Wellington Water Committee
20
September 2019
Order
Paper for the meeting to be held in the
Council
Chambers, 2nd Floor, 30 Laings Road, Lower Hutt,
on:
Thursday 26
September 2019 commencing at
1.00pm
Membership
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Deputy Mayor D Bassett (Chair)
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Hutt City Council
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Mayor W Guppy
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Upper Hutt City Council
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Mayor M Tana
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Porirua City Council
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Cr C I Pannett
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Wellington City Council
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Cr J Brash
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Greater Wellington Regional Council
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Cr D Ogden
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Greater Wellington Regional Council
(Alternate)
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Mayor WR Wallace
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Hutt City Council (Alternate)
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Cr R Leggett
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Porirua City Council (Alternate)
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Cr G McArthur
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Upper Hutt City Council (Alternate)
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Cr P Gilberd
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Wellington City Council (Alternate)
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Mr T Parai
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Te Runanga o Toa
Rangatira
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Ms N Solomon
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Te Runanga o Toa
Rangatira (Alternate)
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Ms K Skelton
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Taranaki Whānui
ki Te Upoko o Te Ika
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Ms K Tamanui
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Taranaki Whānui
ki Te Upoko o Te Ika (Alternate)
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Wellington Water Committee
Meeting
to be held in the Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 30 Laings Road, Lower Hutt on
Thursday
26 September 2019 commencing at 1.00pm
ORDER
PAPER
Public Business
1. APOLOGIES
Mayor
Wayne Guppy.
2. PUBLIC
COMMENT
Generally up to
30 minutes is set aside for public comment (three minutes per speaker on items appearing on the agenda). Speakers may be
asked questions on the matters they raise.
3. CONFLICT
OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS
4. Minutes
12 July 2019 5
5. Company Update Report (19/1185)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/205 by Wellington Water Ltd 8
6. Wellington Water Ltd - Draft Annual Report and
Financial Statements (19/1186)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/206 by Wellington Water Ltd 12
7. Delivering on Wellington Water Ltd's Outcomes (19/1187)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/207 by Wellington Water Ltd 73
8. Sustainable Water Supply (19/1226)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/212 by Wellington Water Ltd 86
9. Update on the Government's Water Reforms (19/1193)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/209 by Wellington Water Ltd 90
10. Climate Change - First Steps to Change (19/1234)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/213 by Wellington Water Ltd 99
11. Endorsement of strategic case for the
‘Receiving Environment Water Quality’ Future Service Study (19/1205)
Report
No. WWC2019/4/210 by Wellington Water Ltd 103
12. GENERAL
BUSINESS
Kathryn Stannard
Divisional Manager Democratic Services
Hutt City Council
Wellington Water Committee
Minutes of a meeting
held in the Upper Hutt City Council Chambers,
838-842 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt on
Friday 12
July 2019 commencing at 1.00pm
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PRESENT:
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Deputy Mayor D Bassett (Chair), Hutt City
Council
Mayor W Guppy, (Deputy Chair) Upper Hutt City Council
Cr I Pannett, Wellington City Council
Cr J Brash, Greater Wellington City Council
Cr R Leggett, Porirua City Council
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APOLOGY: Mayor M Tana, Porirua City Council
IN ATTENDANCE: Mr P Gilberd, Alternate, Wellington City Council
Mr D Wright, Chair, Wellington Water Ltd
Ms C Brophy, Board Member, Wellington Water Ltd
Mr
G Dangerfield, Board Member, Wellington Water Ltd
Mr
P Barry, Board Member, Wellington Water Ltd
Ms W Walker,
Chief Executive, Porirua City Council
Mr C Crampton,
Chief Executive, Wellington Water Ltd
Mr M Kinvig,
Group Manager, Network Strategy and Planning, Wellington Water Ltd
Ms S Cuthbert, Principal Advisor to the Chief Executive, Wellington Water Ltd
Mr D Baxter,
City Engineer, Wellington City Council
Ms S Gain,
General Manager Corporate Services, Greater Wellington Regional Council
Mr S Mahoney,
Company Portfolio Manager, Greater Wellington Regional Council
Mr B Hodgins,
Strategic Advisor, Hutt City Council
Ms K Stannard,
Divisional Manager Democratic Services, Hutt City Council
Ms H Clegg,
Minute Taker
PUBLIC
BUSINESS
1. APOLOGIES
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Resolved: Minute
No. WWC 19301(2)
“That the apology
received from Mayor Tana be accepted and leave of absence be granted.”
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2. PUBLIC
COMMENT
There was no public comment.
3. CONFLICT
OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS
There were no conflict of interest declarations.
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4.
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Applications to
Become Mana Whenua Partners (19/910)
Report No. WWC2019/3/151 by the Chief
Executive, Porirua City Council
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The Chair explained that the shareholders
had signed off on the Constitution resulting in all nominations for Tangata
Whenua partners being required to come before the Committee.
In response to a question from a member,
the Chief Executive Porirua City Council explained the remuneration package
for Tangata Whenua partners was currently being assessed with a report back
to the next meeting.
In response to a question from a member
regarding South Wairarapa Iwi representation, the Chief Executive, Wellington
Water Ltd anticipated an application would be forthcoming.
Cr Pannett suggested a celebration should
be planned to acknowledge the partnership signing.
