Media Release
18 November 2016

Havelock North Drinking Water Supply Update

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has laid charges against a party for alleged offences uncovered in the course of its investigation into the contamination of Havelock North drinking water.

HBRC has undertaken an extensive investigation into the source of the contamination and the condition of water supply bores in the area in accordance with its statutory responsibilities under the Resource Management Act.

During its investigations HBRC has found evidence of a breach of the maintenance conditions of the party’s resource consent. If a breach is proved, the resource consent no longer permits the taking of water. HBRC has commenced a prosecution against the party, alleging the unlawful taking of water from the aquifer arising from the alleged failure to meet well head maintenance conditions.

HBRC Chief Executive Andrew Newman says the drinking water contamination has had a devastating effect on the Havelock North community with wider regional impacts and HBRC is very keen to see the cause of the contamination identified and to ensure it does not happen again.

He says HBRC had more than 15 people working on its investigations. These include scientists from HBRC, and Environmental Science Research (ESR) with expertise in the environment, land use, water and climate, as well as dye tracing experts. He says their investigations have included surface and groundwater quality, the bore infrastructure, water pathways in the local environment and livestock in nearby paddocks.

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Havelock North Drinking Water Supply Update Frequently Asked Questions

Why has HBRC not named the party it has charged?

Until the party has appeared in court and had the opportunity to seek name suppression HBRC cannot legally name the party.

Does this mean the contamination was caused by this breach?

The source of the Havelock North water contamination will be determined by the Government Inquiry which begins on 28 November.

The charges relate to matters that were uncovered in the course of HBRC’s investigation.

There’s plenty of discussion that the aquifer is contaminated. Is that true?

Early on in HBRC’s investigations it was established that there was no evidence of faecal contamination of the aquifer.

Why is HBRC laying these charges when a Government Inquiry is about to start?

HBRC has a statutory role under the Resource Management Act to investigate and to take action if this type of issue is uncovered. The Inquiry Chair expressly stated at the first hearing in October that the Government Inquiry and HBRC’s investigation under the RMA are separate processes. Justice Stevens said he did not see the investigation undermining the Inquiry’s work or vice versa.

What is HBRC’s role concerning water in the region?

HBRC is responsible for managing and maintaining the quality of the water in the region. This obligation arises from the Resource Management Act, which includes reference to Treaty of Waitangi principles.

Is it not the job of HBRC to monitor the consents it issues?

Yes, and that is exactly what HBRC was doing when it undertook its investigation into whether consents and their conditions had been complied with, and is now prosecuting because of breaches. With more than 8,000 known bores in the region HBRC undertakes a surveillance programme, with representative sampling across more than 100 bores as well as compliance monitoring of bores, to identify and respond to environmental contamination of groundwater resources.

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