Major water issues on agenda as sector meets

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Options around water sector reform will be one of the key discussions at Water New Zealand's Annual Conference and Expo in Hamilton this week.

The conference is being opened by the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta who is leading the Government's reform programme.

"There'll also be a number of international experts, including from Ireland and Scotland, who will share their experiences of recent water reform in their countries," says Water New Zealand chief executive John Pfahlert.

He says as well as reform, this is a chance for the sector to come together to share initiatives and learnings around key issues such as resilience and sustainability.

"We have some very big issues heading towards us such as climate change and how we're going to pay for much-needed upgrading of drinking, storm and wastewater infrastructure, along with improving water quality."

He says as well as problems and issues, the conference will also focus on solutions.

"For instance, emerging solutions such as green stormwater infrastructure and water sensitive urban design will help future-proof urban areas against storm damage. These are practices that are being widely adopted in progressive cities such as Seattle and viewed with increasing interest in New Zealand.We'll be hearing from experts from the US and Europe."

The annual Water New Zealand conference is one of the biggest events on the water sector calendar and this year is no exception. More than 1000 people have already registered to attend, including leaders from the majority of councils and water utilities along with businesses.

This year the conference is being held at the Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton from September 19 to 21. To see the programme go to the Water New Zealand Conference website.