As councillors today firm up several areas of policy guidance still required for the council’s forthcoming land and water plan, staff have asked for approval to establish "drinking water intake protection zones" for all registered drinking water supplies.
Resource consent would be required within the proposed protection zones for discharges to land and water, activities that disturb river or lake beds and any stock access.
The consent process would ensure the affected drinking water supply did not require additional treatment and the risk to human health was not increased.
"If the applicant cannot show that human health will not be put at risk, it is likely that resource consent would be declined," a staff report said.
A map produced by staff showed the new zones would be created in more than 80 areas across Otago.
The area within a 20m radius from the location of a bore would be protected when drinking water was taken from an aquifer.
The protection zone would extend 5m into land from the river’s edge, 1000m upstream and 100m downstream from any surface water or directly connected groundwater take.
For a human drinking water supply from a lake, the protection zone would extend in a 500m radius of any surface water or directly connected groundwater take in the lake, the report said.
Councillors could direct staff to establish protection zones for drinking supplies based on the number of people who used the supply, the report said.
National drinking water standards required protection zones for all drinking water sources supplying more than 500 people.
And many of the drinking water supplies identified by staff were for populations under 500.
However, freshwater management standards required prioritising people’s health needs over economic interests, the report said.
"There could be reputational risks associated with not providing every Otago community with the same protection for their drinking water supplies," it said.
Today, councillors will also consider the brief given to staff developing the plan regarding managing gravel extraction and managing wetlands, including excluding stock from natural inland wetlands.
