Stormwater network discharge consent (NDC)

Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department is responsible for the management of the public stormwater system. The management of stormwater and its effects on the environment contributes  to Auckland Council’s strategic goals.

Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department is responsible for the management of the public stormwater system. The management of stormwater and its effects on the environment contributes  to Auckland Council’s strategic goals.

The Regionwide Stormwater Network Discharge Consent (NDC) is a key tool in managing and integrating land uses, stormwater discharges and the region’s built and natural water assets. The NDC authorises the diversion and discharge of stormwater from the current and future public stormwater network in the urban area.

To account for the complexity of urban stormwater, the NDC outlines objectives, outcomes and targets (as per Schedule 2) for each of the following urban issues: assets, growth, flooding, stream, coastal and groundwater health, effects on the wastewater network and collaborative outcomes. The NDC also sets out stormwater management requirements for development to ensure that the network achieves these objectives.

The NDC was granted by consent order in 2019, following a publicly notified resource consent application, with hearings conducted by independent commissioners and an appeal to the Environment Court. 

Click here to view the full consent document & appendices.

The NDC authorises:

• existing diversions and discharges of stormwater from the public network within the urban area;
• new or modified diversions and discharges that result from upgrading the stormwater network; 
• future diversions and discharges that result from the extension of the public network to service intensification and greenfield growth;

All authorisations are subject to the conditions of the consent. 

The NDC does not authorise diversions and discharges of stormwater that: 

• do not enter or exit a public network 
• are into or from a combined sewer network 
• are private or from a private network (i.e.no public assets/not into public network) 
• are in or from rural zoned areas, including the Future Urban Zone 
• are from existing or new road networks that discharge directly to a stormwater network not owned and operated by Auckland Council, and/or that discharge directly to a freshwater or coastal natural environment, or to ground. 
• are not stormwater (e.g., contaminants from ITA sites, earthworks sediment etc.). 

The Stormwater NDC does not:  

• authorise physical works to construct the stormwater network or management devices, including outfalls, dams, stream works, etc.  
• replace the need for a resource consent under AUP Chapter E9 High contaminant car parks and high use roads.
• replace the need for a resource consent under AUP Chapter E10 Stormwater management areas – Flow 1 and Flow 2. 
• replace the requirement to obtain any approvals under the Stormwater Bylaw or the Building Act 1991, including engineering plan approval.

At the time of granting the NDC, Auckland Council's Healthy Waters department held approximately 116 historic network discharge consents. These have now been surrendered and the authorisations incorporated into the Regionwide NDC. Some of the catchment management plans that supported those consents have been adopted as stormwater management plans (SMP) into the regionwide NDC, this includes all catchment management plans and SMPs approved after 2013. 

Adopted SMPs associated with historic NDCs are included in the SMP layer on GeoMaps. 

The process for the review and surrender of the historic NDCs and adoption of the catchment management requirements is set out in Conditions 17-19 of the Regionwide NDC.

Click here  for the full list of the historic NDCs which have been surrendered and the adoption status of the supporting catchment management plan or SMP.

1.4.1 NDC Reviews

An important element of the NDC is a review process to report on performance and ensure the consent remains relevant over its lifetime. The management of a complex drainage network like Auckland’s is not static, but a process that evolves over time as understanding and technology changes.

The NDC conditions establish a three-year review cycle, with the timing of the reviews intended to precede and inform council’s long-term plan. The reviews comprise:

• a “triennial performance report” which includes a series of updates with some performance analysis; and 
• a “6-yearly report and review” which includes detailed consideration of the performance of the network and is an opportunity to reconsider the overall approach to the best practicable options for managing stormwater as a result. 

1.4.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy

The Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy is the key mechanism for assessing NDC performance.  It establishes how data is collected and used to achieve multiple purposes: 

• assess performance and progress against the objectives and outcomes of the NDC, including the effectiveness of the overall best practicable option.
• input into NDC review cycles so that the management of stormwater evolves to reflect changing circumstances and remains fit for purpose over time.
• understand how the network discharges are impacting the environment and te mauri o te wai.
• provide transparency of the effectiveness and performance of the NDC.
• provide evidence to support planning, decision making and prioritisation of investment decisions within Healthy Waters. 
• inform wider council reporting such as the Long-Term Plan.

The current version of the Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy was prepared in 2024 as an update to earlier versions. It has been certified  by Council's regulatory compliance department. 

