purposes is removed. In addition the local authority must enforce regulations for the protection of any water supply. 4.12. Responsibilities of a district council under the Health Act as a drinking water supplier include (note these responsibilities also extend to other drinking water suppliers other than district councils): 4.12.1. (1) take all practicable steps to ensure an adequate supply of drinking water, notify any risk to that supply, ensure that drinking water complies with the DWSNZ, and if the supplier becomes aware that water is not meeting the DWSNZ, to carry out the remedial action set out in the DWSNZ, or all other practicable steps if no remedial action is specified; Presentation: Drinking Water Page 2
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