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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 New Zealand's water”

The Governor-General can make a water conservation order for any water body, but only if the Minister recommends it. You need to know that the Minister can only make this recommendation after looking at a report from either the special tribunal under section 208 or the Environment Court under section 213, depending on who did the inquiry. The Minister follows these rules when making a recommendation.

When a water conservation order is made, it is a type of secondary legislation, which means it has to be published in a certain way, as explained in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. You can find more information about what this means by looking at this part of the act. This helps you understand how water conservation orders work.

The Governor-General makes the order, and it applies to the water body that was specified. You can learn more about how this process works by reading the relevant sections of the act.

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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
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213: Court's report, or

"The Environment Court tells the Minister what it thinks about a plan to protect water in a report."

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

"The Minister must explain why they don't agree with a recommendation to protect a water area."

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).