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Resolved: Minute
No. WWC 19302(2)
“That the Committee:
(i) notes
and receives the report;
(ii) agrees to
recommend to shareholder councils that Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira be appointed as a Mana Whenua
Partner Entity, and that Te Taku Parai be its nominated representative and
Naomi Solomon be its nominated alternate; and
(iii) agrees to recommend to shareholder councils
that Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika be appointed as a Mana Whenua
Partner Entity, and that Kim Skelton be its nominated representative and
Kirsty Tamanui be its nominated alternate.”
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5.
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Proposal for
South Wairarapa District Council to Become a Shareholder in Wellington Water
Ltd
(19/861)
Report No. WWC2019/3/137 by the Chief
Executive, Porirua City Council
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The Chair advised that he was comfortable
with the completed risk assessment report. The Principal Advisor
to the Chief Executive of Wellington Water Ltd (the company) confirmed
the reference to Three Waters would be replaced with Four Waters to reflect that
the South Wairarapa District had Water Races. She confirmed that the
figure of 225km relating to the Moroa Water Race in Greytown was correct.
The Chief Executive of the company
confirmed there were five employees of South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC)
that would be transferred to the company. He also confirmed that the
outsourcing to CityCare Water would cease in the Wairarapa and that the same
delivery model to the existing five member councils would be utilised for
SWDC. He added the formal change over would occur on 1 October 2019.
In response to concerns raised by a
member regarding the Lutra Report, the Chief Executive of the company advised
that when SWDC operations were transferred to the company, the
company’s systems would be installed that do not allow for alarms to be
turned off. The Chair of the company added that the risk of accepting
SWDC had been downgraded to low.
In response to concerns from a member
regarding the cultural differences between SWDC and the company, the Chief
Executive of the company advised that there was a good cultural fit between
SWDC and the company. He also advised that positive relationships had
been developed at both the governance level and officer level.
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|
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Resolved: Minute
No. WWC 19303(2)
“That the Committee:
(i) notes and receives the report;
(ii) notes the risk assessment report and addendum prepared by
Wellington Water Ltd for South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) setting out
the risks associated with SWDC becoming a shareholder and the way Wellington
Water Ltd proposes to manage these risks; and
(iii) agrees to support the proposal and recommend to
shareholder councils that SWDC become a shareholder in Wellington Water Ltd.”
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6. REVIEW
OF WELLINGTON WATER GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS (19/909)
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Memorandum dated 5 July 2019 by the Chair.
The Chair elaborated on the memorandum.
In response to a request from a member
for an independent review, the Chair advised that the independent review
would carry an additional cost.
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Resolved: (Deputy Mayor Bassett/Mayor Guppy) Minute No. WWC 19304(2)
“That the Committee
recommends to the incoming Wellington Water Committee, following the local
body elections, that a review of Wellington Water’s governance
documents be undertaken in early 2020.”
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There being no further business
the Chair declared the meeting closed at 1.25pm.
Deputy
Mayor D Bassett
CHAIR
CONFIRMED as a true and correct record
Dated this 26th day of September 2019
Wellington Water
Committee
12 September 2019
File:
(19/1185)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/205
Company Update Report
Purpose
of Report
1. To engage the
Wellington Water Committee in topical issues.
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Recommendations
That Committee notes and
receives the report.
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Powhiri for
the Wellington Water Whanau
2. Thank you for
attending our Powhiri on 28 August 2019. The powhiri marked the occasion of all
our suppliers coming together to act as one on behalf of our owner councils and
our customers.
3. The Powhiri also marked the
successful completion of our service delivery strategy. It has been a big job
but now all our suppliers are contracted to Wellington Water to focus on
outcomes, work collaboratively and put the customer at the heart of everything
we do.
4. The final piece of the
puzzle, our regional wastewater treatment contract, has provided significant
value for money to our owner councils. Overall, compared to previous opex costs
it looks like we will deliver an estimated $2M of opex savings back to our
owner councils. Approximately, $1M in additional revenue will flow to WCC as
savings - to be offset by increased tip fees. Approximately $1M will be
provided in savings to HCC/UHCC.
5. While Porirua will not
get direct savings they will receive an increase in level of service due to the
planned improvements in the plant. This together with the $6M PCC (including
the recoverable portion from WCC) will invest in the plant over the next two
years will lift performance of the plant considerably.
6. With Veolia operating
the PWWTP from 1 July 2019 we hope we have absolutely minimised the chance of
another operator error which lead to the company being fined $67,500 in the
High Court on 13 September 2019.
7. We were convicted of
illegal discharge. The discharge was caused by incomplete processes for a
shutdown and a lack of communication between the individuals involved when
problems started to emerge. The effects of the discharge were considered low
due to reasonably quick mixing with sea water and no permanent damage to the
environment.
8. The overflow incident
has reduced the trust the community and Ngati Toa has in Wellington Water to
treat the region’s wastewater and look after the environment. We have
committed to work with the community and Ngati Toa to rebuild this trust. This
includes more access to the treatment plant and how it is performing as well as
access to performance data.
Conserve
versus Construct
9. Over the last 12
months we have been engaging councils on their priorities ahead of the 21/31
Long Term Plan. Mark Kinvig presents a paper which summarises the direction from
councils.
