Queenstown Water Taxis Ltd, trading as Thunder Jet, was granted the two consents it received - firstly by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, and secondly by independent commissioners - when the venture was first launched in the waters of Lake Wakatipu in September 2009.
The final decision by Judge Laurie Newhook and commissioners David Bunting and John Mills, dated September 30, was received last week.
Water Taxis spokesman Duncan Storrier said the conditions issued by the judge were collectively agreed and submitted by the parties for his approval.
"There's been an element of negotiation gone on and, from our point of view, we're comfortable with the condition issued," he said.
The approval had not changed daily operations, which restarted almost a year ago, Mr Storrier said.
Thunder Jet and Kawarau Jet were going about their business on the lake and the Kawarau River, with an obvious focus on safety, and the radio system was working well, he said.
Asked if there had been any safety issues while the two jet-boats operated side by side in the past 10 months, Mr Storrier said: "It has flowed the very way our technical experts told the court it would."
The final decision gave "a surety to the business and confirms value" and followed the temporary consent approvals the judge had granted every two months since last Christmas.
"The only outstanding matter now for the judge to deal with is the awarding of costs, which are obviously significant for both Queenstown Water Taxis and council and, from our side at least, we would be very keen to get that wrapped up sooner rather than later.
"More than anything, it's the cost that's not measurable in dollars. There's a massive cost, both personal for a lot of people involved that takes a toll, and the loss of trade."
The council was a respondent in the appeals by Kawarau Jet and Clearwater Pursuits to the consents it originally granted. The total legal cost from the time the appeals were lodged to last month was $133,902.64, council regulatory and corporate services general manager Roger Taylor said.
"An application for costs has been made," Mr Taylor said.
Kawarau Jet co-director Shaun Kelly said the company put its case to the Environment Court, made its decision and would make the best of the situation.
Mr Kelly said both operators' jet-boat drivers were in constant communication with each other, except when the E119 radio channel Kawarau Jet was asked to operate from could not transmit from about Fisherman's Hole, halfway down the river.
"We've had to revert to an inferior channel which doesn't give sufficient handheld radio coverage down the Kawarau River and come off our own private channel we established for better handheld coverage on our whole operating area, so we've got to think on our feet and take another radio down there to get coverage."
Mr Kelly said Kawarau Jet would respect Judge Newhook's final decision and operate accordingly. The company would "wait and see" what the judge decided about costs.
There had not been any safety issues while Thunder Jet operated, he said.
"Our whole case was about the number of consents Kawarau Jet actually owns, which were on the open market for sale over a period of 18 years. Eventually, all the consents we own will be implemented.
"There's 18 consents and there's potentially hundreds of trips per day, so it's in the long term - 20, 30, 40 years out."
Asked if he was concerned the decision opened the floodgates for more operators to apply to operate on Kawarau River, Mr Kelly said an application had already been lodged by Ecojet Ltd. However, his company put its case forward and the decision had been made.
"We maintain safety is our greatest concern. There's been three fatalities on the Kawarau River since 2008; that's a harsh reality. We just want to run a professional, safe operation with Thunder Jet and the [Queenstown Lakes District] council."
• Former Queenstown Lakes District Council chief executive Duncan Field reveals his plans for Ecojet to operate on the Kawarau River in today's Otago Daily Times.
In two approved applications, Queenstown Water Taxis Ltd is permitted to operate one jet-boat (up to four trips a day) and also three boats (about 10 trips a day) on the Kawarau River from the Kawarau River bridge, about 14km downstream to near the Arrow River confluence.
Both applications involved pick-up and drop-offs of passengers at an established berth at a jetty in Queenstown Bay, or at Frankton Marina.
The Environment Court ruled there would be no more than 23 passengers, including the driver, on each trip and there would be up to 10 trips a day by each boat.
All jet-boats were to keep at least 20m from the edge of the willow trees along the front of the Boyd property, except when travelling at up to 5 knots.
All jet-boats were to keep at least 100m from the Frankton Arm shore, from Queenstown Bay to the Kawarau Falls bridge, except when travelling at up to 5 knots.
All jet-boats shall be designed, built and driven so that a maximum noise level of 77 decibels is not exceeded.
The daily log of trips and passenger numbers will be provided to the Queenstown Lakes District Council on the anniversary of the decision and assessed after eight years of operation.
