Fresh look at water options

TROUBLED WATER: Back in 2010 former Far North mayor Wayne Brown and potential Kaitaia water supplier Tony Hayward were toasting the prospects of a plan to take water from the aquifer at Sweetwater.

The Far North District Council (FNDC) will review all options - including desalination - to secure an adequate water supply for Kaitaia, including further scrutiny of the Sweetwater aquifer project which has so far cost ratepayers $2.6 million for little progress.

The council has set up a Kaitaia Water Reference Group to liaise with the community and interest groups and work to resolve existing risks to the water supply scheme in drought conditions.

The new group will be led and co-chaired by Kaikohe-Hokianga representative Cr John Vujcich and Te Hiku representative Cr Dave Collard, who are also the chairman and deputy chairman respectively of the council's infrastructure committee.

They will be supported on the reference group by Te Hiku representative Cr Colin Kitchen and Te Hiku Community Board chairman Lawrie Atkinson.

Mayor John Carter and Cr Mate Radich, who have water bores in the aquifer, were not considered for the reference group to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

Cr Vujcich said the reference group's first function would be to liaise with the community to ensure there was proper consultation and a sustainable and cost-effective solution would be reached.

"We have been told repeatedly that ever since an alternative Kaitaia supply source was first proposed that the community has in the main been excluded. We want to put this right and ensure it is not a closed shop in future," he said.

"Secondly, the group will make sure all alternatives have been thoroughly examined. That includes the current supply from the Okahu Dam, the water source from the Awanui River, other streams and rivers which may be options, the use of household tanks and of course the Aupouri aquifer."

There could be far better sites than Sweetwater to access aquifers on land the council already owns much closer to town, without the risk of saltwater intrusion and with electricity supplies close to hand that need to be explored, Cr Vujcich said.

"In addition, we will be investigating whether desalination is an option," he said.

"A new Northland Regional Council report indicates the risk of saltwater contamination of the aquifer is unknown and methods could be adopted to monitor this risk. However, there still needs to be more work done and we need to proceed with caution."

The reference group needed a clear understanding of the reasons for the $2.6 million the previous council spent on the Sweetwater project and what impact this could have moving forward.

"A lot of money has been spent and at the moment we are struggling to see value for money," Cr Vujcich said.

Asked what the council had obtained for the $2.6 million spent at Sweetwater, about 12km north of Kaitaia, he said a bore had been sunk, but the site had access and other problems which needed sorting.

Aspects of Sweetwater spending concerned councillors elected in 2013. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was called in and spent a year investigating FNDC finances between 2009-13. Earlier this month a SFO report found some councillors and staff had failed to follow rules on project governance and use of ratepayers' money, but insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges against anyone.

It is understood legal requirements prevent council disclosure of details of the Sweetwater spending which led to the SFO inquiry.

Cr Vujcich said this information could emerge later, when the reference group held public meetings in the Te Hiku ward to tell ratepayers how it was going toward setting up a reliable water supply for Kaitaia residents, the Juken triboard mill, dairy farm irrigation - including the three Landcorp dairy farms at Sweetwater - and horticulture now and in the future.