10. A key theme arising from these
discussions is the desire to conserve our resources rather than building our
way out of steadily increasing demand. We totally endorse this approach of
owner councils.
11. To adjust the “conserve”
strategy we need to understand more about our network and our users’
preferences so we can reduce leakage and encourage our residents to conserve
water.
12. We have included a paper on our
“conserve” approach so you are aware of plans over the next couple
of years.
13. Leak detection and repairs are a key
part of this plan. Last year we got caught out by an increase in the number of
leaks in the network and the strong preference from customers to value water by
getting onto leaks quickly.
14. We have been working on a plan to get
on top of surface leakages over the 19/20 summer. We are already experiencing
difficulties getting everything complete but we will ensure we are on top of
these prior to the onset of summer. We will have to be careful about the way we
communicate our water conservation messages while we get on top of our leaks.
The customer survey completed this year confirms that our customers make the
connection between leaks (wasting water) and our messages to them regarding
conservation.
Stakeholder
and Customer Surveys Complete
15. Awareness among residents
of Wellington Water continues to rise, and is now at 70%, up from 60% in
January 2019 and nearly double June 2017’s 38%. Interest in our
activities is also the highest it’s ever been, with seven in 10 residents
keen to know more about our activities and plans for the future.
16. The
increases could be linked to a decline in overall satisfaction in our services
to 57% from 65% in January. As noted, much of this could be tracked back to
dealing with leaks, and emphasises our need to get on top of this issue.
17. Our Stakeholder Survey shows that two-thirds of the people who we deal with
the most are satisfied with their relationship with us, but there has been a
dip in satisfaction amongst local government and our supply partners since last
year.
18. Responses suggest that internal change has played a major role in this,
affecting transparency and the experience of working with our people. But the
survey also suggests the bar has been lifted, and expectations are higher
compared to the previous year. Our senior managers are now working with their
teams on ways to make these relationships stronger and less transactional.
Climate
Change
19. Following a good conversation between
the Wellington Water Committee and the Board we present you with an update
report in this agenda.
Customer
Hub Fully Operational
20. Thank you to those Wellington Water
Committee members and councillors who visited our new customer hub. It has been
a big transition for us synching in with your contact centres, getting on top
of customer requirements and ensuring the jobs are completed and closing out
the jobs.
21. Every day we are getting better at what
we are doing and we can see how this new way of doing business will improve
customer service, be more agile around jobs and give us more control over how
we respond.
22. We are still building up our resource
in the field and this will carry on until the end of the year. The impending
end of Transmission Gully and the completion of the broadband roll out has
resulted in some people entering the business which is positive.
First Stage
of Omāroro Underway
23. The Omāroro project will be built
in two stages: Pipework followed by the reservoir itself. The pipework contract
is underway and is a complex and difficult project as it involves closing major
arterials in Wellington, building on people’s back door and cutting into
our bulk water network.
24. While a WCC/GWRC project, this work
will substantially improve the provision of safe drinking water to the CBD and
lift the resilience of the region should we experience a major event.
PCC Growth
Planning Provided
25. When a city grows, the infrastructure
which supports the growth needs to be planned alongside. PCC have identified
seven growth cells across the city which could be subject to growth over the
next 20-30 years. For all seven areas we have completed the network planning
task, determining the likely configuration of infrastructure to provide the
three waters.
26. This work is complex because not only
do we need to support growth, we must ensure growth does not result in
deterioration of the environment. This is a challenge in Porirua due to the
condition of the wastewater network.
27. We have completed the work and are now
working with the PCC on how to integrate the work into everything else PCC are
doing around growth.
28. As Wellington Water has advised PCC,
part of the problem regarding the performance of the wastewater network is the
inflows and cross connections on the property side. For every inflow or cross
connection fixed on the property side, the better the network performs.
29. Fixed residential side problems with
our wastewater network should be contemplated by all councils. The difficulty
is in how to complete the works when the resident may well be unaware they are
creating a problem.
We will
have a Drinking Water Regulator
30. No real surprises in here. The
Government has scaled back its ambitious reform work to putting in place a
regulator. The regulator may well comprise up to 160 staff requiring
substantial funding to operate. However, we are not convinced that such a large
workforce is necessary especially when there are so few people within the
industry.
31. We will have to think very carefully about
how we try to retain some of our key staff who we have invested in over 10
years.
South
Wairarapa District Council Becoming a Shareholder
32. All five owner councils have now agreed
to SWDC becoming a shareholder of Wellington Water. We have also reached
agreement with the SWDC on how services are to be funded and managed, and that
the entire setup will be reviewed in June 2021 to ensure everything is working
well. This reflects Wellington Water’s experience that it takes 18 months
for everything to settle before the model can really be understood and
confirmed as being set up for success.
33 Wellington Water is
currently providing services to SWDC under contract with respect to the
Martinborough Water Treatment Plant and Featherston Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Following SWDC joining, we will provide these services under the trusted
advisor model.
34. The SWDC did not choose to take up our
proposal to build the Martinborough Water Treatment Plant as a turnkey project
on a fast track basis because they believe our cost was too high.
