River water charge off table
Any suggestion Auckland will pay for Waikato’s water is ‘‘dead in the water’’ after an urgent summit in Hamilton.
But Auckland Mayor Phil Goff maintains he’ll be giving back to the Waikato River, by paying several million dollars in remediation efforts.
Regional and central government leaders reached an ‘‘in principle’’ agreement last night, meaning Auckland will get an additional 75 million litres of water per day (MLD) from the Waikato River.
The parties met to discuss ongoing concerns about Auckland’s take from the river, amid the Super City’s worst drought in 25 years.
Environment Minister David Parker described the meeting as ‘‘amicable’’.
‘‘I think there’s general agreement Auckland needs a short-term solution.’’
The extra water will allow Auckland to maximise new water infrastructure due for completion by August, Parker said.
The 75 MLD is made up of 25 MLD from Hamilton City Council’s water take and an additional 50 MLD from other parties who have spare water in their allocation.
A Board of Inquiry considering a controversial application – in which
Auckland would take 200 million litres a day from the Waikato River – will still go ahead, Parker said.
But that water-take application will likely be lowered if other solutions are found.
The inquiry will look at longer-term options including alternative methods of treating water in Auckland, and treating wastewater.
‘‘There are some underlying issues here that an inquiry might help to take forward,’’ Parker said.
And Waikato River Authority cochair Roger Pikia said their previous suggestion Auckland should pay 10 cents per litre for water had been ruled out.
‘‘No, that’s dead in the water. That’s the point we reached in today’s discussions.
‘‘We’ll find other ways of being able to co-invest back in the river system, and that detail is yet to come out.’’
Goff said the Board of Inquiry forced the parties to ‘‘focus their minds’’.
He repeated his pledge to pay several million dollars to a trust focused on improving the river’s water quality, though an exact amount had not been decided on.
‘‘It’s not about paying for the water, that was not on the table today, but it is about the principle if we take from the river, we want to give back to the river.’’
Goff also said the council and Watercare were looking closely at other options, so they weren’t relying on the Waikato River.
These include wider use of storage tanks, as well as recycling wastewater at treatment plants in Ma¯ ngere and Rosedale.
Waikato Regional Council Chair Russ Rimmington said he wanted to find ‘‘local solutions’’, without central government intervention, and that had been achieved.
Waikato-Tainui Te Arataura chair Rukumoana Schaafhausen agreed.
Schaafhausen said she had to take the agreement back to mana whenua and authorities to get complete sign-off.
‘‘But we are very comfortable with where the conversation is at today,’’ she said.
The water stoush between Auckland and Waikato leaders has ramped up in recent weeks, amid calls for a water charge and investigations into Watercare.
But Watercare has said they have the right planning in place, they just need resource consents to build infrastructure.
When asked why he had not prepared for a looming water crisis, Goff said water infrastructure required ‘‘huge investments’’.
During Auckland’s drought, the city has received only half its normal rainfall between November 2019 and May 2020.
Storage lakes have been sitting at record-low levels for months.