Professor wins fight over Waimangua

Press, 17 March 1982, Page 37

Professor wins fight over Waimangua

PA Auckland An Auckland professor of physics has won a three-year legal battle to stop the Ministry of Works and Development drawing water from the Waimangu geothermal area. A Court of Appeal decision in favour of Professor R. F. Keam, overturning an earlier decision by the Chief Justice, Sir Ronald Davison, has left conservationists jubilant and the Ministry worried about obtaining future geothermal water rights. In 1979, Professor Keam appealed to the Planning Tribunal against the granting of water rights for the Ministry to investigate the energy potential of the geothermalreservoir at Waimangu, near Rotorua. The tribunal allowed his appeal, saying there was a danger of damage to Waimangu, and that the Ministry’s test bore would yield little information at too great a risk. In response'to an appeal by the Crown, the Chief Justice overruled the tribunal in the High Court, saying that the tribunal should restrict itself to considering the impact of the bore on the water alone. The Court of Appeal has now overruled the Chief Justice and restored the decision of the tribunal.

The Ministry'is unable to draw water from Waimangu, and is concerned that the decision may make future geothermal water rights more difficult to obtain. “This could have farreaching consequences for other geothermal fields,” said Mr Linus Constable, a senior engineer in the geothermal investigations section of the Ministry's Power Division. “Our drilling programme could be downscaled if we encounter similar trouble from environmentalists over other water rights.” Mr Constable said the Ministry would decide within the next few weeks whether to contest the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Ministry might also apply again for water rights at Waimangu, he said. Mr Gary Taylor, the executive officer of the Environmental Defence Society, which has supported Professor Keam in his battle, described the decision as "the most significant victory the courts have given us for many years. “It is probably the most important victory in the society’s 11 years of activity,” he said. Mr Taylor said the decision should prompt the Minister for the Environment (Dr Shearer) to set un a

committee of inquiry into geothermal matters. “We need to sort out which areas should be developed and which should be preserved," he said. "We have provision to protect lands and rivers but not geothermal fields." Professor Keam said he was "delighted and relieved" by the decision. Waimangu was unique, he said, the only area in the world of intense surface thermal activity which had been formed in historic times. He had been studying the thermal activity, including a

lake that rises and falls 10 metres every six weeks, for 30 years. Any drilling and removal of water, such as proposed by the Ministry, would have made it impossible to tell whether changes in the activity were due to natural causes. "Waimangu cannot be developed for energy and retain its scientific value." he said. Professor Keam joined the Environmental Defence Society in calling for the area to be made a national park or reserve.