Are Auckland’s water woes ‘just a drought’?

The water supply in New Zealand’s largest city is at its lowest for 26 years and the alarm bells are ringing. Todd Niall reports.

Watercare’s partial autonomy includes being completely funded by its own tariffs and charges, needing only the approval of council to move those annually in line with rates increases.

Critics of the council controlled-organisations (CCO) model argue a lack of political accountability – although an independent review of the model is also currently looking at whether councillors have made the most of the powers they have.

‘‘We should have been better informed and better prepared. 2017 (when storms contaminated the main storage lake) and 2019 (the drought) should have slapped us into action,’’ Darby said.

Taylor, who had a key political role on the ARC during the 1993-94 crisis and a stint on Watercare’s board, supported the CCO model.

‘‘I don’t subscribe to the ‘it would be better if council took it over’ theory,’’ he said.

‘‘We should be rolling out that system (CCOs) nationally with maybe three or four entities instead of the plethora of local councils that have got themselves into trouble,’’ said Taylor.

Some councillors have been critical of Watercare’s response to the shortage and will meet the company in a meeting on Tuesday in Mayor Goff’s office.

e need rain,’’ said Watercare’s Jaduram.

‘‘We are trying to get demand down – that won’t save us, but that will help us – it buys us time until hopefully the rain comes.’’

Big commercial users have swung in behind the restraint call.

Brewer Lion NZ said it had cut water use by up to 30 per cent at its major East Tamaki plant.

A spokesperson for drinks maker Coca-Cola Amatil said among a range of other moves, it was ‘‘exploring the ability for our non-Auckland manufacturing plants to pick up additional products and volumes’’.

Roadmaker and infrastructure firm Fulton Hogan has switched from filling up tankers via fire hydrants from the city network to seeking out sources in quarries, and by installing a tank tapped into a bore at its Mt Wellington base.

Watercare returned in May to the city’s first public bulk water supply at Western Springs, taking water from the lake to supply cleaning and other firms who do not need drinking-standard water.

‘‘Auckland won’t run out of water – at worst if there is no rain, we will still have 170 million litres a day,’’ (mostly from Waikato River) Jaduram told a media conference.

But that ‘‘worst’’ could see the city move to stage 3 restrictions, which might shut big commercial users for one day a week, at a time when commerce is trying to recover from the Covid-19 lockdown.

‘‘If there’s low rain in winter and summer you’re going to have much greater restraint on industry and higher voluntary compliance from Aucklanders,’’ said Goff.

‘‘If everyone saves a little now, it will make a difference.’’

Everyone is agreed a major re-set is required on how Auckland beefs up its future water supply.

Darby has proposed councillors and Watercare hold a major workshop – tentatively set for July – on how to thrash out a way ahead.

Jaduram and Goff have both talked about additional sources, such as treatment of ‘‘grey’’ or wastewater into drinking-quality water – an approach Goff said is a major contributor in Singapore.

The pair and Taylor have also talked about a desalination plant, which turns sea water into drinking water, similar to six major plants in Australia.

De-salination is costly and energy-hungry technology with Victoria’s costing $4 billion to build, and on completion in 2012 was put on standby until needed from 2017 onwards. For the 2020-21 year it will supply 125 billion litres, nearly a quarter of the state’s needs.

In the longer term, Auckland needs consent to double its Waikato River take.

It applied to the Waikato Regional Council in 2013 but the Resource Management Act requires a first-in, first-heard process and Auckland has moved from 130 in the queue to 89 today, according to Goff.

He first wrote to the Environment Minister in April 2020, seeking a law change allowing applications to be dealt with in order of urgency or priority.

The council’s hastily re-cut budget for 2020-21 to reflect a $525 million Covid-19 hit, notes ‘‘Watercare may need to soon invest $50m to $180m in critical water supply infrastructure to make sure Auckland doesn’t run out of safe, reliable drinking water’’.

All agree that conversations about water will need public input, deciding what level of security of supply is wanted, and can be paid for.

The current theoretical one-in-200-year drought standard will be shattered by climate change, expected to bring more frequent extreme dries as well as more extreme deluges.

A review of how the current drought has been handled is already being talked about.