February 2019, Hearing for the Ngaruroro/Clive Rivers Water Conservation Order reconvenes

Streamlined Environmental’s (SEL) Director and Aquatic Ecologist Dr Ngaire Phillips is in Hawkes Bay for the next 2 weeks as a member of a Special Tribunal which has been appointed to consider an application for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) on the Ngaruroro and Clive Rivers. A WCO is a tool to recognise and protect the existing outstanding or intrinsic characteristics of New Zealand’s most exceptional rivers and lakes. This hearing will consider evidence and submissions presented for the lower part of the Ngaruroro River, as well as the Clive River, with the hearing for the upper Ngaruroro River having been undertaken in December 2017. The application has attracted more than 700 submissions. With competing demands for limited water resources and differences in perspective on the values that the rivers offer, the panel of 5 has a challenging fortnight ahead. This is one of a number of different roles that Dr Phillips has a decision maker, which also includes being an independent RMA Commissioner (along with other SEL Colleagues) and being a member of the HSNO Committee.