Working in beds of rivers and
lakes - ‘general conditions’
You can do many things in a river or lake in the Horizons
Region without needing a resource consent. Chapter 17 of
the One Plan includes rules for activities such as installing
or maintaining a culvert or ford, damming a river or taking
gravel. Many of these activities are permitted activities1 as
long as you can meet certain conditions and standards.
Some conditions are specific to the activity, and there
are also ‘general conditions’ that apply to all permitted
activities.
This information sheet focuses on the general conditions
(listed in full in Table 17.2 of the One Plan) and provides
advice on how to meet them. There are other information
sheets that focus on specific activities. We recommend that
you read Table 17.2 and the One Plan information sheet
about what you’re planning to do.
The general conditions
set a framework around a
common-sense approach
to doing any kind of
activity in the bed of any
river or lake – things like
not putting anything
toxic in the water or
stirring up too much silt (sediment), and making sure
you don’t increase the risk of a flood or leave anything
unnecessary behind when you’ve finished. If you can’t meet
any of the conditions that apply to your activity, then you’ll
need to consider whether you can change how and when
you’re proposing to work, or apply for and be granted a
resource consent. Horizons staff can help you work out
your options.
Sediment, contaminants and hazards
Many of the general conditions are about preventing
sediment and contaminants getting into water, or
not adding to hazards as a result of works in rivers
and lakes. If you can do all the following, you will
meet conditions (a) to (g) and (j):
• Don’t let any material that’s toxic get into water –
including treated timber, uncured cement, paint,
and water or sand blasted material.
• Keep out of flowing water.
• If you have to modify the banks, make sure they
have a natural shape and fit the layout of the
land, and actively revegetate them when you’ve
finished the works.
• Avoid working when rain is expected.
• Don’t reduce the capacity of a river for longer than
12 consecutive hours.
• Only use material you need to do the job, and take
anything left over away when you’re finished.
1
That is, you don’t need to get a resource consent.
2
The trout fishing and contact recreation conditions ((q) and
(t)) restrict this in some areas some of the time – see the section
headed ‘Recreation’.
• Refuel machinery where spills can’t get into the
water.
Conditions (c) and (d) do allow some sediment to be
discharged into the water2 for short periods, where
you can see that the water upstream of the activity is
clearer than the water downstream after ‘reasonable
mixing’3. This can happen once a year, for up to 24 hours
over a five day period, and for up to 12 hours after you
finish up your activity – for example, you could install
a culvert or bridge abutments over a five day period
provided you met all the other conditions and standards.
Releasing significant amounts of silt over an extended
period (such as by clearing a flowing stream with a
digger or taking gravel, over more than five consecutive
days) would be unlikely to meet these conditions.
Protecting our native fish species and in-stream life
Most of the general conditions contribute to the protection
of native fish species and in-stream life habitat. Conditions
(h), (i), (k) and (l) manage specific aspects of works and
structures in the beds of rivers and lakes, and their effect on
native fish and in-stream life.
Condition (h) requires all activities and structures in the beds
of rivers to provide ongoing safe fish passage. Many of New
Zealand’s native fish species are migratory. Blocking their
passage can have serious effects on the species, isolating
population groups so that they can’t inter-breed and are
more vulnerable to extinction. Fish passage is a particular
issue for culverts, dams and diversions. Horizons’ staff can
provide free advice on how to meet condition (h).
Condition (i) allows temporary diversion of water in rivers
and streams, when it’s necessary to undertake another
activity such as constructing or maintaining a structure.
There are quite a few aspects to this condition.
• The condition restricts the length of the diversion to no
more than 100 metres, and it must still be within the bed
of the river. This is because a diversion has immediate and
severe effects on fish and in-stream life, so limiting the
extent of the diversion reduces these effects.
• The diversion can’t involve a lake.
• The diversion must be able to carry the same flow as the
original channel or it won’t serve its purpose.
• Most importantly, once the activity is complete then the
diversion must be removed.
Straightening streams and rivers interferes with what
was often a relatively stable flow path, and reduces the
length of stream habitat available for fish and aquatic plants.
Condition (k) allows a small amount of straightening – up
to two times the width of the bed of the river or stream in
any 2 km interval within any 12 month period – when it’s
a necessary part of another project such as maintaining a
structure in a stream4. The width of the bed is measured
horizontally between the tops of the banks, across the
channel water normally flows in before it spills out over
farmland in a big flood.
Condition (l) prevents the removal of instream woody debris
smaller than 2m3, unless it poses a threat to people and
property by increasing the risk of flooding or bank erosion.
This is because woody debris in streams and rivers provides
cover for native fish.
• Diverting water between catchments must be avoided.
It is considered culturally abhorrent by Māori, and it can
alter the ecology of downstream catchments.
3
‘Reasonable mixing’ is the least of the following distances from the point
of the discharge
i. Seven times the width of the river where the discharge occurs
ii. 200 m (for a river); or for an artificial watercourse 200 m or the
property boundary, whichever is greater
iii. The point where the sediment has mixed with water across the
full width of the river.
