Fined for illegal taking and use of Christchurch groundwater

A man who illegally took and used groundwater from the Christchurch Groundwater Recharge Zone over a period of five years at a Ryans Road, Yaldhurst property has been fined $10,000. In addition the company he was managing at the time and is a director and shareholder of, Birchbrook Limited, was also fined $10,000.

In pre-sentencing Ivan Court and Birchbrook Limited, Judge Brian Dwyer said that although the defendant pleaded guilty to the offence and expressed remorse, he considered that he was not so much remorseful as frustrated and embarrassed on being confronted by the legal process.

Mr Court has participated in a restorative justice conference and the defendants have made a donation of $1,500 to Lincoln University which is to be used by the University towards further research into the effect of nitrate concentration on the ground water resource.

Judge Dwyer outlined that investigations established that the defendant had been taking irrigation water since December 2005, and that up until the time of offending was detected it was conservatively estimated that nearly 104,000 cubic metres of water had been taken without a resource consent.

Judge Dwyer said that although Mr Court acknowledged the offending which was detected by an Environment Canterbury officer in February 2010, the full extent of the ongoing offending since 2005 was only ascertained though careful and detailed analysis by the council.

Under the Canterbury Natural Resources Regional Plan resource consent is required to take water in this zone if five litres per second or 10 cubic metres per day is exceeded.

The judge noted that Mr Court considered that the costs of undertaking well interference and draw-down tests, necessary to obtain resource consent, were not worth the $40-50,000 expense.

The environment affected by the abstraction of groundwater lies within a zone which has been created by Environment Canterbury to manage and preserve the quality of Christchurch drinking water.

Environment Canterbury Resource Management Director Kim Drummond said that illegal groundwater abstraction may seriously affect underlying groundwater aquifers.

“The Resource Management Act was put in place to sustainably manage the environment and its important resources.

“Environment Canterbury needs to know how much water has been allocated and how much is being used so that we can manage the resources effectively,” said Mr Drummond.

“It is a reminder to those needing water for irrigation purposes that you need to check with Environment Canterbury before you take groundwater, so the aquifers are not compromised and other legitimate user of the water resource are not adversely affected,” he said.