Media statement - Kaitoke Weir Hearing Panel Decision

The flow over the Kaitoke Weir should not be lowered, according to Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Paul Bruce.

"The consent decision was a disappointing one".

Councillor Bruce, said that instead, Greater Wellington should challenge our communities to continue their efforts to reduce water and eliminate wastage.

"The region was already doing well. However, Porirua City Council had shown that there was still a lot of room for further improvement. Porirua city water demand strategy has this year saved 200 million litres of water from the city's annual consumption".

A panel of independent commissioners granted an application by Greater Wellington Water (GWW) to vary its resource consent for taking water from the Hutt River, subject to a range of conditions, last week.

The consent decision enables GWW to reduce the minimum permitted flow in the Hutt River over the Kaitoke Weir for a period of three years, while the Stuart Macaskill water storage lakes at Te Marua are seismically strengthened. This reduction to the low flow could be required in dry summers to maintain water supply to Upper Hutt, Hutt, Wellington and Porirua cities.

Under current consent conditions GWW must cease taking water when the flow over the Kaitoke Weir drops to 600 litres per second. The consent variation allows a further 200 litres/ second water to be taken until the flow over the weir drops to 400 litres/second.

"Lowering the Hutt River was the easy way out, and would only exacerbate the risk of cyanobacteria and adverse conditions for aquatic animals. Monitoring as part of the consent conditions, would help confirm when water quality was deteriorating, but may not give sufficient warning to avoid the consequences, Cr Bruce concluded.

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