Company Consents & Compliance

Over half the water stored in the lake is allocated for environmental flows and the dam consents prescribe a minimum flow regime for the Opihi River at Pleasant Point.  The minimum flow varies for each month of the year (see graph below) , with higher flows to support important phases in the fish breeding cycle in the river.  Below you can download a list of Resource Consents held by Opuha Water Limited:

adobe-pdf-logo OWL Resource Consents with Environment Canterbury

Irrigation Restrictions
 Monitoring information from flow sites used for the purpose of informing consent holders taking water for irrigation purposes.   You can find out irrigation restrictions for a specific consent by clicking on “Irrigation restriction search” option on the ECan website and entering your consent number –  http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/monitoring/irrigation-restrictions/pages/default.aspx

ECan have changed the way they will enforce monitoring irrigation restrictions:

  • If you have an irrigation device that requires a manual shut off, you no longer have to get up at midnight to turn off your irrigator.
  • Instead, you can continue to irrigate until 9 am even though technically your water take is on restriction from midnight.  This enables you to safely get out and turn off the device anytime between midnight and 9 am.
  • When the irrigation restriction is removed, you cannot turn the device on at midnight if you did not cease at midnight.  For example, if you turned your device off at 6am on a restriction day, you have to wait until 6am on a non-restriction day to turn it on.

River flow and restriction information for the following day will become available:

  • For rivers whose flow is calculated via a telemetered river flow sites at 3pm; and
  • For rivers whose flow is gauged or assessed by staff in the field at 5pm.

Advice for Irrigators facing low-flow restrictions

adobe-pdf-logo Guidance on Water Management during the Irrigation Season

Definitions and Information – Groundwater Allocation

Below you will find further details about what each status means and ECan’s approach for determining allocation limits.

A Red Zone is where ECan’s assessment shows that the total amount of groundwater currently allocated exceeds the allocation limit.

A Yellow Zone is where ECan’s assessment shows that the total amount of groundwater currently allocated is 80% of the allocation limit.

A White Zone is where ECan’s assessment shows that the total amount of groundwater currently allocated is less than 80% of the allocation limit. For more information, please visit the Environment Canterbury website   http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/monitoring/groundwater-allocation/Pages/definitions-information.aspx