[1] Water Conservation Orders came about as a result of lobbying by a group of stakeholders in the late seventies.
At that time rivers were managed through the Water & Soil Conservation Act, which was administered by an appointed statutory body (NWASCA) serviced by the Ministry of Works.
The engineers of the Ministry of Works argued that there was no need to legislate further as the Act contained provision for setting Minimum Flows.
There are currently 15 separate Water Conservation Orders:[2] A water conservation order has been proposed for the Hurunui River in the South Island.
Irrigation NZ considers they no longer have relevance, they lock up the water resource and they may bankrupt the nation.