Volume One 5. Allocation of Public Resources [R] Policy 5.3.4 – Establish allocation volumes for municipal water supplies and avoid applying management flows and levels to the taking of water for the purpose of municipal supply. Municipal water supplies perform the important function of providing water to residential, commercial and industrial activities in Marlborough’s urban environments. Without the supply of water, the urban environments would cease to function. It is therefore critical for our social and economic wellbeing that our towns and small settlements have a reliable supply of water. This policy achieves this aim by providing an allocation specifically for the water needs of Blenheim, Picton, Havelock, Renwick and Seddon (including the Awatere community). The allocation volume is set out in rules. This policy also assists to implement Policy 5.3.1 by making municipal water supplies exempt from restrictions that would apply to other consumptive users. [R] Policy 5.3.5 – Enable the take and use of water where it will have little or no adverse effect on water resources. The policy records a principle that users should be entitled to access water with relative ease if the provisions of the MEP determine the abstraction from the water resource to be sustainable. This policy could be applied in two circumstances. The first is through the application of permitted activity rules for the taking of water. Under Section 14 of the RMA, water use can only occur if provided for in a rule or through a resource consent. One of the key functions of the Council is therefore to enable sustainable abstraction of water via the use of permitted activity rules. Access to water allocated through the provisions of the MEP should also be relatively straight forward. However, one of the potential effects of the taking of water is to adversely affect the reliability of existing water takes accessing the same resource, so called “interference effects.” There may also be site specific effects of the taking of water on natural and human use values. For this reason, the rules still require a water permit for takes beyond the low volume uses enabled by permitted activity rules. The resource consent process will enable the adverse effects of any proposed take on another user or on natural and human use values to be taken into account. However, the issue of sustainable levels of abstraction have been determined through the application of Policies 5.2.4 to 5.2.16. There may be circumstances in which it is appropriate for the Council to consider reducing the amount of water able to be taken under the permitted activity rules to assist it to manage extreme shortages of water. This would be achieved by a Water Shortage Direction issued under Section 329 of the RMA. Any such direction would be issued to address the potential for abstraction authorised by permitted activity rule to adversely affect the resource, the natural and human use resources supported by the resource and/or the ability of people to continue taking essential water from the resource (albeit at a lower rate). [R] Policy 5.3.6 – Allocate water within any class on a first-in, first-served basis through the resource consent process until the allocation limit is reached for the first time. This policy establishes the basis on which freshwater will be allocated within any class. This continues the approach utilised under water allocation and use regimes in previous planning documents. Once an allocation limit is reached, then no further water can be allocated within the class. However, water within the class can become available to allocate again. Other provisions in the MEP address that situation (see Issue 5I). [R] Policy 5.3.7 – Allocate water to irrigation users on the basis of a nine in ten year water demand for the crop/pasture. The irrigation of crops and pasture is designed to offset shortages of soil-water experienced over the drier months of the year. The aim is to provide for the water demand of the plant by supplementing rainfall. Crop and pasture demand for water therefore varies season to season 5 – 13