Consents to Take Water: Demystifying Efficiency of Use

Being able to demonstrate that a proposed water take is "efficient" is a key consideration in most applications. At present, water is owned by the Crown, and consent holders are not charged to take water. However, when managing available allocation and deciding who gets to take available water, Regional Councils often have regard to, or seek to ensure, that a proposed use of water is "efficient". This concept comes from section 7(b) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), but is not defined in the legislation.

So what does efficiency of use mean, and how can an applicant demonstrate that its use is efficient? What are the implications for other competing users? At a high level, efficiency of use requires an applicant to show that it is not "wasting" water through inefficient practices. It also requires an applicant to demonstrate that its take is efficient in the sense of demonstrating that, over the life of the consent, it needs the quantities of water sought, and will not unnecessarily exclude other parties from the resource.

This presentation considers real world examples of the requirements of efficiency of use, as set out in Regional Plans, and how they can be addressed by applicants.