The change of government could put one flood-prone community’s water-infrastructure upgrade plans in jeopardy
Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine says the imminent scrapping of Labour’s water reforms leaves his community between a rock and a hard place with no clear way out.
The West Coast’s northernmost district council was poised to benefit from the three waters regime but now faces extreme uncertainty, Cleine says.
National has pledged to repeal Labour’s Water Services Entities Act within its first 100 days in office, abolishing its 10 mega water entities and restoring water assets to council ownership.
The Buller mayor says National’s plan envisages regional water entities in the form of council-controlled organisations (CCO) but that won’t work for the West Coast.
“As a region we did that work ahead of three waters and it was quite clear that a West Coast CCO for water would not really achieve anything in terms of efficiencies of scale or better pricing for our ratepayers.”
Cleine is worried about a mountain of debt to bring multiple small water supplies up to scratch and to pay for upgrades to Westport sewerage and stormwater systems as part of the town’s planned flood-protection scheme.
”We need more pumping capacity and we need to relay pipes in many streets.
“We’re looking at tens of millions of dollars and it’s all essential before the flood walls can be built.
“You can’t have one without the other and it was all to be funded under three waters.”
Urgent meeting sought
It’s possible the new government is aware of Buller’s situation and open to a conversation about it, Cleine says.
“But we haven’t had it yet and we’re hoping for an urgent meeting because we had a clear pathway to funding and right now we don’t.”
With new regulator Taumata Arowai already flexing its muscles and ordering councils to upgrade water systems time is of the essence, Cleine says.
“We do need to raise standards to serve the people but in Buller there’s a gap of at least $100 million between where we are now and where compliance would be.
“So how our 7000 ratepayers would ever fund that just doesn’t compute.”
Buller has already been put on notice by Taumata Arowai to upgrade three of its water supplies, Cleine says.
“The problem is we have a lot of small water schemes and not many people to pay for them.
“After the Queenstown cryptosporidium outbreak we’re one of 27 councils written to by Taumata Arowai saying by June 2024 we need to show our plan to comply [with protozoa protection] and by December we need to have done it.”
Of the three Buller water supplies under the gun – Waimangaroa, Little Wanganui and Mokihinui – the largest has only about 200 connections and it would cost millions to achieve compliance, Cleine says.
“We’d have to build a treatment plant for each tiny supply and I don’t think anyone thinks that’s a sensible thing to crash on and do.
“The cost seems out of all proportion to the risk.”
The new water regulations don’t allow communities to take a calculated risk and opt out, Cleine says.
Defiant mood
At a local government conference in Wellington last week there were hints of mutiny.
Many communities have lived forever with untreated water supplies despite the health risks, Cleine says.
“Some councils were saying actually we’re not going to comply with that legislation.
“I’m not naming anyone but they were openly saying ‘our LTP will reflect that we’re making a conscious decision not to comply because we don’t believe our community can afford it and we’re going to own that risk and live with it’.”
But defying the regulator would land councils in trouble with the Auditor General and facing litigation, the Buller mayor says.
“If you’re not meeting your statutory obligations it becomes a really slippery slope.
“Local government not complying with the law, knowingly, is a pretty grim step in direction for a democracy or civil society.”
In its “Local Water Done Well” plan, National says it expects most councils will fund new systems through long-term borrowing, increasing their borrowing caps if necessary.
Where that’s not possible, the government will provide “limited one-off funding” to bridge the gap and create “sustainable” water services, it says.
The $1 billion allocated to councils by Labour as part of its three waters reforms will be retained but with strings attached: the money will have to be spent on water infrastructure.
Cleine estimates dozens of councils will be applying, including some larger ones.
“Most councils are already at their debt ceilings or close to it.
“Their ability to borrow is limited – they’re already looking at rate rises of 30 percent.
“That’s the crunch we’re facing and that’s not down to any one government, red or blue.
“But I think National’s going to have to come out pretty damn quick to the local-government sector – especially the smaller councils – and say what its version of water reform will mean.
“Because at the moment we are pretty much hamstrung.”
Made with the support of the Public Interest Journalism Fund
