MetService recorded 71.6mm at its Hawke's Bay Airport station on Tuesday and Wednesday. Photo / Paul Taylor
MetService recorded 71.6mm at its Hawke's Bay Airport station on Tuesday and Wednesday. Photo / Paul Taylor
It was like "Welcome to the Mayoralty" for new Napier chains-holder Kirsten Wise on Thursday as she pledged that dealing with the city's water issues is the "No 1 priority".
Just hours after the declaration of the official election result, with more than 63 per cent of the vote ina four-way race and an 8829-votes majority over nearest challenger and former MP Chris Tremain, she reiterated campaign pledges that issues which led to Wednesday's warnings to residents to limit showering, bathing dishwashing and toilet flushing are of "absolute urgency".
But Wise's word come with other warnings that there are practicalities and it will take time.
This is highlighted by the previous council's long-term plan budgeted of more than $45 million for waste and storm water improvements, over the next 10 years.
"It is hard to put a definitive timeline on it, but it is the No 1 priority," said Wise, who formally steps into the job at the swearing-in ceremony on October 31, after six years as a city councillor.
She said she was pleased with the responses this week as council communication staff advised of the need to limit flows into the system amid the heaviest rain in over a year, alleviating the need for any discharges of waste into the Ahuriri Estuary, which also has its own upper-estuary dirty water issues.
Council director infrastructure services Jon Kingsford said the council is fully committed to improving this situation and planning is under way on initiatives.
He said that through the Long Term Plan clearly focused on and several core projects, the council had committed to spending $20.6m on stormwater improvements, and $25.7m on wastewater improvements over 10 years.
The council is reviewing the 3 Waters management system across Hawke's Bay, and within the Ahuriri Masterplan, five of the first 12 projects which will be carried out in this area relate to stormwater quality improvements, a total of $6.6m.
Work focused on water quality improvements that began in the last financial year (to June 30) included CCTV internal pipe inspections and smoke testing (to see if there are any incorrect connections to the wastewater and stormwater networks), stormwater modelling, and initial stormwater contaminants' information gathering and treatment options.
Dirty water from the upper estuary compares with what the council says is much cleaner water from the drainage network. Photo / Supplied
"Well under way is work to improve the quality of stormwater in the Pandora industrial area catchment," he said. "This work was part of the LTP prior to February 2018."
The problems were highlighted by this week's rain, forcing the council into issuing a warning to the city on Wednesday morning.
As it happened, no discharges were necessary, despite the pressure put on the system amid rainfall of more than 100mm recorded in some places.
MetService recorded 73.6mm at its Hawke's Bay Airport station on Tuesday and Wednesday, 4.6mm more than the whole of September and close to three times the 26mm in the drier-than-normal August.
In Hastings, MetService recorded 131.6mm of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, a two-day rainfall greater than any other whole month since September last year, the last time Napier had to discharge into the estuary.
Napier City Council communications staff issued a "HUGE thank you" to residents on Facebook on Thursday.
"Your efforts yesterday – skipping baths, letting the yellow mellow, leaving dishes until the morning – took some pressure off our wastewater network, which meant you helped us avoid a discharge into the estuary."
But it still came with a warning, saying: "Now that the sun is out, just a reminder that after any heavy rainfall event, please avoid contact (both people and dogs) with waterways and Pandora Pond for three days."
