Whangārei's Whau Valley water treatment plant will need to implement new drinking water standards imposed by the Government at a cost to ratepayers
Whangārei's Whau Valley water treatment plant will need to implement new drinking water standards imposed by the Government at a cost to ratepayers
Northland councils want to know who the Government expects will pay for meeting tough new Taumata Arowai drinking water standards.
The Government's new Three Waters reform water regulator, Taumata Arowai, has already been set up as part of Three Waters restructuring to date - with proposed new standards across sevenaspects now being consulted on as its modus operandi is shaped.
Whangārei District Council (WDC) alone is facing extra costs of almost a million dollars for the coming year as a result of the beginning of these standards coming in.
WDC general manager infrastructure Simon Weston said there would clearly be major new costs for councils.
"It is clear there will be significant operational costs to implement the rules, monitoring and reporting requirements required by the [new] standards," Weston said.
"[Northland] councils would like clarification on how this additional funding is expected to be raised over the next three years as there are significant costs that will be added that will need to be raised from rates or water charge."
His comments come as Northland's three district councils have their say in an 89-page submission on a raft of proposed new Taumata Arowai drinking water standards.
Weston warned councils may potentially have to spend money in the next two years to meet the cost of complying with the beginnings of the new standards, only to have that spending made 'redundant' as Three Waters restructuring further played out.
WDC manager water supply Andrew Venmore warned tougher proposed Taumata Arowai drinking water standards would put 'significant pressure' on New Zealand's testing laboratories.
The proposed standards would mean increased testing requirements.
"There is…likely to be significant pressure on laboratories nationwide, including the WDC laboratory, to provide the required testing and results in the timeframes required under the standards," Venmore said.
Venmore and WDC departmental manager infrastructure planning Sarah Irwin told a WDC council meeting last week that there would be increased demands on Northland district councils.
"There will be an increase in testing requirements, including [testing] some new substances which will increase testing costs," they said.
Seven new proposed drinking water standards, rules and performance measures consultation documents have been responded to by WDC, supported by Far North and Kaipara district councils.
These cover aspects including drinking water quality, aesthetic values and network environmental performance measures. They also include what Taumata Arowai is proposing it will find suitable to achieve acceptable drinking water standards where people drink rainwater from their roof or from springs and bores.
Another proposed standard deals with water provided through schemes and other situations where it is being used for human drinking water and horticultural and agricultural production.
Weston said the submission had been made on behalf of the three district councils to reflect the issues impacting all of Northland's public drinking water suppliers and communities.
He said the councils in general supported the proposed standards, rules and performance measures, but the councils had addressed 'specific issues' in their submission.
He said there would also be an additional cost to meet the proposed new drinking water quality assurance rules.
New Zealand testing laboratories will be under pressure meeting tough new Taumata Arowai drinking water standards
"The councils are signalling there will be significant increases in monitoring workload, new equipment requirements and pressure on laboratory services nationwide resulting in increased operational costs," Weston said.
"This will have a flow-on effect to rates," Weston said.
Northland had many small communities, community facilities, marae and papakāinga that relied on tank water, bores or springs. They would be affected by Taumata Arowai's proposed solutions for new infrastructure to meet new drinking water standards.
Weston said Northland had a large number of small communities, community facilities, marae and papakāinga as well as low socio-economic rural areas that could be affected by the proposed new standards.
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