Council wins approval to continue tapping Taniwha Springs

Rotorua District Council can continue taking water from Taniwha Springs for another 10 years after battling local iwi for four years.
The springs supply water to the Ngongotaha area and in 2004 the city's council applied for resource consent to increase the amount of water it used from there. Local iwi Ngati Rangiwewehi is negotiating with the Crown for the return of the spring to its ownership.
In 2004, the Environment Court rejected the council's application to increase its water take from the springs from 68 litres per second to 210 litres per second. The council said it needed more to meet the demands of a growing population in Ngongotaha and Kawaha Point and it also asked for a 35-year lease on the land around the spring.
The council successfully appealed the Environment Court's decision, allowing the council to take 115 litres per second.
Ngati Rangiwewehi then appealed that decision and the Environment Court has now ruled that the council can continue taking using the spring for the next 10 years but will then have to find an alternative source.
The council can take a maximum of 115 litres per second from the spring but can extract more in emergency situations.
Ngati Rangiwewehi says the decision vindicates its decision to take the council to court and the council is hailing it an excellent outcome.
The iwi wants the spring back as a customary resource and wants the council's lease terminated. Ngati Rangiwewehi's lawyer, Donna Hall, said the Environment Court's latest decision was a victory for both the environmental lobby and iwi.
The Rotorua District Council accepted the Environment Court decision at its works committee meeting this week.
Chairwoman of the works committee, councillor Glenys Searancke, said the decision was a long time coming but would secure Rotorua and Ngongotaha's water supply.
"It's an excellent outcome that should take care of our water problems for the foreseeable future. It will also allow for some back-up in case of emergencies," she said.
Spokeswoman for Te Maru o Ngati Rangiwewehi, Te Rangikaheke Bidois, said in a statement the whole process could have been avoided had the district council been willing to talk.
"The case cost a lot of money, even with one of our own members running the legal arguments," he said.
"The court found that ground water supply is a feasible alternative to continued use of Taniwha Springs," Mr Bidois said in the statement.
Both parties have 30 days from the decision date, August 25, to appeal the decision.