Auckland's new dirty-water troubleshooter

By ESTELLE SARNEY

If you are annoyed that your favourite beach is unusable after heavy rain because of sewage overflows, Metrowater has hired someone you can talk to about it.

Mercedes Lentz is the water company's first environmental specialist, assigned to find out what Aucklanders are concerned about regarding water uptake and discharge. She will then work to solve the problems.

Lentz will canvass opinion through questionnaires, community meetings and consultation with interest groups.

"I'll take those concerns back to the people at Metrowater, then return to the community with solutions to ask, 'Are these acceptable to you?' "

Lentz already knows that sewage overflows at beaches "is a biggie" in the minds of coast-hugging Aucklanders.

"If it's just a matter of upgrading an overflow system, that's one thing, but if the problem is happening because that area of the city is growing too fast for the infrastructure to cope, then it won't be rectified overnight.

"But we can put in train a longer-term solution."

Living near the Orakei Basin gives Lentz first-hand evidence of the effects of dirty wastewater.

"I'm pleased to say that the issues people will talk to me about are those I live with too.

"All my neighbours know about my new job so I've become a sounding board within my street as well as for the greater Auckland region."

Lentz moved to New Zealand from Canada four years ago, originally for six months to find out how our then revolutionary Resource Management Act worked.

"But I fell in love with New Zealand and never went back."

An engineer by training, Lentz worked for Environment Canada assessing the impact of contaminants on water quality, the environment and public health.

She also studied water sanitation in developing countries and worked on a water-quality enhancement package offered by Canada to aid the Middle East peace process, at a time when water was a source of conflict in the Middle East.

Since arriving in New Zealand she has worked for environmental consultants Kingett Mitchell and Associates on, among other projects, the Te Rapa dairy factory expansion.

She also spent time with Winstone Aggregates as regional environmental manager, in a role similar to the one she takes on with Metrowater.

"My work focused on Winstone's quarries at Mt Wellington and Three Kings, trying to gain the consents they needed to keep operating while keeping the effects of their work to a minimum and staying sensitive to the expectations of our neighbours.

"We had to develop strong communication with the local communities to try to gain their support, or at least find some middle ground."

The inclusive and interactive nature of the Metrowater job appealed, as did the chance to contribute at a time of change at the water company.

"The community and the environment is part of our core business now," says Lentz, who reports directly to chief executive Graham Coxhead.

"I'm pulling an environmental team together to work with me, and am already consulting with the people who make decisions about infrastructure.

"I'm also talking to the Auckland Regional Council about problems seen by their people so we can start moving forward."