Karioi water right to lapse

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 413, 19 November 1991, Page 5

Karioi water right to lapse

Introduction of the Resource Management Act means the present water right held by King Country Energy for the proposed Karioi pow^project will lapse, according to general manager Peter Till. He told the November board meeting that the changed legislation meant the board would have to adopt a 'greenfields' approach to obtaining resource consents for the project as there was no mechanism for 'rolling over' the present right, due to expire next year. Mr Till said he had i been to a meeting called to discuss the Tongariro Power Development water rights in Turangi, where Electricorp said they would prefer a consultative approach to renewing the Tongariro scheme's rights, even

though it has an expected cost of $10 million compared to $2-$3 million for a straight

out legal solution. Having a $200 million structure on a river does not give an auto-

matic right to take water under the new act, Mr Till said, although it was a factor that would be taken into account. The new act requires the rights of all river users to be recognised. Exploratory work on the proposed $80 million Karioi/Whangaehu project is continuing, with preliminary surveying of the site having been completed recently. Should the project go ahead, King Country Energy is likely to be only a minority shareholder.