Publicly available information on the McAdies regional council permits that were approved by ORC staff and presented to the consents committee follow (stripped down version). These show that Glass Earth has permission to obtain up to 10 litres/sec of water from its own bore(s), and will discharge into a treatment pond and holding ponds. The approximate location of the site is about 1km from the mapped end of German Hill Road.

REPORT from Otago Regional Council (ORC)
Document Id: A158365
Report No: 2009/1384
Prepared For: Consents Committee
Prepared By: Julene Ludlow, Manager Resource Management Administration
Date: 3 November 2009
Subject: Resource Management Administration Report from Saturday 26th
September 2009 to Friday 30 October 2009 inclusive
__________________________________________________ ___________________
1. Project E.1 – Resource Consent Application Processing
40 new applications, 1 transfer of site and 3 variations to conditions were received during this period. The types of applications received are shown in Appendix 1. Applications for land use consents to drill a bore made up the majority of new applications received.

1.3 Consents Decided
The table of consents decided between Saturday 26th September 2009 to Friday 30 October is attached as Appendix 2. There were a total of 24 consents decided; none were either limited notified or publicly notified. In the case of water take decisions, the rates of take for those decided consents are included in Appendix 3.

Appendix 2 (includes)

2009.169 23/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Water Permit] - Under Take
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To take groundwater water for non-consumptive use for the purpose of operating a gold recovery plant. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Road and Jones Road, Poolburn, Central Otago

2009.170 20/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Discharge Permit] - Water
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To discharge water containing sediment to water in a processing pond and storage ponds for the purpose of operating a gold recovery plant. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Road and Jones Road, Poolburn, Central Otago

2009.171 23/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Land Use Permit] - Bores
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To construct up to three bores for the purpose of accessing groundwater. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Rd and Jones Rd, Poolburn, Central Otago

Appendix 3
Water Take decisions made between 26 September and 30 October 2009
Consent Number Holder Rate (l/s)
2006.402 Borst Holdings Limited 40
2009.169 Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited 10
2009.219 Watson I S Watson P M 5
2009.296 Aitkens Folly Vineyard Limited 1.5
2009.309 Highground Land Company Limited 0.15
This looks like a very tidy self-contained setup, and GEL are by no means the biggest possible water user in this batch of consents.