Would a three-year Three Waters trial for councils be a way to appease them about the reforms? Photo / NZME
Would a three-year Three Waters trial for councils be a way to appease them about the reforms? Photo / NZME
Opinion
OPINION:
It's six years since the Havelock North gastro outbreak, and Hawke's Bay councils have not been sitting on their hands waiting for central government to tell the region what to do.
Since 2017, the councils have been collaborating to ensure they provide safe drinking water, with each council retainingownership of water assets and sharing their institutional knowledge.
Napier's bores have been upgraded, bore heads have been raised above ground, and protection zones operate around each bore.
Two new bores have been drilled to replace the bores that released discoloured water as a result of the chlorine oxidising with some of the minerals in the water.
Land has been bought for new reservoirs. A leak detection programme started in 2020 should be completed by the end of 2022, providing accurate data to determine what parts of the reticulation network need to be replaced.
Pauline Doyle of Guardians of the Aquifer. Photo / NZME
Unlike Wellington, Napier's network is not decrepit.
In 2019, the Department of Internal Affairs saw Hawke's Bay as a potential Three Waters model for other regions, but the Government has dismissed this option.
In a reaction to the Havelock North gastro outbreak, many councils started to chlorinate their town supplies, introducing a new - and in my opinion, overly sensitive - E. coli testing regime.
Previously, council only took action for E. coli counts above 10 "colony forming units" per 100 millilitires. But after Havelock North, anything above zero required action.
In Napier, positive E. coli results were consistently "on the edge of detection" and the CEO ordered permanent chlorination of the city's water supply.
Yes, we definitely need a new Water Regulator, but they need to use a credible E. coli water-testing regime.
The problem in August 2016 was that Hastings District Council ignored repeated requests by the local Drinking Water Assessors to raise bore heads above ground after the 1998 outbreak in Havelock North.
In 2013, former mayor Lawrence Yule challenged the need for water upgrades.
But since the 2017 change of mayor and CEO, the council is now on target with its comprehensive upgrades.
The Government now faces a new army of increasingly uncooperative mayors.
The new mayor of Dunedin believes that the infrastructure put in the ground should belong to the people above it.
However, the Water Services Entities bill blurs the edges around ownership of water assets, claiming that, as so-called shareholders, "councils will own the entities on behalf of their communities".
If you own assets you can borrow against them to raise loans. But the bill requires all councils to hand over their water assets so the new "water entities" can borrow the estimated $185 billion to fund their work.
Local councils will no longer have the ability to borrow against their water assets because ownership will have been transferred to another "owner".
Who will own the water assets under the Three Waters reforms? Not your local council.
The Water Services Entities bill is set to be pushed through Parliament before Christmas, with the water entities to begin operations in July 2024.
But there's an election before then, and National and ACT have both promised full repeal.
The Green Party's Eugenie Sage says the Government should pause until it can get a consensus.
Perhaps it's time for a three-year trial of councils' current water services, with the new Water Regulator ensuring they fully comply with the NZ Drinking Water Standards.
A "Three Waters" Advisery and Capital Works Funding Agency to support local councils who are struggling would be a bonus.
Such action would demonstrate that this Government is listening.
Three Waters reforms are a trainwreck. Time to step on the brakes.
* Pauline Doyle is a spokesperson for Guardians of the Aquifer, a lobby group advocating for safe chlorine-free water in Hawke's Bay.
