B-1 - Area 1, Coromandel Forest Park – Assessment of Environmental Effects 105 freshwater bodies within Area 1 will be managed in accordance with Objective 3.14 and associated Policy 8.3. The increasing demand and competition for water is managed via Policy 8.6 through the setting of allocation limits and other regional plan mechanisms which achieve the freshwater objectives identified in the RPS. While this policy is most relevant to regional plan promulgation, it is noted that: The WUG and WUG tunnel is not located within any specific aquifer management area. The groundwater take is therefore assumed to be from the Otahu catchment (for the purposes of assessing groundwater availability). The take remains well within the groundwater availability identified by GWS for the Otahu Catchment.27 As noted earlier, there will be no measurable change in the natural flow regime, water quality or soil regolith as a result of dewatering activities.28 The groundwater take associated with Area 1 will therefore not create an impediment for the WRC achieving Objective 3.15 or associated Policy 8.6. 7.5.1.3 Indigenous Biodiversity Objective 3.19 seeks that the full range of ecosystem types, their extent and the indigenous biodiversity that those ecosystems can support exists in a healthy and functional state. The key policies that seek to implement Objective 3.19, as relevant to Area 1, are Policies 11.1 and 11.2. They direct the following: Promote positive indigenous biodiversity outcomes to maintain the full range of ecosystem types and maintain or enhance their spatial extent as necessary to achieve healthy ecological functioning of ecosystems;29 Significant indigenous vegetation and the significant habitats of indigenous fauna should be protected by ensuring the characteristics that contribute to its significance are not adversely affected to the extent that the significance of the vegetation or habitat is reduced.30 The effects of works within Area 1 on CFP are described in Section 5.2 of this AEE and in detail in the Boffa Miskell (2022b) report. For the purposes of evaluating the proposal against the aforementioned policy directives, the primary effects associated with activities 27 Policy 8.6(c), Waikato Regional Policy Statement. 28 Policy 8.6(c), Waikato Regional Policy Statement. 29 Policy 11.1, Waikato Regional Policy Statement. 30 Policy 11.2, Waikato Regional Policy Statement.
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