Cost of damage to Watercare’s broken Auckland network could now hit $460 million

The estimated cost of Watercare’s rebuild after Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding could now hit $460 million.

During Auckland Anniversary weekend at the end of January, thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes due to surging flood waters. Watercare reported widespread damage to its network as a result.

The city was then hit by Cyclone Gabrielle in February which caused further flooding and slips.

A report to Watercare’s board on Tuesday said: “We have provided Auckland Council with an initial estimate of at least $250 million to repair our network following the flood events and an upper estimate of $460m for repair and adaptation where necessary.”

Chief operations officer Mark Bourne said Watercare had been focusing on emergency and temporary repairs following the landslides.

“We have around 125 projects to prioritise (a process that will take about six weeks), and then we will start designing permanent repairs (eg in areas where like-for-like cannot be built as the land has significantly changed or disappeared due to slips).”

In March, Bourne said Watercare was continuing to discover more damage to its network and said it would take time to establish the true price tag.

He hoped a lot of the damage would be covered by insurance.

“In the interim, repair costs are coming out of our capital budget. But we don’t know yet whether there will be assistance from the council or the government.”

But Auckland Council CCO direction and oversight committee chairman Wayne Walker said the council did not have any money to help pay for Watercare’s rebuild.

“I would have thought at this point it would come from within Watercare’s existing budget,” he said.

“We already have a problem now of finding $295m [for the council’s projected deficit], let alone any other cost escalations. So I doubt there’s any room to move.”

Watercare’s Pukekohe water treatment plant has been out of action since the Auckland Anniversary floods.

A similar facility at Muriwai has also been red-stickered due to landslides during Cyclone Gabrielle and is still out of action.

The Huia water treatment plant has been running at reduced capacity and the Upper Nihotupu Dam is out of service.

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown was approached for comment.

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