Use of Water

Using Water

Using water wisely is all about getting the right amount in the right place, at the right time.

Growers can use water from the ground (bore), or surface water: rivers, lakes or streams and some from storage ponds or town supply*.
The water can be used, in addition to natural rainfall, to:

Irrigate trees
Spray – guard against pests and disease
Fertiliser use – determining the method of delivering nutrition to your trees is important not only for management but also for environmental outcomes
- Hard fertiliser (flushed into the soil )
- Foliar feeding (nutrient added to water and delivered by sprayer)
- Fertigation (injection of fertiliser into an irrigation system)
Protect against frost

A knowledge of tree phenology (the natural and seasonal cycle of a tree in relation to climate) is important to understanding its water needs. Using additional water through irrigation enables growers to:

Even out the periods of precipitation ensuring appropriate water demand is met during critical periods of a tree’s growth
Avoid plant stress, increasing both crop productivity and crop quality
Have security against crop damage due to frost
Better manage nutrient uptake
Manage nutrient movement through, and mitigate nutrient leaching from the soil profile into local aquifers and water ways

Every property and grower has a limited amount of water they are allowed to take. This is a called a permitted take. You do not need a consent if you remain within the rules for this permitted activity for your region.

*Town supply

Growers that access a municipal supply for irrigation do not require a consent from their Territorial Authority (TA). Growers do need to talk with their regional council, however, to gain access and their regional council may impose conditions or certain restrictions on the take.

The risk of town supply is one of security. In times when water restrictions are put in place on municipal supply access for growers could be reduced if domestic water supply is put at risk.

Click to link to your regional rules for permitted activity

Bay of Plenty

Bay Of Plenty Regional Council

The above rule of thumb is indicative only.

Any orchard over one hectare that is irrigating could easily exceed permitted volumes and those using frost protection will definitely have the potential to use a lot more water in 24 hours than the permitted volumes. Permitted activity in BOP can be subject to conditions. Under new rules, groundwater takes from properties greater than 5 ha taking less than 35m3 (35,000L) per day at a rate no more than 2.5 l/sec will not trigger the requirement for resource consent. Those under 5 hectares must not exceed 15m3/day.

Surface water takes from properties of any size extracting at a rate no more than 2.5 l/sec and not exceeding 15m3 (15,000L) per day will not trigger the requirement for resource consent.

Northland

Northland Regional Council

The above rule of thumb is indicative only.

The rules for taking water in Northland are currently being updated and are subject to change (Proposed Regional Plan for Northland). At the time of writing (5 August 2019), it is generally a permitted activity (don’t need a resource consent) for a person to take up to a total of 10m3 per day, per property, from all water sources. There are a number conditions which need to be met for these takes to be permitted. Any water take that is greater than 10m3 a day or doesn’t meet a permitted activity condition will require resource consent.

Proposed Regional Plan for Northland can be found here. Section C.5 Taking and Using Water – permitted activity rules for taking water.

Use of Water

Using Water

Using water wisely is all about getting the right amount in the right place, at the right time.

Bay of Plenty

Northland

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Water management and policy

Use of Water

Using Water

Using water wisely is all about getting the right amount in the right place, at the right time.

Bay of Plenty

Northland

Share

Water management and policy

For information on the Commodity Levy please click here