The Clutha District Council service delivery committee met in Balclutha on Thursday afternoon, and reviewed the latest compliance update report from service delivery group manager Jules Witt.
The report compared compliance with Otago Regional Council water treatment plant intake and backwash consents in 2020 and 2021, as audited by the ORC recently.
Although the comparison showed marked improvement in most areas, Mr Witt said the number of compliance failures marked "significant" was "disappointing".
However, Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan blamed the "dysfunctionality" of the ORC’s auditing process for some of the issues.
Four of the 10 significant failures cited "inadequate fish screening" as a key reason for non-compliance, while seven cited "data gaps".
Mr Cadogan said it was "frustrating" that relatively minor failings could lead to the highest level of non-compliance, and questioned the ORC’s rating system.
"I’m not trying to minimise these issues, as they’re matters we need to address, but data gaps and fish screens do not strike me as ‘significant’ non-compliance."
Mr Cadogan praised staff for their efforts in improving the overall level of compliance.
"It’s just a shame the dysfunctionality of the regional council process could affect perception of the improvements we’re making as a council."
Mr Witt said although apparently simple, installing appropriate fish screens was not straightforward.
Grille hole size needed to be small enough to prevent native species infiltration, which had consequences for maintaining a high enough flow rate, and blockage management.
Mr Witt said the data gaps referred to by ORC were caused by breaks in telemetry, meaning data was not always transmitted successfully from the often remote treatment plants.
"We have discussed the ranking of these issues as ‘significant’ with ORC, but there is no formal appeals process as regards this aspect of the consents."
Of the 28 significant non-compliance issues identified in the ORC’s 2020 audit, 10 remained significant in its latest (2021) audit; seven were now "moderate"; nine "low-risk"; one fully compliant; and one consent had expired.
Response from ORC
This letter responds to recent comments by the Mayor of Clutha District Council referring to ‘dysfunctional’ compliance audit processes at Otago Regional Council. We were not given the opportunity to respond to these comments in the original article and wish to make the following points.
ORC takes its role as the regulator responsible for monitoring consent compliance very seriously. This role helps protect Otago’s environment from potential effects of activities such as water abstraction and discharges. I am very proud of the progress made in recent years to improve our compliance activities and the team’s collaborative approach with consent holders, including the Clutha District Council, to identify and address non-compliance.
In the published article Mayor Bryan Cadogan referred to the ORC’s compliance audit process as ‘dysfunctional’ following the significant non-compliance rating received for some of the Clutha District Council water treatment plant consents. In his opinion the lack of fish screens and gaps in the data provided to ORC were relatively minor failings. The provision of fish screens on water intake structures is a condition placed on many consents for very good reason. This ensures that many of our at-risk native fish species are not mistakenly removed from waterways as part of the abstraction process. Not providing this protection is a significant non-compliance and we expect this to be addressed. Failure to provide data may also lead to a significant non-compliance grade as without the data required ORC staff cannot determine the adverse effects of a consented activity. Data that demonstrates a system is operating in line with its consent is a critical part of the compliance process.
Our recent compliance work with CDC on water treatment plant and wastewater treatment plant consents recognised the improvements CDC has made in the operation of these plants. We acknowledge the positive efforts from CDC staff and will continue to work with them constructively to address any outstanding compliance issues. Ultimately the result we are seeking is full compliance for all resource consents in Otago, to safeguard our environment.
