Sweetwater critics not convinced

Big doubts over council water project's viability

Critics of the Far North District Council's tapping into the aquifer at Sweetwater remain unconvinced that the scheme will work, and expect to learn in the coming weeks that the council has wasted millions of dollars.

Kaitaia businessman Murray Harrison, contractor Bryce McDonald and Cr Mate Radich agreed yesterday that the project hinged on a second round of testing of the bore, now expected to begin this week, but they were not expecting the news to be good, for the council or its ratepayers.

Mayor Wayne Brown said last week that the new testing had been commissioned in response to concerns expressed by "various locals" (Sweetwater plan 'on track,' August 6), but Mr Harrison said on the third and final day of what should have been seven days of the first round of testing the bore had begun "spitting air".

"The aquifer wasn't recharging fast enough to keep it going," he said.

Further, the Northland Regional Council resource consent allowed for two bores, which he did not believe would produce enough water to meet Kaitaia's daily need of 3000 cubic metres. Any effort to lift the flow towards that level would see the bore cave in.

"The council needs a full bore field, with bores at least 500 metres apart," he said.

"What they're doing now just won't work.

"The plan makes no mention of holding tanks, which suggests that they're going to pump the water all the way to the reservoir in Okahu Road (some 13 kilometres). That means they're going to need a lot of pumps. And they will still have to store the water to get rid of the sand."

Mr Harrison said he was not opposed to the Sweetwater proposal, but it had to be done properly. And it would be reckless to spend anything on the pipe to Kaitaia until the council was satisfied that the bore was working properly and would deliver the quantity needed.

"They've already spent $2.6 million, and all we've got to show for that is a rusty pipe sticking out of the ground," Mr Harrison said.

He also claimed that he could prove that the original testing of the bore had not be conducted properly. Neighbouring bores had not been monitored, he said, and the new testing would have no value unless it was conducted for the full seven days, with proper monitoring.

Mr McDonald, whose concerns also included the potential for salt water intrusion to the aquifer, said the NRC consent allowed for the taking of up to 5000 cubic metres daily. He claimed that the council planned to sink multiple bores over a much bigger area than the four hectares it proposed to buy, apparently contrary to the resource consent.

Meanwhile Cr Radich said he had been asking the council for a break-down of the project's costs so far for the best part of two months, and had had no response.

All three also believed that Kaitaia's Kauri dam could continue to provide all the water the town needed for the foreseeable future, and could be raised to increase its capacity for a fraction of what sweetwater was expected to cost.

None believed that the algal problem the council had repeatedly proffered as the reason for not using the dam was genuine, and disputed claims from the council that the dam was unsound.

"The water can easily be treated, the dam can be raised or a small dam can be added at comparatively little cost, and we know that over during the last drought it never stopped overflowing," Mr McDonald said.

"Obviously we will be looking closely at the results of this new testing at Sweetwater, but we believe the council has a lot to answer for."