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The benefits from the type of work included in the Lake Taupo Management Zone (river management, flood protection, soil conservation and catchment oversight) are discussed in sections 4 to 9.

The relative benefits to landowners for soil conservation are not as substantial in the Lake Taupo Management Zone as in the Reporoa or Paeroa Range Soil Conservation schemes of the Upper Waikato Management Zone. This is because the high value of benefits for Lake Taupo, such as water quality, makes on-farm benefits relatively less significant. Also there are more dairying operations in the Paeroa Range and Reporoa Scheme areas and therefore per hectare production is generally valued higher.

King Country Energy Ltd benefits from the reduced incidence of sedimentation in Kuratau Hydro Lake. There are significant non-financial benefits from the scheme in the form of water quality effects, particularly for tourism, angling, other recreational uses and domestic water supplies. The off-site benefits are considered to be higher than for other schemes and are gained by people from outside the management zone. For that reason a greater contribution from Regional ratepayers is appropriate.

The Tauranga-Taupo work primarily benefits landowners in and around the settlements of Oruatua and Te Rangiita and on adjacent farmland.

The beneficiaries of the Tongariro River works are primarily those with property in the Turangi township and adjacent land.

However, Council recognises that there are wider benefits to the Taupo area from both the Tauranga - Taupo and Tongariro works. As a consequence of this, Council resolved to adjust the budgets and funding policy for these works and for river management in the Lake Taupo Zone to allow the costs to be spread more widely. These changes are detailed in Appendix 6.

When developing its Funding Policy for work of this nature, Council engages independent technical experts to advise on the identification of beneficiaries and contributors for each activity, along with the extent of benefit and contribution. These experts base their analysis on the principles outlined in sections 4 and 5 of this document. Where Council has previously developed and consulted on existing funding policies, that previous work is taken into account when considering future funding policies. The beneficiaries and contributors, and extent of benefit and contribution are as set out in Section 16.