The Shotover wastewater treatment plant at Frankton. Photo: QLDCDisposing treated wastewater from Queenstown’s troubled Shotover treatment plant over a swathe of the Crown Terrace could cost up to $650 million, a council report says. It concluded that 288ha of land — about 400 rugby fields — would be required to absorb the estimated 2060 peak wet weather flow of 60,000cu m of treated wastewater a day. The land disposal option, which is the strong preference of iwi, was added to the four short-listed options presented to councillors at a December 5 workshop. The disposal field was taken offline when council management invoked emergency powers to begin discharging directly into the Shotover River last March.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 19, 2026 06:56 UTC