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Resource Management Act 1991

Water conservation orders

214: Making of water conservation order

You could also call this:

“How the government makes rules to protect important water bodies”

The Governor-General can make a water conservation order for any water body. They do this through an Order in Council, which is a type of rule made by the government. The Minister recommends this order, but they can only do so based on specific reports.

If the Environment Court hasn’t looked into the matter, the Minister uses the report from a special group called a tribunal. This report is mentioned in section 208. If the Environment Court has looked into it, the Minister uses the Environment Court’s report, which is talked about in section 213.

A water conservation order is a type of law called secondary legislation. This means it has to follow certain rules about how it’s published, which you can find in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM236777.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Conservation
Government and voting > Government departments
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213: Court's report, or

“The Environment Court tells the Minister if they agree with the special group's ideas about protecting water and lets everyone know what they decided.”

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215: Minister's obligation to state reasons for not accepting recommendation, or

“The Minister must explain why they didn't follow advice about protecting water”

Part 9 Water conservation orders

214Making of water conservation order

  1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, make a water conservation order in respect of any water body.

  2. The Minister shall not make a recommendation for the purposes of subsection (1) except in accordance with—

  3. the report of the special tribunal under section 208, where the Environment Court has not conducted an inquiry; or
    1. where the Environment Court has conducted an inquiry, the report of the Environment Court under section 213.

      1. A water conservation order is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

      Notes
      • Section 214(2)(a): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
      • Section 214(2)(b): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(2)(a) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 160).
      • Section 214(3): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).