The 20/21
Statement of Intent Process Begins
35. It is hard to believe
another year has passed by. The Statement of Intent process starts off with a
Letter of Expectation from you to our Board by 15 December 2020. We look forward
to discussing with you the emphasis you wish to give to the company going
forward.
Briefing
for Incoming Wellington Water Committee Members
36. Assuming the Wellington
Water Committee is formed prior to Christmas 2019, I think it would be a good
idea to hold an out of committee cycle workshop so Wellington Water can brief
incoming new members.
Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
Wellington Water Committee
12 September 2019
File:
(19/1186)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/206
Wellington Water Ltd
- Draft Annual Report and Financial Statements
Purpose
of Report
1. To
present the Draft Annual Report 2018/19.
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Recommendations
It is recommended that the
Wellington Water Committee receives the Annual Report for the year
ended 30 June 2018 as attached as Appendix 1 to the report.
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Summary
2. Wellington Water Limited
is required to deliver an Annual Report within three months of the end of the
financial year which includes the Annual Financial Statements.
3. As Wellington Water
Limited is a council-controlled organisation, the Office of the Auditor General
is the appointed auditor of the company. As in past years, they have engaged
Audit NZ to complete this year’s audit on their behalf.
4. The draft Annual Report
2019 is included in Appendix 1. Audit NZ has yet to complete their final review;
however we are not expecting any major changes. We will notify the Chair upon
finalisation.
Financial
Statements
5. The Annual Financial
Statements show a surplus before tax of $39k. This was an excellent
result in what was a challenging year of competing priorities.
Evaluation
of Performance
6. Wellington Water Limited
has had a satisfying year as it has continued to improve its capability to
deliver on its strategic outcomes. Overall performance has been pleasing given
the increasingly demanding operating environment with several significant
milestones achieved. There have been a few areas of performance where results
could have been better.
7. The company continues to
develop at a fast pace in order to deliver to increasing customer expectations and
to drive performance improvement. The final components of the three year
service delivery strategy were achieved. These include implementation of the
Alliance and the Contractor Panel, and completion of the Wastewater Treatment
Plant. These service delivery improvements effectively position the company to
continue to enhance customer service, deliver value for money, and to more
consistently execute the delivery of its capital programme on behalf of its
client councils.
8. Other significant
achievements include bringing the customer hub in-house, supporting the
Water Committee to prepare a submission on the Government’s proposed
water reforms and continuing to build strong central government relationships,
progressed South Wairarapa District Council as a sixth shareholding council and
re-organising large parts of the organisation. The company further developed a
partnership approach with Mana Whenua and continued to engage strongly with its
client councils on the emerging challenges around growth, sustainable water
supply, receiving environment water quality and climate change.
9. Areas where results could
have been better are leak management, the Porirua wastewater overflow, and
building positive working relations at all levels within each council.
10. Our Statement of Intent sets out a
number of measures by which we track our performance. Under the heading
‘Customer Experience’ we have included six measures that we see as
outcomes based, and therefore we can influence but not control the result.
We have achieved the 2018/19 target on three out of six (50%) of these
‘outcome measures’; this is a fair reflection of the
company’s progress towards these aspirational goals.
11. For the
remaining measures, the results are summarised below:
a. Customer
experience – seven out of eight (88%) were achieved or partially achieved
b. Keeping
the water running – 11 out of 17 (65%) were achieved or partially
achieved
c. How we
work – 11 out of 13 (85%) were achieved or partially achieved (note, two
measures were recorded at N/A and are not included in this calculation)
12. Of
the nine measures that were not achieved, excluding those considered outcomes;
two were not met due to planned works and activities being placed on hold or
deferred (measures 24 and 25); four are indicative of the work that is required
to improve our service and interactions (measures 17, 26, 31 and 38); two
reflect a failure to meet an agreed level of service (measures 11 and 19); an
additional measure was due to a poorly constructed target (measure 36).
Appendices
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No.
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Title
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Page
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1⇩
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WWL Annual Report
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15
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Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
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Attachment 1
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WWL Annual Report
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Wellington Water Committee
12 September 2019
File:
(19/1187)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/207
Delivering on
Wellington Water Ltd's Outcomes
Purpose of Report
1. The purpose of this report is to
update the Wellington Water Committee on our strategic investment approach and
how it will shape the Councils 2021/31 Long Terms Plan (LTP).
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Recommendations
It is recommended that the
Wellington Water Committee notes and receives the report.
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Background
2. When Wellington Water was formed in
2014, we created a strategic outcomes framework that has been instrumental in
our investment discussions with Councils over the past five years and is at the
heart of our Three Waters prioritisation framework.
3. The framework comprises our three
outcomes of safe and healthy water, respectful of our environment and
resilience networks that support our economy. Under each of our outcomes we
have created 12 service goals which encompass the whole Three Waters
task. The intent of the framework is to increase focus on customer
service outcomes over the long term.
4. The framework continues to be
developed as we refine levels of service and performance measures that align
with our councils’ aspirations.
Emerging
Challenges and Themes
5. During the past 18 months
as we have developed our catchment knowledge across the region, a number of key
challenges have emerged, namely: growth, sustainable water supply, receiving
environment water quality and climate change.
6. The attached presentation
(Appendix 1) sets out our strategic investment approach to date and how
it will continue to identify emerging themes that will translate into our
client councils’ LTPs activities over time.
