District Council Notes

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.  These lines from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge could well have been applied to Martinborough over the past 3 weeks and emphasise how critical water is for us. The fact that Martinborough was on a ‘boil water’ notice was far from ideal but it does highlight that the systems are in place to deal with the situation when something does go wrong.  It also shows that the spotlight is on small councils to step up and invest further in ensuring potable water supplies are as safe as they possibly can be.  The government is expecting them to have a belt and braces approach and have said in no uncertain terms that they will legislate to achieve this. This leaves SWDC with the conundrum of how it supplies a secure and treated supply from a system that when set up, was also expected to supply water for irrigation to vineyards.  This requires investment, not just in plant and pipes but also in a broader knowledge base to supplement the expertise it already has in-house. SWDC is not alone in its dilemma as all council water supplies, large and small, are under the spotlight following on from the Havelock North contamination in August 2016.  

One model that the government is interested in is one that already exists on the other side of the Remutaka’s – Wellington Water.  This organisation was established in September 2014 as a result of a merger between Capacity Infrastructure Services and Greater Wellington Regional Council’s bulk water supply group.  It is owned by the Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington city councils and Greater Wellington Regional Council. The councils are all equal shareholders.

The role of Wellington Water is to manage the drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services of its council owners but the ownership of the assets and supplies remain in the councils’ hands.  The benefits of this model are many including access to a broad range of expertise and a joined up approach to planning.  While a few people may worry about this being a step towards privatisation of water, they need to realise that this is simply not permitted under our legislation.

There is an opportunity for SWDC to join Wellington Water and I urge you to talk to your local councillors about it.  If you’d like to know more about Wellington Water I’m happy to help or you can visit their website www.wellingtonwater.co.nz 

In days gone by we may have drunk tank water with bird poo in it and got away with it but I suspect we all now expect our town water supplies to be safe for everyone, every day.

Adrienne Staples