Water waste double standard?

Friday, 19 January 2024

Questionable sprinkler use from the city’s power brokers is raising the hackles of residents – while the national regulator warns better efforts must be made to avoid a drinking water emergency.

Just days into Level 2 restrictions, which prohibit sprinkler use in residential areas, Wellington City Council and Parliament are being accused of double standards by apparently wasting water on plants and lawns. They are exempt from the rules.

This comes as water regulator Taumata Arowai considers whether to declare an emergency, which would allow Wellington Water to take more water from the Hutt River than permitted under resource consents.

But it expects to see solutions to the ongoing leak problem put in place.

“Before declaring a drinking water emergency, we expect the supplier to have exhausted all other avenues to manage the risks to their supply and a clear and serious risk to public health must be established,” head of regulatory Steve Taylor said.

Taking extra water would not be a sustainable approach, he said.

There is some good news, as chances of worsening water restrictions have reduced significantly, according to Wellington Water’s latest update.

The probability of Level 3 restrictions has reduced from 76% to 60%. Level 4 restrictions have also reduced in probability from 33% to 23%.

Wellington Water said the reduction was due to NIWA’s “slightly improved climate outlook”, as well as the aquifer and storage lakes still being at healthy levels.

Still, concern has grown among residents about the public and commercial use of water sprinklers.

Parliament has had its sprinkler system still in operation to maintain the grounds, while Wellington City Council has implemented a controlled sprinkler and irrigation plan for its grounds.

Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said while Parliament did not have to adhere to the water restrictions for residential properties, it switched off its lawn sprinklers in order to support water conservation.

“Parliamentary Service can confirm that Parliament doesn’t fall under the ‘residential’ or ‘household’ restrictions. However, to support water conservation during this period, the Parliament lawn sprinklers were turned off yesterday (January 17).”

Ian Holmes took particular exception to the watering of a grass median on Lambton Quay, which caused overspray onto the road.

While he understood it was cheaper in the long run to maintain the existing gardens, he objected to “the blatant waste of water”.

“How on earth is this minimising [overflow] when most of the water is ending up on the road and going down the gutters?

“For a start, the sprinkler upstands could be shortened and the water pressure reduced. That would ensure that most of the water stayed within the garden area.”

The council is in charge of 18 irrigated lawn areas, 21 irrigated sports fields, 17 clay cricket blocks, two croquet greens and a golf course.

Council operations manager William Melville said it was a fine line between restricting water use and preserving the grass at sports fields and event spaces so they could still be used across summer and into winter.

“If the grass dies we’d be staring down the barrel of a hefty renovation fee to remove the dead grass, reseed, water, and fertilise the space for regeneration.

“That’s over $1 million worth of renovation.”

Water restriction have caused anxiety and frustration across the region as Wellingtonians prepare for the worst.

Advice was given to set up water storage facilities for homes in case the situation deteriorated, which has left the supplies of water tanks stretched.

At Wellington City Council’s last water tank supply drop, people had waited in the hot sun for up to four hours to get their hands on one of the 60 on offer.

Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said the water tank situation was getting better.

“We're expecting another delivery of about 90 tanks this week. Now that the company is back in full production, we're just going to get regular deliveries for the foreseeable future.”

Inquiries about water tanks were still high.

In Porirua the demand has been so high the council has set up a pre-order system.

In the past six weeks, the council sold 102 of the 200 litre tanks, compared to just 16 over the same period the previous year.

Porirua mayor Anita Baker said the tanks had been “flying out the door” with the contact centre receiving up to 100 calls a day.

“Last week our contact centre was receiving about 100 calls a day about the tanks.

The council had increased its tank order, which would see 90 tanks delivered each week until the end of February.

'While we are working hard with Wellington Water to fix leaks, we all need to play our part by following water restrictions, reducing our water use and having an emergency water supply,' said Baker.

The council will also be turning off two water features in Queens Park that rely on mains water.

Water features that use reticulated water (ones that don’t need additional water added daily) — like the Bucket Fountain and Kelburn Park fountain — will keep running until the water quality deteriorates. They will then be emptied rather than refilled with fresh water.

While parts of the Wellington Region are facing water woes, Kāpiti Coast residents are unaffected by the restrictions.

Kāpiti Coast District Council Infrastructure Services Group Manager Sean Mallon said the introduction of water meters in 2014, coupled with the Waikanae River Recharge scheme and ongoing investment in the district’s water supply network meant there was enough water to manage long dry conditions.

“That being said, we continue to encourage people to use water wisely and to have an emergency water supply on hand should a natural hazard/disaster disrupt our systems.”