Fixing Three Waters mess

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Re: Three Waters angst a gift for National, June 10 editorial.

Concerns about potential risks in the Three Waters reform legislation pale in comparison to the mess that successive councils have made of water management issues here and around the country.

Decades of dumping raw sewage into local rivers continues with no end in sight, and our popular swimming spots are most often unsafe for swimming. Havelock North drinking water supply was contaminated in 2016 by a polluted surface pond less than 100 metres from the bore. Wellington, Porirua and Hutt Valley water wasn't fluoridated as it was supposed to be and the local authorities kept it secret. Almost one-third of 321 water treatment plants across the country are breaching their resource consents.

As a result of historical local authority negligence, $120-$185 billion needs to be spent on water infrastructure in the next 30 years — the reforms will share this financing burden more evenly across the country rather than loading it on to communities who can least afford it.

The Government has done a terrible job of explaining the situation to the public. Councils have been on the defensive, overlooking their own appalling track records. And the opposition is having a field day by claiming the status quo is somehow sustainable and pretending they will reverse the changes next term.

New Zealand voters seem to have very short memories. If the Labour Party lose the next election it won't be because the opposition has a better vision for the country, better policy or better politicians. It will be because the Labour Party can't communicate properly, because the national media focuses on publishing clickbait instead of real journalism, and because the opposition still relies on dirty politics nearly a decade after it was exposed at the core of National Party election strategy.

Manu Caddie