Can Wellington Water be trusted? Region's councils divided

Friday, 26 January 2024

Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy thinks there has been skulduggery over the water crisis.

A ministerial rev-up over the looming crisis has only heightened tensions between the region’s councils on water management, with one mayor accusing others of “skulduggery”.

As increased water restrictions hang over the region, with 60 million litres of drinking water lost every day to leaks, councils cannot agree on whether Wellington Water is doing enough.

For Porirua and Lower Hutt, the answer to the problems with increasingly leaky pipes is more investment in Wellington Water to go towards fixing leaks, replacing old pipes and implementing region-wide water metering.

But Upper Hutt and Wellington have been frustrated with the water entity and are sceptical about throwing more money at the entity, which they do not see as accountable enough.

Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy says there was no question that the letter from Brown was a set-up. There has been “skulduggery at play”, he said.

“Isn’t it coincidental that the two councils who’ve criticised Wellington Water received these letters?”

Guppy has been vocal about problems with Wellington Water for years; the Wellington City Council has slowly come around to a similar perspective, with staff increasingly reluctant to recommend budget amendments and changes to Wellington Water’s funding in light of their concerns the water entity is not accountable or transparent enough.

Mayor Tory Whanau said Wellington was working constructively with Wellington Water and other councils on water infrastructure, but there needed to be accountability for ratepayers “particularly as we continue to invest significant increased funds into water services”.

“Over the past year we have requested more information and better reporting metrics from Wellington Water. In general, they have provided that.

Local leaders are divided over whether Wellington Water needs more accountability or more funding.

“We will continue to work with them to both ensure we are providing adequate funding and that Wellington Water is delivering better outcomes for our ratepayers.”

In contrast, Lower Hutt deputy mayor Tui Lewis said there was a “healthy and very positive” relationship at her council and Porirua mayor Anita Baker said she felt “totally comfortable” with Wellington Water’s performance.

“Slagging them out” was not the answer to the region’s water crisis, Baker said. “How can you ever fix the issue if you’re saying ‘We don’t trust them so we won’t fund them’?”

But Guppy said his job was to question whether Upper Hutt ratepayers were getting value for money before spending ‒ and he didn’t believe they were.

Wellington Water would come to Upper Hutt City Council with requests for increased funding, despite not having delivered on the planned capital programme with the money it already had.

“We have always had problems with a lack of delivery from Wellington Water. I have a responsibility to question that and make sure ratepayers are getting value for money.”

Last year Wellington City Council commissioned Australian firm FieldForce4 to analyse Wellington Water’s performance. Guppy said he looked forward to seeing the full report.

A leaked version (the final version has not yet been published or provided to councillors) raised serious concerns about soaring costs and inefficiency at the water entity, but was criticised as a distraction from the water crisis by Wellington Water chief executive Tonia Haskell.

The concerns it raises were not shared by two of the shareholding councils, Porirua and Lower Hutt.

To Baker, it was disappointing to see Wellington separating itself from the region’s other councils by commissioning the report of its own accord, without letting the rest of the Wellington Water committee know.

Wellington had acted like it was not part of the region in commissioning the report, and she’d been disappointed to see it.

“We jointly own Wellington Water and have to make it work. The buck stops with the councils.”

She pointed out that Wellington Water took guidance and funding from the councils, so its performance was a reflection of how well it was being supported.

Porirua City Council frequently met with staff from Wellington Water and had open, honest conversations, she said. That included criticising them when they were not happy with performance.

“If we can make it work why can’t other councils?”

Likewise, Lewis of Lower Hutt said there was a “high-trust model” where Hutt City Council could talk face to face with Wellington Water about problems and challenges.

Wellington Water was in the unenviable position of being faced with a crisis and not having the necessary level of funding to deal with it, Lewis said.

“It would be nice if all councils saw the same issues as we did, but that’s up to them.”

Wellington Water did not respond to a request for comment.