A water crisis we all have a hand in fixing

Tuesday, 23 January 2024

Wellington Water staff work to repair a water leak in the city centre. The organisation is faced with a whack-a-mole situation in trying to keep on top of the numerous leaks being reported around the city, writes Heather Roy.

Heather Roy is a professional director and consultant. She is a former ACT Party member of Parliament and minister, and a former reserve force officer in the NZ Army.

OPINION: Every new story about Wellington’s leaky water pipes reminds me of Coleridge’s famous Rime of the Ancient Mariner lines,“Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink”.

Historical data shows there’s no shortage of rain in Wellington. Water falls from the sky and we expect it to magically appear when we turn on the tap. The looming water shortage and restrictions result from many factors including decisions by councils past and present, Wellington Water practices and behaviours of water consumers. They all contribute to the current crisis.

The blame game is well underway. Individual residents have reported leaks for a long time, some for over 10 years. We’re told 45% of the region’s water is lost through leaks. Blame is laid with Wellington Water ( owned and funded by Wellington, Hutt, Porirua, and Upper Hutt city councils, South Wairarapa District and Greater Wellington Regional Council) for not fixing leaks or taking too long to respond.

No organisation is perfect, but that is a mammoth task. One leak is fixed and another emerges in what must seem to Wellington Water like an endless game of whack-a-mole.

The recent run on water storage containers for emergency use suggests many people have learned nothing from natural disasters which left households without a water supply, writes Heather Roy.

Local councils take little responsibility for the crisis, despite water services being a core local government function. They largely blame under-resourcing by previous councils. No doubt there are historical issues, but current councils are not blameless. Recently Wellington City Council refused a request from Wellington Water for $10 million, giving it just $2.3 million, with one councillor declaring little confidence in Wellington Water to deliver. It’s time to drop the sanctimony and start working on solutions.

Dame Kerry Prendergast was Mayor of Wellington for most of the time I was a Wellington-based list MP in the early 2000s. She offered regular briefings to local MPs and I can’t recall a single meeting where she didn’t raise water concerns, both for Wellington city and the wider region. Even then pipes in the region were leaking. Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater – all had problems.

As consumers of a precious commodity we should all feel some responsibility to conserve water all the time. Human nature dictates it’s not until a shortage situation that we take action, like turning the tap off when brushing our teeth. We know what we should do, we just don’t.

It was frustrating recently to see long queues for home water storage tanks as recommended by the area’s emergency management office, with supplies now sold out. Advice is to have 140 litres of water for a week’s use by one person - advice not just for dry spells and leaky pipe scenarios but for any emergency. Have we learnt nothing from the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes? In the Wellington region, with an active fault running through its heart, every household should have adequate water stored for emergency situations – it’s called personal responsibility.

We talk as if councils are completely removed from our orbit. That is a problem. We the people elect them; that is, around 43% of voters elected our current councillors in 2022.

We supposedly vote for those who represent our views, yet few voters research candidates and what they say they will do. The other 57%, most with strong views when something goes wrong, need to get off their backsides and vote. Then they’ll have earned the right to complain.

Central government plays an important part in what happens regionally. Three Waters reform was immediately abandoned by the new Government. I wasn’t a fan, but what is the Government doing instead?

In 2002 the then Labour government bestowed the “power of general competence” on councils through the Local Government Amendment Act. This passed many functions on to councils that government had previously provided, and the funding burden on to ratepayers. The wider focus for councils has detracted from core local government functions … like water.

Twenty years later the result is keenly felt, not just in the Wellington region, but nationwide.

While Wellington Water deals with its whack-a-mole situation, the rest of us play the “Pass the (blame) Parcel” game. Nothing will improve until everyone accepts their part in the solution.

Wellington region councils need to introduce water metering immediately. First this helps locate leaks through measuring water flow to every property. Information is power, allowing early diagnosis of problems. At the moment nothing can be resolved until a leak becomes obvious and often serious.

Other councils have introduced meters, identified problems and only charge when consumption is above a reasonable level.

For those who think they can’t make a difference, we can if we treat water as precious. Observe Wellington Water’s Our wai can run dry campaign. Turn the tap off, and would it really hurt anyone to have a shorter shower?