Is it time for water meters in Wellington?

Wellington faces a water shortage with water meters being put forward as one way for the region to cut back – but the city’s politicians are reluctant to confront the issue.

Wellington Water warns Wellington faces water shortages in the future if more of it isn’t found or conserved.

The capital is one of New Zealand’s worst offenders when it comes to the amount it uses. Wellingtonians use significantly more water per person than those in Auckland and Tauranga do, both places with water meters installed.

But a debate over water meters is one many are happy to put off.

While Wellington City councillor, Malcolm Sparrow, thought water pressures in the region mean meters were ‘‘almost inevitable’’, others including Green Party member Iona Pannett, opposed anything that would allow companies to charge for it.

Councillor and city scientist Peter Gilberd said he was ‘‘open’’ to a discussion but was ‘‘not sure on the timing’’, and the city’s mayor, Justin Lester, said meters would not be up for debate ‘‘any time soon’’.

Wellington Water’s Sustainable Case for Water report, which was presented to the water committee in September, warned: ‘‘Current water consumption and a growing population will lead to water shortages by 2040.’’

The report notes 2020 will be spent drawing up plans for options on how to avert the crisis, including through new infrastructure.

But building that infrastructure would be expensive and take 10 years.

Ka¯ piti Coast faced a similar decision in 2003, Ka¯ piti District Council waste and wastewater asset manager Martyn Cole said.

‘‘We were a fast-growing district, the projections were that we were not going to have enough water to supply our communities, so that was the crisis.’’

After a flurry of reports from advisory groups and a heated public debate the region installed the water meters over 19 months from June 2014.

After meters were installed, water usage dropped by more than a quarter during peak hours and expensive water facility upgrades, $36 million worth, were no longer needed.

After the transition two-thirds of Ka¯ piti residents paid less for their water, Cole said.

Water NZ chief executive John Pfahlert said where water was not metered residents paid a flat water charge. Often that was higher than if there were meters.

‘‘The heat tends to go out of the political debate once the meters are installed because people realise that people only pay for what they use.’’

But Pannett said other options should be explored before the public engaged in a ‘‘big conversation’’ about water meters, including educating people to waste less.

‘‘While of course I would accept that for environmental reasons it would get people to be more careful about their water usage, you’ve just got to balance that against what is the potential cost if you then potentially give control by making it possible to charge per unit.’’

Fellow councillor Sparrow said education was an alternative but metering was ‘‘probably going to achieve better results’’.

Lester said he was focused on other issues: transport, the economy, housing, and water supply resilience.

‘‘There will come a point in time when it needs to be considered for water conservation purposes, but it won’t be any time soon.’’

Current water consumption and a growing population will lead to water shortages by 2040.

Sustainable Case for Water report