Nelson barrister Camilla Owen has been appointed chair of the five-member special tribunal to consider the Waikoropupū Springs application for a Water Conservation Order.

Ms Owen was admitted in December 1987 and has worked for the Crown Law Office and Duncan Cotterill. She has been convenor of the New Zealand Law Society's Environmental Law Committee, a president of the Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand and was a founding author of Brookers Resource Management Law.

Public submissions on the WCO application will be called in September, with hearings scheduled for later this year. The special tribunal will then make a recommendation to the Minister for the Environment, which can be appealed to the Environment Court.

The final decision, expected next year, will be made by the Minister for the Environment.