Next Steps
7. As we prepare for the
2021/31 LTP, our Three Waters plans will increasingly align with activities
that respond to the key challenges.
8. The advice we received
from Alan Sutherland (Water Industry Commission for Scotland) confirmed that
establishing a robust investment direction is the key when responding to
long-term complex challenges. We can refine our approach and develop
increasingly robust performance measures as we deepen our understanding of
investment effectiveness.
9. There are some emerging
examples. The Sustainable Water Supply is noted below:
- Our Sustainable Water Supply
challenge has identified that we need to reduce our demand significantly within
the next five years. This is aligned with global trends and regional
evidence.
- We have identified a number of
interventions that align with global best practice and are relevant to our
regional network. These are pressure management, network meters, targeted
community engagement and operational leakage management.
- This is not the full response to the
Sustainable Water Supply challenge but we have sufficient confidence that it
will contribute to the reduction in demand over time. We will continue to
refine our response based on trending performance metrics.
Maintaining
a balanced investment plan
10. The key challenges
identified in this report are significant and will require a long term
commitment to achieve the desired outcomes for the region. The company’s
LTP submission to councils will place emphasis on these specific areas to
ensure that we start to make meaningful progress but we are very aware of the
need to maintain service goal performance across the whole three waters task.
To this end, we will be illustrating how best to achieve this balanced
investment plan for each council to ensure that our customers continue to
receive the standard of service that can be expected from a progressive water
company.
Appendices
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No.
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Title
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Page
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1⇩
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Delivering on Our Outcomes - Board Sept 2019Final
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75
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Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
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Attachment 1
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Delivering on Our Outcomes - Board Sept 2019Final
|
Wellington Water Committee
19 September 2019
File:
(19/1226)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/212
Sustainable Water
Supply
Purpose
of Report
To update the Committee on our
strategic and operational response to the region’s water supply demand
and leakage.
|
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Committee notes and
receives the report.
|
Background
Wellington Water has initiated a
strategic work-stream focused on the region’s sustainable water supply.
This issue has been identified as one of the key challenges that will require a
series of interventions, which will be included in councils’ Long Term
Plans (LTPs) going forward. The nature of the problem and opportunity has been
presented to your councils during the past 6 months, where there was a
unanimous agreement in principle to Wellington Water taking a conservation
approach as opposed to focusing on planning to build another source or storage.
The initial strategic case work
identified three key problem areas associated with the sustainability of our
regional water supply, namely:
- Demand will exceed
capacity to supply (growth, consumption and leakage)
- Our networks and sources
are vulnerable
- There may be less water
available for us to use (regulatory constraints)
The most
significant pressure on the region relates to the projected growth and
unsustainable demand.
Demand includes household and
commercial consumption and leakage. Initial long term demand modelling
identified water shortages in 2040 based on current demand and projected
growth. However, recent growth projection now suggests that water supply
shortages will occur 5 years earlier, around 2035. On the basis that
source or storage development will take around 10 years to plan and deliver, we
need to reverse the demand trend and initiate a significant reduction within
the next 5 years.
The company has made some good
progress over the past 6 months and is well positioned to deliver some pilot
initiatives later in 19/20 and 20/21 which will provide a good foundation for
the 2021/31 LTP investment.
We have
formed a better understanding of data trends
As we’ve been developing this
work, we have also formed a better understanding of trends in reported leaks on
the network. Reported leaks (those identified by our customers) have
increased by over 40% over the last five-year period with a marked increased
post the Kaikoura earthquake.
The Wellington Water Customer
Operations Group (Alliance) who is charged with fixing these leaks was formed
on 1 July. They have inherited a backlog of leaks from last financial
year and are faced with an ongoing high number of reported leaks consistent
with the trend identified above.
Responding
to our most immediate challenges
We are currently working closely
with your officers to look at options to respond to this immediate challenge of
getting on top of these reported leaks. We are looking to secure more
resources both from within the Wellington region and across the country,
looking to improve operational processes to ensure we are more efficient, and
enhancing communications to manage customer expectations. Longer term, we
will need to consider funding to address the increase in reported leaks and
investment levels for renewals recognising that our water network is ageing and
fragile.
Long Term
Plan interventions
Attachment 1 provides a strategic
overview of the initial problem areas identified, the range of interventions
that we are currently considering and the goal, which is to reduce our regional
water demand by 20 litres per person per day over the next six years.
The attachment illustrates that our
water supply demand cannot be reduced through a single intervention and will
require a broad range of LTP activities to achieve the target. Many of the
activities will need to be enduring to ensure sustainable achievement towards
the goal.
There are a number of activities
that we are considering in response to the demand issue, some of which are
being developed for delivery within the forthcoming 12-18 months. They
are:
- Increasing the number of pressure management devices on the network,
to reduce leakage and usage quantities and better protect our fragile network
in high pressure areas.
- Increase the number of network meters to increase our understanding
of consumption and demand, enabling more robust measurement, followed by
targeted investment in councils’ LTP’s. This targeted
investment is likely to include a greater focus on operational leakage control,
a potential increase in water main renewals and community engagement
initiatives
- Ongoing operational leakage response which will become increasingly
targeted with improved data and information.
As part of the LTP 2021/31
submission to councils, we are likely to request an increase in the level of
planned operational activities to target high network leakage areas and water
network renewal rates.
