The demand for water in Canterbury has put so much pressure on Environment Canterbury that it is struggling to meet deadlines for resource consent applications.
The number of applications for resource consents to take and use water has more than doubled in the past six months and, more frequently, the body cannot meet the 20 working days statutory deadline under the Resource Management Act (RMA) to process them.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) chief executive Bryan Jenkins said yesterday that was leading to delays, exacerbated by a shortage in New Zealand of planning staff.
"Not only is the number of consents we are receiving increasing, assessing the effects of what is proposed is also becoming more complex with more intensification of farming practices and water in Canterbury at sustainable limits,'' he said.
He was responding to a recent media report on delays related to a North Canterbury dairy farmer seeking to expand from 1900 to 2200 cows. In order to provide the cows with pasture, the farmer needed resource consents for wells to increase irrigation on his Kaiapoi property.
Dr Jenkins said it was the role of consenting authorities to protect existing water-users, as well as the health of groundwater and nearby rivers. At times, this extended applications beyond statutory time limits.
There was pressure on the number of experienced resource consents staff available to process consents, but protecting the environment remained the bottom line.
ECan had been proactive in recruiting people from overseas with 16 of its 55 consents staff from outside New Zealand. External consultants were used, but that was limited by the same factors creating pressure for ECan, he said.
"Farmers who are aware of the need for their operations to be sustainably managed provide us with thorough and complete applications, which minimise processing times,'' he said.
ECan would not make decisions on other applications until it thoroughly understood the activity, the receiving environment, the risks to the environment and other parties.
Under the RMA, the onus was on the applicant to provide that information, Dr Jenkins said.
Applicants needed to build these sorts of timeframes into their long-term business planning and be prepared to be turned down if the application was in a zone where the available water was limited or if they could not prove their water use would not adversely affect the environment or other users.