ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTIONS

• Our generation facilities are internally audited on a regular basis against resource consent and other regulatory requirements, as well as against Mercury company procedures. We assess for environmental incident readiness, and to obtain feedback from our station personnel. The learnings from these audits are recorded and used to improve our environmental management system.   

GEOMORPHOLOGY SURVEYS

• Since the Waikato River Hydro Scheme resource consent were granted in 2006, surveys have been undertaken on a five-yearly basis to monitor the extent of Waikato River and lakes geomorphic changes. The surveys help to understand the movements and impacts of sediment in the hydro lakes or river channel.   
• In Lake Taupō, the foreshore is surveyed annually and helps us and others understand how various factors affect the lake edge, particularly beach and foreshore geomorphology.  
• The results of these surveys are peer reviewed by independent experts, and results are reported to Waikato Regional Council and other agencies, partners and stakeholders.

ECOLOGICAL MONITORING

• We engage specialist consultants to undertake a range of ecological monitoring programmes around our sites. These include regular surveys for flora, fauna and avifauna.  
• At our geothermal sites we monitor for rare geothermal plant species and assess for species diversity and density. We also monitor long term trends in geothermal surface features such as chemistry, temperatures and appearance.  
• At the Waikato hydro lakes we undertake regular bird species counts and assess breeding success, measure wetland extents and composition, and monitor for aquatic macrophytes and invertebrates. 
• Around our windfarms we undertake a range of monitoring relating to bird species, changes in vegetation and monitoring the success of native restoration projects.  
• All of these surveys are undertaken by expert consultants, with the results reviewed by independent peer review panels, before the results are shared with our regulators and partners.  

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES

• Sustainability is a key element of Mercury’s energy generation operations.  The catchments and geothermal fields we operate in are carefully managed and monitored to ensure that these resources can be used by future generations. 
• An extensive range of monitoring activities are undertaken in geothermal fields including surface and subsurface surveys.  These include detailed ground level surveys, physical and chemical studies of geothermal features, gravity and seismic surveys, and fresh and geothermal aquifer conditions.  
• At the Waikato Hydro lakes Mercury supports iwi partners with an elver catch and release programme to enable tuna breeding.    

RESOURCE CONSENTS

• Most of our sites have 35 year term consents, including the Waikato Hydro Scheme, development geothermal fields and stations, and our wind farms.  Mercury works hard to ensure it meets its resource consent and other statutory or regulatory obligations.  It has council-approved management plans for how it uses environmental resources.  Our consent conditions and management plans are regularly reviewed by the relevant authorities and we aim to be assessed as having high levels of compliance every year. 

OTHER

• Mercury collaborates with tangata whenua and key stakeholders, to seek positive outcomes for the environment and communities.  Many of the monitoring activities above are also used to inform local communities and stakeholders about the health of natural resources utilised by Mercury in its operations.  
• Mercury has a specialist response team that can be mobilised to address environmental incidents on the Waikato Hydro lakes, river and stations or at Geothermal stations and fields.  This team is specialist trained in spill response and has boats, pumps and other specialist clean-up equipment and materials at its disposal.