KEY POINTS:
A report on New Zealand's water supplies has called for the mandatory use of water meters in households as a way of managing the resource.
The Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand (IPENZ) believes mandatory universal water meters should be introduced to limit the use of water.
Tim Davin, the institution's director of policy, said New Zealanders had to move away from the attitude of thinking water should be freely available as of right. Instead they should be treating it as a valuable and limited natural resource if they wanted the country to remain sustainable and prosperous, he said.
Mr Davin said for years New Zealand had been well endowed with water resources and used them as if they were in unlimited supply.
But the rapidly increasing demand, which has accelerated in the last 20 years, was placing those resources at risk. "New Zealanders need to stop taking water for granted and treat it as a valuable natural resource in the same way other countries regard minerals or oil."
In its report launched yesterday, IPENZ said economic instruments were needed to control contamination, allocate water and manage demand.
"For example, one way to change our behaviours and treating water as an unlimited resource is to have a mandatory introduction of universal water meters that charge for water consumption."
Mr Davin said evidence showed that consumers with water meters used 40 per cent less water than those without.
Mr Davin said the entire water cycle lacked central leadership.
Presently water allocation and management was limited to the Resource Management Act while Government leadership was limited to the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Health, each having a narrow interest.
The report also recommended tradeable and transferable water rights for commercial users with annual resource rentals. Nutrient trading should be introduced to price contamination of waterways.
