Rakaia River water conservation order 1988

About the making of the National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Order 1988 and subsequent amendments to the order.

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Key milestones
Making the 2011 amendment order
Making the 2013 amendment order
Amendment application - withdrawn

Key milestones

  • On 10 June 1983, four organisations applied for a water conservation order in respect of the Rakaia River and tributaries.
    They were the:
    • Ashburton Acclimatisation Society
    • North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society
    • Council of South Island Acclimatisation Societies
    • National Executive of Acclimatisation Societies.
  • The application was made under the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967.
  • The application was referred to the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority which publicly notified the application and received submissions.
  • A public hearing was held from 6 to 14 December 1983.
  • The authority approved its report and recommendations in March 1984.
  • The draft Order was publicly notified in April 1984.
  • Submissions were made to the Planning Tribunal which held its hearing between 1 October and 6 December 1984.
  • The tribunal released its report and recommendations on 3 May 1985.
  • An appeal on questions of law was lodged with the High Court.
  • The hearing was held from 15 to 16 September 1986. The judgement is dated 17 November 1986.
  • Leave was granted for an appeal to the Court of Appeal. This was heard on 27 and 28 August 1987.
  • Judgement was delivered on 30 September 1987. This allowed the appeal and restored the report of the Planning Tribunal.
  • On 10 October 1988 the National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Order 1988 was made.

Making the 2011 amendment order

  • On 23 March 2011, the Ashburton District Council applied for a variation to the National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Order 1988. The application was made to the Minister for the Environment under section 58 of the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Act 2010.
  • The Minister decided that because of the minor effect of the amendment it was unnecessary for Canterbury Regional Council to consider the application and the applicant had the agreement of the successors to the original applicant for the Order (Fish and Game Councils) and the regional council.
  • The National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Amendment Order 2011 was approved and gazetted in August 2011.

Making the 2013 amendment order

  • On 16 July 2011, TrustPower applied to the Minister for the Environment to vary the National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Order 1988 to enable consents to be sought for the Lake Coleridge Project.

  • The application was submitted to ECan under the Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Act 2010 and publicly notified by ECan on 15 October 2011.
  • The hearing was held during parts of February, March and April, and completed in July 2012.
  • The ECan report and recommendations was sent to the Minister on 4 October 2012.
  • The National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Amendment Order 2013 was made on 4 February 2013.

Contact info@mfe.govt.nz for the technical reports contained in volume 2 and volume 3 of the Trust Power amendment application.

Amendment application - withdrawn

In March 2013, Glenthorne Station Limited applied for an amendment to the Rakaia River WCO. This was referred to Environment Canterbury for consideration under the ECan Act (2010).

The application was withdrawn by the applicant in September 2024.