Water woes — a sign of a city that’s outgrown its resources
Auckland’s Watercare, the company responsible for the management and provision of water to more than a million people in the greater Auckland region, has been thrown a much-needed but temporary lifeline by the intervention of Environment Minister David Parker.
New Zealand’s highest populated city has been hit with near catastrophic water shortages following the most severe drought in about 25 years but the problem of supplying water to Auckland is far from new.
It was known from an early stage in the development of Auckland that local streams, wells and roof water would not provide an adequate supply for very long.
A 1940 proposal to take water from the Waikato River was considered impractical and too costly and local authorities looked to the surrounding bush clad ranges for reliable supplies.
The foundations of today’s water supply system began with storage, pumping, transmission and water treatment facilities constructed in the Waitakere Ranges in the 1950s.
Additional storage dams were built in the Hunua Ranges but even then there were clear indications that these facilities would not keep up with the growth of Greater Auckland through the next three decades.
Development of the Hunua catchments continued until the 1980s, when the option of Waikato River water was again considered following technical advice that locations for further dam construction in the Hunua and Waitakere Ranges were limited.
Starting in 2002 and currently supplying around 50million litres a day the Waikato River provides about a seventh of Auckland daily water needs.
Since then the Greater Auckland population has continued to outgrow the available supplies of water until the city reached crisis point this year. Watercare has a longstanding application to the Waikato Regional Council to take 200 million litres a day but the application was so far down the list of water allocations applications that it was not expected to be heard for several years.
A Board of Inquiry was established to consider the Auckland application but the situation became desperate with storage dams in the Hunua and Waitakere ranges at an all-time low before the board had time to conclude its investigations.
Requests to have the application fast tracked were declined and, after weeks of often acrimonious debate, David Parker called in the application.
It has now been included in the new fast track legislation as a response to delays created by the Covid-19 pandemic which was passed under urgency on Thursday evening.
The minister took a leading role in getting the parties together to hammer out an agreement which will allow Watercare to take an additional 75 million litres of water per day from the Waikato River as a short-term solution while the inquiry continues.
No one should be in any doubt however that taking water from the Waikato River for Auckland will not be an acceptable long term solution to a problem which has been many decades in the making. Apart from household consumption some industries use massive amounts of water.
Breweries, dairy factories and freezing works of the region place a significant burden on water supplies in spite of some having their own bores and storage facilities.
This issue has been left far too long by successive administrations who have known for decades that a critical water shortage was inevitable given the massive growth of Greater Auckland.
Adding to the problem is the effect of climate change on rainfall over the catchment areas in the Waitakere and Hunua ranges.
There is a significant body of science which suggests annual rainfall probably won’t alter very much but the rain will come in bigger weather events with longer dry spells between them.
That suggests, among a raft of other possible measures, a need for much great storage capacity during those weather bombs which will not necessarily have to be in the ranges.
Storage facilities could be established almost anywhere to take the surplus from the dams in the ranges.
Financial assistance with house tanks to take rainwater from roofs where practical, should also be given realistic consideration but there is another reality few may want to consider.
The technology now exists to treat sewage and wastewater, currently discharged into the Manukau Harbour, to drinking water standards.
Maori have already signalled philosophical opposition to the suggestion.
It is also possible that the population of Greater Auckland has reached the limit of the finite resources of the region.
While water may be the first limiting factor are there others such as space for landfills, overloaded sewage systems, gridlocked roads and room for affordable housing without encroaching further into what is left of some of the best food producing land in the country.
Is Auckland already too big and do we want it to be any bigger with all the costs and problems that will bring?
Some Waikato people may have already reached that conclusion.