Click here to read the Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy

1.4.3 NDC 6 Yearly Review - 2022

In 2022, Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department undertook a comprehensive review of the regionwide stormwater network discharge consent against the objectives and requirements. The review documented overall compliance with the consent and identified several recommendations for ongoing improvements. 

This review incorporated feedback from mana whenua, the stormwater industry, local boards and community. The review was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the conditions of the Regionwide NDC and has been certified by Council's regulatory compliance department. 

Get the  summary document or read the full review.

Ensuring critical information is easily perceived. Stormwater diversion and discharge from development can be authorised under the council’s consent if it meets the NDC requirements, instead of developers needing to obtain a private discharge consent. 

Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department work closely with developers to determine how best to provide effective stormwater management for their development and meet the NDC requirements. This collaboration ensures that the significant stormwater assets and other facilities built on behalf of the community and vested to the council, are high quality and fit for purpose, and that the network achieves the outcomes of the NDC.

Developers who wish to have the stormwater diversion and discharge associated with their proposal authorised by the NDC will need to demonstrate that they meet the connection requirements in the consent, these are found in Schedule 4. Click here to download the connection requirements (Schedule 4) 

Although diversion into the public stormwater network is a permitted activity in the AUP (E8.4.1(A1)), connections still must meet the performance requirements of the NDC. This is required by the Stormwater Bylaw  (2015) so that network operations perform to a level that enables Healthy Waters to comply with the NDC and achieve the environmental outcomes of the consent. 

There are different performance requirements for different development scenarios: 

• Large brownfield and all greenfield developments require a Stormwater management plan (SMP) to be prepared and then adopted 
• Small brownfield developments must meet the Schedule 4 requirements and no SMP is required
• Where there is already an adopted SMP, all development must comply with that SMP to be authorised under the NDC. 

Adopted SMPs can be found on Auckland Council’s GeoMaps viewer and copies are available on request. Link to Adopted SMP section of page. The process of getting a SMP adopted under the NDC occurs in parallel to the process of applying for other resource consents. 

To avoid delays it is essential to discuss the content of the SMP and the proposed stormwater management with Healthy Waters well in advance of lodging resource consents or a plan change. 

Link to Resource Consents Practice and guidance note  “Stormwater Network Discharge Consent Process for Resource Consents”

Please email us at HWDevelopment@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

A Stormwater Management Plan (SMP) must meet all Schedule 4 requirements and be consistent with Schedule 2 to be adopted. 

In developing a SMP, the primary objective is to achieve the best practicable option for the long-term management of stormwater from the development area. In addition to site specific constraints, and WSD principles, consideration should also be given to AUP Policy E1.3.10 and the Stormwater Code of Practice.

The BPO for stormwater management should take into consideration the existing hydrological and environmental features of the area and include appropriate use and scaling of Water Sensitive Design, which meet management requirements and integrate appropriately into the proposed urban form of the development.

The BPO for the development considers both the stormwater management principles to be achieved (e.g. flood management strategy, water quality performance) and the methods proposed to achieve those principles (i.e. device types and locations). The amount of detail and specificity required in an SMP will vary depending on the scale and timing of the SMP. 

Healthy Waters will work collaboratively with applicants to establish the BPO for their development site and to ensure proposed infrastructure is appropriate. Please refer to the SMP explanatory guidance document for further details of the BPO assessment.

Provisional approval of SMPs may be given where the SMP meets the adoption requirements, but the associated regulatory process (plan change, resource consent) is still ongoing and subject to change. For example, prior to a plan change hearing. Once the plan change or resource consent is complete and approved the SMP will be adopted if there are no changes.  

Download the guidance notes for the preparation and content of an SMP 

Click here  to download the connection requirements (schedule 4) 

Click here to download Schedule 2

We always appreciate hearing from you, please email us if you have any comments or feedback on the template or guidance notes. 

Stormwater management plans (SMPs) that have been adopted into the NDC are incorporated into Schedule 10, which is the register of all adopted SMPs. Where the SMP has been adopted, the development must comply with that SMP to be authorised under the NDC. The location and extent of adopted SMPs can be viewed on Auckland Council GeoMaps by opening the “Catchment and Hydrology” layer under the “Environment” theme button.

To request a full copy of an SMP please email us at HWDevelopment@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Click here to open Geomaps  

Click here for guides to using GeoMaps