Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

Table 10: Current water take authorisations as at July 2012 336Current take consents Daily take limit (m 3 )Water use Ground water Surface water Ground water Surface waterElectricity generation 21 39 636,700 6,714,048Flood control/fire fighting 2 8 1,000 1,345,460Irrigation 175 227 148,426 670,428Domestic & Municipal 143 98 69,888 607,895Industry 42 22 65,026 302,287Quarry/mining 51 49 124,215 251,347Agriculture non-irrigation 101 38 14,158 30,407Ecological 1 4 326 14,286Recreation 25 12 6,436 10,761Construction 8 19 313 3,316Other 3 1 2,263 4,000Grand Total 572 517 1,068,751 9,954,234In addition to current consents, there are an additional 281 applications which have notyet been granted or commenced. If granted, these authorisations will allow the take ofan additional 42,000 cubic metres of groundwater and 1,276,000 cubic metres ofsurface water per day, largely for irrigation and municipal supply.6.7 Coast/Marine6.8 AirThe Waikato region coastline stretches for about 1,150 km, ranging from the whitesands of the eastern Coromandel to the rugged west coast from Port Waikato toMokau, with its distinctive black sands and windswept shoreline. Overall, 35.6 per centof harbours and open coast are in public ownership and nine per cent of the coastlineis used for roads.The total coastal marine area (coast to 12 nautical mile 337 limit) of the Waikato region isjust over 1,010,000 hectares. The main commercial activities are fishing, tourism,transport and aquaculture. Changes to the Regional Coastal Plan have provided forfarming of new species, such as hapūku and kingfish and created a new 300 hectarezone for fish farming. Commercial fishing of finfish, shellfish, crab and lobster are alsoundertaken in the region’s coastal marine area. 338Recreational fishing is a popular activity in the region and mussel farms are often usedby recreational fishers. Other boating activities such as power boating, sailing andkayaking are popular particularly on the Coromandel Peninsula. The region containssome of the world’s best surf breaks and Raglan and Whangamata both have aninternational reputation.Ambient air quality in the Waikato region is generally good but the main air qualityissue in some urban areas is PM 10 (particles less than 10 microns in diameter). Theseparticles are not visible to the human eye and are small enough to be able to beabsorbed into people’s airways. 339336Data sourced from the Waikato Regional Council Resource Use Authorisations Management System (RUAMS)2012.33722.224 kilometres approximately.338Waikato Regional Council (2010, p. 78).339Banks (2011, p. 7).Page 98 Doc #: 2069885