4
If all you want to do is straighten a section of a stream or river, it’s classed
as a diversion – see the Drainage and diversions information sheet.
Woody vegetation should be left in rivers and streams, unless it is likely to
increase the risk of flooding or erosion
‘Value’ conditions
The One Plan lists and maps the reaches of rivers that are
important for specific reasons (the ‘Values’ in Schedule B).
Schedule B identifies areas that are habitats or spawning
grounds for particular species, including dotterel, inanga
and trout, or reaches whitebait migrate up. It also identifies
contact recreation (which includes swimming and water
skiing, for example) and trout fisheries.
General conditions (m) to (t) restrict activities that may affect
these Values when people are most likely to want to swim,
water ski or fish, or when species are spawning or migrating.
Table 1 shows when these time restrictions apply. While they
span the whole year, these conditions will not restrict you:
• in January, provided
you do not make
the water dirty on
Saturdays, Sundays
and public holidays
• in February and
March, if your site
is more than 15 km
inland from the coast.
Most apply only to specific reaches; Horizons staff can
advise you whether your site will be affected.
Table 1: Periods when activities in the beds of rivers and lakes are restricted
VALUE
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Site of Significance - Riparian
Inanga Spawning5
Whitebait Migration6
Trout Spawning
Trout Fishery
Contact Recreation
Riparian habitat – protecting nesting dotterels
on gravel beaches
Condition (m) protects dotterel, which are considered to be
at-risk for conservation purposes. Dotterel nest on gravel
beaches and their nests, eggs and chicks are extremely
difficult to spot. The One Plan identifies certain river reaches
as Sites of Significance – Riparian (SOS-R). In these areas,
disturbing beaches by taking gravel or driving on them
must be avoided during the nesting season except when it
can be presumed that nesting is not taking place. If there
5
6
1 February to 1 May inclusive
15 August to 30 November inclusive
has been uninterrupted activity since before the start of the
nesting season (1 August), or if there has been a flood, you
can start your activity within the following seven days. This
is because dotterel will not have settled and there won’t
be nests. For more detailed information about working
in SOS-R, see the Riparian Habitats and the One Plan
information sheet.
Fish spawning and whitebait migration
Conditions (n) to (p) restrict the use of mobile machinery in
the bed of a river during inanga (particular species of native
fish) and trout spawning, and whitebait migration.
Condition (n) applies to the whole bed7 of river reaches
identified as inanga spawning habitat. Inanga lay eggs in
vegetation, including long grasses and weeds, in the bed
and tidal bank areas. Mobile machinery shouldn’t be used
in the bed of these reaches from 1 February to 1 March. You
can still drive on a pre-existing track or an area that isn’t
Dotterel nest on a gravel beach
vegetated to access the beach when you’re going swimming
or fishing.
The purpose of conditions (o) and (p) is to allow whitebait
to migrate upstream (from 15 August to 30 November)
and trout to spawn (from 1 May to 30 September) without
being disturbed by sediment or other physical obstructions.
You can still access the river or beaches in your vehicle, but
you should stick to pre-existing tracks and fords to avoid
disturbing the channel where water is flowing.
Searching for inanga eggs in bed of the Whanganui River
Recreation – fishing and swimming
Conditions (q) to (t) focus on recreation Values: trout fishing,
which applies to specific reaches identified in Schedule B;
and contact recreation, which includes swimming and water
skiing, and applies to all rivers across the Region.
The purpose of conditions (r) and (s) is to make sure the
public continue to have safe access to rivers and lakes.
While the Contact Recreation Value applies to all reaches of
7
all rivers in the Region, these conditions apply to river and
lake beds where there is actually access to the water.
Conditions (q) and (t) ensure that water remains clear
during the periods when people are most likely to want
to fish and swim, which is why it applies on weekends and
public holidays.
The whole of the area where water would flow without spilling over the top of the banks in a big flood, not just where water is flowing at the time.
Existing infrastructure
Condition (u) protects two types of existing
infrastructure: flow-recorders and high-pressure gas
transmission pipelines.
This means that if you want to disturb the bed within
500 metres upstream or downstream of any flowrecording site, or 20 metres upstream or downstream of
any high-pressure gas transmission pipelines, you will
need to apply for a resource consent.
You can find out more about flow-recording sites
on the Horizons website, or contact Horizons’
Catchment Information team.
High pressure gas pipelines are usually marked by a
white triangle marker post or a yellow pipeline warning
sign, and you can also find out whether a pipeline is
present from your local district or city council.
A Horizons flow-recording site
Additional information
Contact Horizons Regional Council on 0508 800 800 or email [email protected]
11-15 Victoria Avenue
Private Bag 11025
Manawatu Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442
T 0508 800 800
F 06 952 2929
[email protected]
www.horizons.govt.nz
2016/646