Leak
reporting methodology
As a first step, we have opted to
improve our annual water loss reporting methodology, to provide a more robust
representation from a statistical perspective. We will be further
refining our reporting approach within 12 months to align with global best practice.
Because this methodology is different to the old approach, the annual water
loss percentage output number is different to the previous percentage value and
includes a 95% confidence of the leakage being between a specific range.
The table below shows an example of
output results from the old methodology vs the new approach at a regional
reporting level using the same input information.
|
Annual
Reporting Method
|
Regional
Water Loss %
|
|
Old
method (17-18)
|
18.5
|
|
New
method (17-18)
Confidence
interval
|
22%
(17-28%)
|
|
Old
method (18-19)
|
21%
|
|
New
method (18-19)
Confidence
interval
|
20%*
(13%-27%)
|
*Because of the way the annual reporting analysis
works, individual leakage estimate results for each city vary considerably
between years and between cities. For example for 18/19 these vary from
11% to 35%, with confidence intervals of 0-24% and 29%-42% respectively.
It is important to note, on a system
where a significant element of demand is not metered, all water leakage
methodologies make broad assumptions in the absence of robust data and
information from measurement devices i.e. meters. Because we have a
relatively low number of meters in the network and at a household level, the
output from this reporting methodology will continue to include a broad range
value of leakage.
Notwithstanding the above, we are
aware of a real increase in water leakage across the region. This
reinforces the case to improve our understanding of the issue, increase our
investment levels in operational leakage programmes and introducing new
initiatives in your LTPs to reduce demand over the next 5 years. This is well
aligned with the region’s conservation approach to our water supply.
Appendices
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
1⇩
|
Sustainable Water Supply Responses
|
89
|
Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
|
Attachment 1
|
Sustainable Water Supply Responses
|
Wellington Water Committee
12 September 2019
File:
(19/1193)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/209
Update on the
Government's Water Reforms
Purpose
of Report
To invite discussion on
the Government’s reform proposals and seek the Committee’s approval
for the preparation of a select committee submission.
|
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Committee agrees to work together to
develop a submission in response to the Government’s water reform
proposals.
|
Summary
The Government has made a series of recent announcements regarding
its water reform proposals including the introduction of a dedicated water
regulator and changes to its National Policy Statements to tackle water quality
issues.
It is recommended that the Water Committee work together to
develop a submission on behalf of its councils in relation to the proposed
drinking water regulatory regime. The select committee process is likely to be
held in early 2020.
Context
The Government is
progressing its water reforms and there have been some recent announcements
including the next stage of the three waters review and a discussion document
on national direction for the essential freshwater programme.
A briefing was sent to
all Water Committee members in August about the three waters review. The
briefing has been updated to include the proposals for the essential freshwater
programme and is attached (Attachment A).
The reforms are gathering strength and proposed changes are
happening at different levels and intersect with other areas of reform such as
urban development.
The main proposals for three waters are that there will be a
central, dedicated drinking water regulator who will be responsible for
overseeing the entire drinking water regulatory system. It is likely this
regulator will also undertake some wastewater and storm water functions
including nationally-prescribed environmental performance metrics, while
regional councils will remain the primary regulators for the environment.
Legislation will be drafted and introduced by the end of 2019.
The Government has also announced its plan to tackle water
quality issues in New Zealand, with a focus on stopping further degradation and
loss, reversing past damage, and addressing water allocation issues. The
proposed changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management
(NPS-FM) will provide greater direction for regional councils on matters they
must consider and requirements to be met when they are developing regional
plans for freshwater. It gives effect to Te Mana o te Wai objective.
What is this likely to mean for us?
The company has some internal work underway to consider the impact
of the introduction of a drinking regulator. The scope of the work will
include:
· Ascertaining
exactly what is required by the new regulatory regime and what can be learnt
other jurisdictions
· Considering
the impact on infrastructure – this will become clear as part of the long
term investment programme development for councils’ next Long Term Plans
· Considering
the impact on the company.
Given the Government’s main concern appears to be with
smaller councils that are underperforming, we do not expect increased water
standards to impose a substantial burden in terms of upgrading owner
councils’ drinking water assets. However, additional responsibilities
such as increased monitoring and reporting and maintaining a register for
non-council suppliers, will require investment.
The company will progress its preparation work at it moves towards
regulation at a pace that aligns with the introduction of legislation. A bill
that sets up the drinking water regulator is expected to be introduced by the
end of 2019 and enacted by mid-2020.
It is not possible to ascertain at this stage how the proposed
changes will impact on the broader region. The Government has indicated that
central government funding will be made available to incentivise regional
shared service arrangements. This could see movement within the sector and
renewed interest from smaller councils in joining Wellington Water. There are
currently no indications of timing around the availability of funding.
What should the Wellington Committee’s role be in shaping
the regulatory regime?
A number of opportunities will arise to provide feedback on the
Government’s proposals.
The main opportunity will be to comment on proposed legislation as
part of the select committee’s public consultation process in early 2020,
although there could be additional opportunities.
To make the greatest impact, it is recommended that the Water
Committee look to make a submission on behalf of its owner councils’. The
Government may be particularly interested in hearing from the Committee, seeing
that it is the only voluntary shared service entity in New Zealand. However,
the councils may also wish to make individual submissions.
