The complicated politics of Wellington's water crisis

Wednesday, 24 January 2024

As the threat of indoor water restrictions beckon, Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has set down a meeting date with Local Government Minister Simeon Brown in a bid to stave off the looming crisis.

And tensions are rising between Wellington’s left-leaning councils and the right-leaning National-led Government.

Wellington City, Porirua City, Hutt City and Upper Hutt City councils moved to level 2 water restrictions, and are already preparing for the potential move to level 4, where residents face the scary prospect of indoor usage being restricted.

Got something to say on the Wellington water crisis? Email ryan.anderson@stuff.co.nz

The message so far has been to stock up on water, either by getting a tank or filling up smaller containers/bottles - though, many are unable to do this due to the cost.

Here’s how the situation is playing out:

Whose problem is it?

With the previous government’s Three Waters reforms being scrapped, the problem does end up back in the laps of local councils - although, central government are being forced to act, as they don’t want kiwis to be without water.

According to a spokesperson for Whanau, a meeting with Brown is set to happen on January 29.

The meeting comes after some butting of heads, with Brown writing a sternly worded letter demanding information from Wellington City Council.

The minister requested information on how the councils’ were addressing the water leakage and shortage issues.

“This included asking how councils were actively considering how to fix leakage issues, increasing supply, and how the short-and medium-term activity will be funded,” he said.

“Both mayors failed to respond to the chair of the Wellington Water Committee’s request for this information by the January 17, 2024 deadline. This information was needed for the chair’s response to me.

Brown said he was “disappointed” that Wellington City and Upper Hutt City failed to provide Wellington Water with the required information and had now used his powers under the Local Government Act to formally request information.

What is the actual problem?

Wellington’s water problems aren’t new, with leaks springing up all across the city for the last couple of years as the networks age starts to show.

Underground pipes are estimated to have a life expectancy of 60-80 years, with most NZ towns starting their networks around the 1950s and 1960s.

Because of the leaks springing up around the city, about 40% of Wellington’s water supply – roughly the equivalent of 27 Olympic sized swimming pools – is being wasted each day.

Wellington Council are warning that restrictions could end up at level four - where there would be no outdoor usage, two minute showers and one load of washing per person, per week.

Failed policies:

The most recent effort to solve the problem was devised by the former Labour government, the controversial Three Waters reform, after their study found that most councils were not investing enough in infrastructure.

They estimated that between $120 and $185 billion dollars of investment would be needed over the next 30 years to improve the quality of water management across New Zealand.

It planned on doing this by centralising water management into four entities, rather than let individual councils manage their own water.

The proposal was plagued by controversy and co-governance misinformation and eventually changed to the “affordable water reforms”.

The National party, as part of it’s 100 day plan, promise to scrap the previous governments legislation and set up their own regulations, which would restore council ownership.

Is anything being done to fix the issue?

Leaks are being fixed, but, in the words of Whanau, there is a “long legacy of underinvestment” which has reached a tipping point.

Data, requested under the Official Information Act, shows that urgent leaks were taking around five hours to fix, from the time of being called in, in the year 2023/24.

Non-urgent leaks were taking on average 20 days.

Wellington Water were able to fix 525 pipes in December, but by mid-January, they still had over 2500 on their to-do list.