Fish and Game: Shotover River is protected by Conservation Order

The Shotover River into which Queenstown Lakes District Council plans to discharge 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater daily under emergency powers is protected by a Water Conservation Order.

Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said the organisation was monitoring the wastewater treatment situation closely and had spoken to the QLDC and Otago Regional Council.

Mr Hadland said the Kawarau River and its tributaries, which include the Shotover, are protected by a Water Conservation Order put in place in 1997 to safeguard the catchment’s outstanding values, including water quality, fisheries and amenity values such as contact recreation. 

“We're looking ahead to be involved in any consenting for discharges into a river of this quality,” Mr Hadland said.

“We’re confident authorities will handle this situation to ensure the provisions of the Water Conservation Order are upheld.

“We recognise this is a complex legacy issue and the potential remedies are costly.”

Otago Fish & Game Council supported enforcement action taken by the Otago Regional Council for QLDC consent breaches and hoped that would prompt faster remedial work. 

Mr Hadland said Otago Fish & Game had been at the forefront of litigation which secured the Water Conservation Order to protect the Kawarau River and its tributaries.