Due to the nature of the legislative proposals, we think
it’s likely there will be a high level of alignment between owner
councils on issues and therefore efficiencies across the councils could potentially
be gained if only one submission was prepared.
Issues to be addressed
Some of the issues that we are aware so far include:
· The
regulator will be based in Wellington and we are led to believe could culminate
in around 160 staff. These staff are likely to be used to work with non-council
suppliers and assist with developing water safety plans. The staffing situation
poses a considerable risk to Wellington Water’s resources and it will be
vitally important that Wellington Water remains an attractive employer of
choice as it navigates this challenge. Alternatively, a more collaborative
approach could be put forward where the regulator works closely with water
service providers to keep skilled people within the sector.
· A
substantial operating budget will be required to fund the regulator, and while
this may be initially funded through Crown appropriations, local government may
be levied for the longer term.
· The
Minister has indicated that DIA is currently working on a funding package to
incentivise councils to develop shared service arrangements. Although the
application criteria has not been published, we understand there will be an
expectation that applications will only be received from councils considering
working at a regional level.
Next steps
We will update the
Committee on any further Government announcements.
Appendices
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
1⇩
|
Government's Water Reforms Attachment
|
94
|
Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
|
Attachment 1
|
Government's Water Reforms Attachment
|
Wellington Water Committee
20 September 2019
File:
(19/1234)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/213
Climate Change -
First Steps to Change
Purpose of Report
1. This report outlines
Wellington Water Ltd’s (WWL’s) proposed approach to climate change
adaptation and mitigation for the Committee’s feedback.
|
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Committee notes and receives the report.
|
Summary
2. The changing expectations of our
communities, client councils and government require us to consider what further
steps we need to take to manage the greenhouse gas emissions that are within
our control, and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. At its
climate change workshop in July the Water Committee directed WWL to continue to
develop its proposed response to climate change.
3. Following on from the direction
given at the workshop, WWL proposes that the Water Committee:
a) endorse
the refined set of principles for WWL’s approach to climate change set
out in Attachment 1.
b) discuss,
with reference to each Council’s own climate change objectives, the
approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation that the Water Committee
and client councils would like to direct through the next Letter of Expectations
(LOE). This direction would be reflected in the subsequent Statement of
Intent(s) and in the councils’ 2021/31 long term plans (LTPs) and could
include targets for reducing operational carbon and capital emissions and
WWL’s role in council-lead adaptation programmes.
c) note the draft action
plan and timeline for the activities WWL anticipates being required to support
climate change adaptation and mitigation (as set-out in Attachment 2).
Delivering on this action plan will require sufficient funding to be made
available from our client councils.
Appendices
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
1⇩
|
Climate change Attachments
|
101
|
Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
|
Attachment 1
|
Climate change Attachments
|
Wellington Water Committee
13 September 2019
File:
(19/1205)
Report no:
WWC2019/4/210
Endorsement of
strategic case for the ‘Receiving Environment Water Quality’ Future
Service Study
Purpose
of Report
1. This report seeks the Wellington
Water Committee’s endorsement of the strategic case developed for the
Future Service Study (FSS) on Receiving Environment Water Quality.
|
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Committee endorses the
strategic case and support the need for action and investment in relevant
discussions within the client councils.
|
Summary
2. Our programme
of Future Service Studies is looking into the key strategic issues for water
service delivery identified during the development of the Three Waters
Strategy. The first step of each Study is to identify the strategic case for
taking action (i.e. problem and benefit statements). The case is then used to
develop the appropriate strategic response and action plan. Each council must
then incorporate the action plan into its Long Term Plan (LTP) if the expected
benefits are to be achieved.
3. The
‘receiving environment’ refers to the waterways that Wellington
Water discharges into, including streams, rivers and harbours. Our wastewater
and stormwater discharges into these waterways affect their water quality, with
consequential impacts on the environment and the communities that interact with
them.
4. The strategic
case has identified that the key problems relate to the way the system has been
managed, the ageing and fragile network, and community behavior and practice
(see the ‘case on a page’ at Attachment A. The complete case is
also provided for reference at Attachment B). These issues are being magnified
by the impact of growth. Addressing these problems will improve urban water
quality, increase community wellbeing and connection to water, reduce public
health risks, and improve long-term system viability.
5. Addressing
receiving water quality is essentially a totally new service objective –
the previous focus has been on preventing public health risks from wastewater
and stormwater. Minimal funding has historically been directed to this
objective. A significantly increased focus is required not only to achieve our
strategic objective (‘respectful of the environment’) and associated
service goals but to comply with national and regional legislative requirements
and meet community and mana whenua expectations.
The Future Service
Studies build on the Three Waters Strategy
7. The Three
Waters Strategy helps us to plan for the long term by looking at how we expect
our water services to evolve, and the challenges we expect to face, over the
next 50-100 years.
8. While
developing the strategy we identified a number of issues that will have
significant impacts on service delivery and the achievement of our customer
outcomes where we needed to increase our knowledge and understanding. Our
programme of Future Service Studies will identify the ‘case for
change’ for each of these issues (the strategic case) and the necessary
strategic responses. Strategic cases have been developed for sustainable water
supply, wastewater sludge management and service resilience, and the
development of the case for flooding and flood management is about to commence.
