An Environment Waikato hearings committee has approved applications by Taupo District Council (TDC) for comprehensive stormwater discharge consents.

The consents will allow TDC to continue diverting and discharging urban stormwater from its municipal stormwater systems into a range of waterways and land sites.
 
The consents effectively pull together and authorize a range of stormwater diversion and discharge activities within Taupo’s urban areas, thereby allowing for improved stormwater management and monitoring of these activities by TDC and Environment Waikato.
 
Environment Waikato is encouraging all local authorities in the Waikato region to obtain comprehensive stormwater discharge consents and improve ways of managing stormwater to avoid, remedy or mitigate any adverse effects on the environment.
 
The hearings committee – which heard the applications in April - commended TDC for its proactive approach to improving its management of stormwater, and working with those who had expressed concerns about the consent applications.
 
The hearings committee has put in place a range of consent conditions aimed at:

• protecting water quality in Lake Taupo and other waterways within Taupo District
• addressing the types of adverse effects associated with urban stormwater
• implementing a variety of stormwater improvement initiatives through stormwater management plans
• monitoring municipal stormwater diversion and discharge activities
• reviewing the effectiveness of comprehensive stormwater discharge consents over time.