$10m blowout for Om¯aroro reservoir

Costs for a critical water reservoir in Wellington have escalated by $9.9m, partially due to Covid-19.

The budget blowout for the Oma¯ roro Reservoir, which has been called ‘‘unsettling’’, will be considered by Wellington City councillors next week.

Councillor Sean Rush said the project was desperately needed.

‘‘The city is in a very, very precarious situation in the case of a seismic event.

‘‘Water is absolutely critical.’’ Currently, Wellington has just one day of stored water for the central area without Oma¯ roro.

The $9.9m increase has been blamed on ‘‘unforeseen’’ changes to seismic standard, costing $8.5m and delays caused by Covid-19, costing $1m, a report from Wellington Water says.

Rush said he still wanted the project to have support from the council.

‘‘I expect the business case will still stack up.’’

The council’s improved plan for the reservoir, in the Prince of Wales Park, would see it survive a major earthquake. A significant shake capable of damaging Oma¯roro is likely within its lifetime.

Oma¯ roro has been identified as a candidate for the Government’s Covid-19 financial support, possibly in the form of loan funding.

‘‘If we can get the Government to chip in as part of a shovel ready project, then that would be great.’’

Wellington Water continues to work on the Oma¯roro Reservoir Pipelines Project in Mount Cook, installing pipelines to connect the planned Prince of Wales reservoir to the city network, and making the water supply more resilient to disaster and disruption.

Rush said he’d expected the costs to balloon even more, up to $30m.

The $10m increase would not be immediately passed down to ratepayers, but spread out over a number of years, he said.

Wellington Water anticipates that Oma¯roro will support forecasted population growth of up to 46,000 people by 2066.

The updated total estimate for the project is $68.1m, according to a report from Wellington Water.

‘‘This large increase in cost was unsettling for everyone,’’ it says.

It also asks councillors to agree to delay the Moe-i-te-Ra¯ (Bell Road) reservoir project to alleviate the cost.

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons said the budget blow-out and the suggested deferral of the Bell Road reservoir raised major questions.

‘‘Wellington is facing a historic deficit of underfunding in our core infrastructure, the current model of out-sourcing projects has led to cost blow-outs, delays and reduced public confidence in the ability to meet the challenges we are facing as a city.’’

Fitzsimons said she questioned the proposed one-year delay to the Bell Road Reservoir project.