9. The strategic
case for the issue of receiving environment water quality is now complete and
is starting to inform our response to water quality issues. This paper seeks
the Water Committee’s endorsement of the strategic case and support for
the development of funding proposals in the Long Term Planning (LTP) process.
The strategic case has been developed through a series of workshops involving
client council representatives together with mana whenua, Regional Public
Health and Greater Wellington in its environmental regulation and compliance
role.
The wider
‘system’ does not support good water quality outcomes
10. The ‘receiving
environment’ refers to the waterways that Wellington Water discharges
into, including streams, the Hutt River and the two harbours; Te
awarua-o-Porirua and Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Our wastewater and stormwater
discharges into these waterways affect their water quality, with consequential
impacts on the environment and the communities that interact with them.
11. The stormwater system
collects pollutants such as heavy metals, animal wastes and wastewater leaks
and discharges these into waterways without any form of treatment. While most
wastewater is treated prior to discharging to the ocean, engineered overflows
of untreated wastewater occur in a range of locations across the network
(principally in wet weather). Leaks and misconnections can also cause untreated
wastewater to enter these waterways, with consequential adverse impacts.
12. The strategic case has
established three core problems:
· Our current stormwater
and wastewater system and management is hampering our ability to meet
obligations and expectations (and where obligations and expectations have
changed since much of the system was designed)
· Community behaviour and
practice is impacting on stormwater systems and quality, affecting downstream
communities and water quality (with some of this behaviour a consequence of the
system they have been provided with).
· An ageing and fragile
network (including the private network) is increasingly vulnerable to leaks,
infiltration, and overflows; leading to human health and cultural concerns.
13. All of these problems
will be magnified by growth if they are not adequately addressed.
The benefits of
acting cut across all three customer outcomes
14. The expected benefits of
acting on this issue support all three of our customer outcomes: safe and
healthy water, respectful of the environment, and resilient networks that
support the economy. The benefits include:
· Reduced risks
to public health (i.e. urban waters safe for recreational and cultural use)
· Improved
urban water quality (i.e. supporting life and protected from contaminants)
· Improved
wellbeing and cultural connection to water (i.e. communities value our urban
water, and its mauri is restored)
· Improved long-term
viability (i.e. expectations able to be met now and into the future).
Community
expectations are reflected in emerging regulatory requirements
15. The primary driver for
this case has been the challenge of meeting existing and increasing expectations
for water quality. These expectations are now also being reflected through a
range of regulatory and legislative measures including:
· GWRC’s Natural
Resource Management Plan (NRP), that seeks to give effect to the current
National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM)
· GWRC’s Whaitua
process for Te awarua-o-Porirua has recommended water quality outcomes that
exceed the minimum requirements of the existing NPS-FM, with similar
requirements expected for Te Whanganui-a-Tara
· the revised NPS-FM, that
has recently been released for consultation, will impose even higher standards
than the existing version
· the Government’s
water reforms and Essential Freshwater programme have clearly signalled there
will be new national standards for wastewater and stormwater discharges that
are expected to exceed our existing level of performance.
16. Without interventions to
the current approach our performance against our Service Goals and the
associated levels of service will also decrease.
Enhanced water
quality is a new ‘level of service’
17. As outlined in the
discussion above, the response to the receiving water quality issue requires a
fundamental change in the way these services are delivered. It essentially
creates a totally new level of service that has not previously been funded.
Historically, the objective of our wastewater and stormwater systems has been
to provide drainage services – removing the water to prevent public
health impacts. The new requirement to also “clean up” the
associated discharges[1] will require new infrastructure
solutions and services that have not been required in the past.
Next steps
18. The results of the
strategic case are being used to inform the development of our response to this
issue. This is expected to include an overarching policy and action plan
similar to those we already have in place for safe drinking water. These will,
in turn, influence the programme of work that we propose for inclusion in our
client councils 2021/31 LTPs. We are also investigating potential
‘pilot’ projects that can demonstrate the impact of potential
interventions and further refine the investment process.
19. The Water
Committee’s endorsement of this strategic case would reflect your support
for the overall approach that we are taking, and the need for action and
investment on this key issue. Responding to this issue will also require our
client councils to consider how they wish to prioritise this issue alongside
other water and infrastructure challenges.
20. When
considering this strategic case and its implications, Water Committee members
might like to consider questions such as:
· Does your Council understand
the state of urban water quality in the cities and region?
· If not, what information
might you require to support prioritising funding and investment?
· What is the priority of
this issue relative to other water and infrastructure issues? Are you prepared
to increase funding to deliver on this ‘new’ issue?
· Are the consequences of the emerging
regulatory framework understood? (i.e. NRP, whaitua, NPS-FM, new national
standards, etc.)
Appendices
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
1⇩
|
REWQ Attachment A - REWQ Strategic Case on a Page
|
108
|
|
2⇩
|
REWQ Attachment B - REWQ Strategic Case v0.8
|
109
|
Author: External Author (Wellington Water Ltd)
|
Attachment 1
|
REWQ Attachment A - REWQ Strategic Case on a Page
|
|
Attachment 2
|
REWQ Attachment B - REWQ Strategic Case v0.8
|
