Minutes of Wellington Water Committee

2 25 November 2020

Minutes of a meeting held in the Council Chambers, Porirua City Council,
16 Cobham Court, Porirua on

Wednesday 25 November 2020 commencing at 3.30pm

PRESENT:

Cr D Bassett (HCC) (Chair)
Mayor W Guppy (UHCC) (Deputy Chair) (until 4.25pm)

Mayor A Baker (PCC), Mayor A Beijen (SWDC), Cr J Brash (GWRC), Mr T Parai (Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira) and
Cr S Rush (WCC)

APOLOGIES: There were no apologies.

IN ATTENDANCE: Cr J van Lier (Alternate GWRC)

Deputy Mayor T Lewis (Alternate HCC)

Cr R Leggett (Alternate PCC)

Ms W Walker, Chief Executive, (PCC)

Mr G Dangerfield, Board Chair, Wellington Water Limited

Mr M Underhill, Ms K Skelton, Ms C Brophy and Mr P Barry Board Members, Wellington Water

Ms S Gains (GWRC)

Mr S Mahoney (GWRC)

Ms N Wood (GWRC)

Mr C Crampton, Chief Executive, Wellington Water

Ms T Haskell, Wellington Water Ltd

Ms S Cuthbert, Principal Advisor Wellington Water

Mr F Clark, Principal Advisor, Strategy Wellington Water
Ms J Alexander, Wellington Water

Mr J McKibbin, Wellington Water

Mr A van Paassen, Wellington Water
Ms K Stannard, Head of Democratic Services, HCC
Ms H Clegg, Minute Taker, HCC

PUBLIC BUSINESS

Mr Parai opened the meeting with a Karakia

1. APOLOGIES

There were no apologies.

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

There were no conflict of interest declarations.

4. Minutes

Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Beijen) Minute No. WWC 20601

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Wellington Water Committee held on Wednesday,
2 September 2020, be confirmed as a true and correct record.”

Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Baker) Minute No. WWC 20602

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Extraordinary Wellington Water Meeting held on Tuesday, 3 November 2020, be confirmed as a true and correct record.”

Company Update (20/1568)

Report No. WWC2020/6/302 by Wellington Water Limited

The Chief Executive from Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the report. He noted the increasing amount of drinking water being consumed across the region and also the increase in overnight water flows which suggested leaks were occurring. He advised WWL had directed extra resources to leak detection and that water restrictions would be required over the summer months.

Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Cr Brash) Minute No. WWC 20603

“That the Committee notes and receives the report.”

6.	Annual Report and Financial Statements (20/1571) Report No. WWC2020/6/303 by Wellington Water Limited
	The Chief Executive from Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the report. He advised the final audit report had not yet been received but was expected on 10 December 2020. He added this would result in WWL being outside of the statutory deadline requirement for approval of its Annual Report. In response to a question from a member, the Chair advised that the Committee would hold an additional meeting when the Audit Report had been received.
	Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Baker) Minute No. WWC 20604 “That the Committee: (i) notes that Wellington Water Limited will not be able to publish its Annual Report by the statutory deadline of 30 November 2020 because the Audit Opinion has not been received; and (ii) notes that it will receive Wellington Water Limited’s Annual Report when the Audit Opinion has been issued.”
7.	Update on the New Water Services Regulatory Regime (20/1573) Report No. WWC2020/6/304 by Wellington Water Limited
	The Principal Advisor from Wellington Water Limited (WWL) elaborated on the report. She confirmed WWL had the resources required to co-ordinate a submission on behalf of the local authorities of the Wellington region. In response to questions from members, the Principal Advisor confirmed that until the Bill was operational as an Act, WWL would continue to operate under the existing regime. She reminded members that each local authority could make their own individual submission to the Bill.
	Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Cr Rush) Minute No. WWC 20605 “That the Committee: (i) agrees to work together to develop a select committee submission in response to the Water Services Bill; and (ii) asks the Chair to circulate a draft submission to members for their comment prior to finalising and submitting to the select committee.”

The Importance of Looking after Existing Three Waters Infrastructure (20/1567)

Report No. WWC2020/6/305 by Wellington Water Limited

The Principal Advisor, Strategy from Wellington Water Limited (WWL) gave a presentation on water infrastructure, growth in cities, sustainable water supply, environmental quality and the effects of climate change.

With regard to water supply, the Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL explained that maintaining a balance between looking after the environment, whilst responding to the challenges of growth, climate change and demand was crucial. He also explained access to water, including sources (rivers and the aquifer) and allocations. He stated that WWL was authorised by a series of resource consents, to draw water from the sources at a particular rate, but that increasingly water taken from Te Awakairangi was at levels over the prescribed amount due to demand issues. He stressed that this had negative effects on the environment and could not continue. He noted that WWL was working with the Whaitua and Greater Wellington Regional Council to ensure the water sources remained healthy and well managed. He noted that the aquifer was under threat from activities on the land eg pile driving. He further noted that water storage options were being investigated for the future.

With regard to bulk water, the Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL advised that rainfall in the region was not reliable. This was a crucial element to ensuring WWL could consistently deliver water to its customers, all year round] and during times of emergency. He noted reservoirs held one-two days of water and that in five to six years time, additional storage facilities would be required if the increasing rate of water usage continued. He warned there could be times this summer where WWL may not be able to meet the daily demand for water, if usage kept increasing and leaks were not fixed.

The Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL explained that the Te Marua Treatment Plant had capacity to treat more water and that the transport of water through the region was of concern due to the aging network being susceptible to failure and that the seismic resilience of the pipe across Te Awakairangi at the Silverstream Bridge was of concern.

The Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL noted that currently, on average, residents of the region used 200l of water per person, per day and that this was well in excess of the 160l per person in Auckland. He acknowledged some of the water usage could be attributed to leaks and that WWL had recently increased resourcing in this area to improve leak detection and to fix leaks. He added the pipe renewals programme aimed to replace the most susceptible pipes first.

The Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL elaborated on the private network and customer water use. He advised WWL would now prepare a business case for water meters to be installed across the region, noting that local authorities were advised to include provisions for water metering in the second three year period of their Long Term Plans. He stated the Committee would be updated in due course.

Mr Parai left the meeting at 4.00pm.

In response to questions from a member concerning the lack of action on the storage issue, given that GWRC had first alerted local authorities to the need for an additional lake 10 years ago, the Principal Advisor, Strategy, WWL advised work was continuing on the development of this. GWRC had secured ownership of the required land for a third storage lake, the construction of which could cost $250M. He noted that reducing water usage was also a priority.

In response to questions from members, the Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL advised that, although the quality of the asbestos lined piping was reducing, any asbestos infiltration was within recommended levels and that the pipe renewals programme was focussing on critical assets first.

Mr Parai rejoined the meeting at 4.04pm.

The Principal Advisor, Strategy, WWL confirmed that in terms of future water management, increasing the bulk water storage capacity would assist with both managing water during the dry season and coping with spikes in demand throughout the year. He also confirmed that if more water leaks were fixed and overall water consumption reduced, the requirement for additional bulk storage would be pushed out several years.

In response to a question from a member regarding alternative water conservation methods, the Principal Advisor, Strategy, WWL agreed there were a range of options to help conserve water. He added that WWL had submitted to MBiE concerning Climate Change proposals.

In response to a question from a member concerning the additional benefits water meters may provide, the Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL confirmed that the energy consumption on the Kapiti Coast region dropped once water meters had been installed, fewer carbon emissions were released and adverse environmental effects on the rivers in the area reduced. He added that advancing technology could provide an App with a meter, comparable to the electricity industry Apps, which provided real time information on the amount of electricity a premise was utilising. He acknowledged privacy issues would need to be overcome.

In response to a question from a member concerning alternative water sources, the Principal Advisor, Strategy WWL acknowledged improving technologies could lead to alternative water sources becoming available. He added that consultation with Mana Whenua was important.

Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Baker) Minute No. WWC 20606

“That the Committee:

(i) receives and notes the report; and

(ii) notes the importance of looking after existing infrastructure.”

9.	Water Supply System Story (20/1570) Report No. WWC2020/6/306 by Wellington Water Limited
	The Chair elaborated on the future of Wellington’s drinkable water supply. He stated the business case presented by Wellington Water Limited identified a number of challenges. He highlighted that planning new strategies for the future needed to commence to ensure the Committee was committed to the vision. He elaborated on four immediate challenges. The Chair confirmed that the business case for water meters would include assessment of other options and opportunities. Mayor Baker expressed support for the introduction of water meters. She believed that in the short term, more education of the public in ways to conserve water should be undertaken. Mayor Beijen advised that South Wairarapa had had water meters for the past 18 years. He urged the Wellington region to install water meters as soon as possible. He added they were a crucial tool in detecting leaks and were the only way for residents to really value water. Cr Brash expressed support for Mayor Baker’s comments. She added that measures to negate having to invest in a new storage lake were welcomed. She expressed support for using technology similar to that used by the electricity industry,to allow households to monitor their own water use. Mr Taku expressed concern that installing water meters in social housing dwellings could place an added financial burden on inhabitants. Mayor Beijen advised an allowance of water usage was provided, before charges were imposed if the limit was exceeded. Mayor Guppy advised public education was occuring now and Upper Hutt City Council frequently ran water conservation measure campaigns for its residents. Cr Rush advised that any item which allowed for real time analysis of networks was invaluable. He expressed support for the business case.
	Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Baker) Minute No. WWC 20607 That the Committee: (i) notes that Wellington Water Limited has evaluated the water supply system from source to customer and laid out the challenges the metropolitan councils of Wellington face; (ii) notes that Wellington Water Limited has yet to carry out a similar exercise for the South Wairarapa District Council; (iii) notes the previous decision of the Wellington Water Committee to conserve water first and then to look to build more storage second; (iv) notes one of the tools which could be used to conserve water could be residential meters and that an economic case investigating the merits of residential meters has been completed; (v) notes the Economic Case for Providing Residential Water Consumption Information prepared for Wellington Water Limited by Ernst Young concludes there is a case for residential meters due to a reduction in leaks and the influencing of customers’ use of water with timely information; (vi) agrees that Wellington Water Limited should now commission a detailed business case on behalf of its shareholder councils to further refine the case for residential meters; (vii) notes that Wellington Water Limited has advised its shareholder Councils to place the cost of residential meters in year five of their long term plans as part of the region’s approach to the conservation of water; and (viii) requests all members of the Committee to refer Wellington Water Limited’s Water Supply System report and the Economic Case for Providing Residential Water Consumption Information to their individual councils.”
	Mayor Guppy tabled a letter dated 20 November 2020 attached as page 9 to the minutes. The Chair tabled a response dated 23 November 2020 attached as page 10 to the minutes. Mayor Guppy left the meeting at 4.25pm.
10.	Wellington City Mayoral Water Taskforce Cr Rush advised that he was a member of the recently established Wellington City Mayoral Water Taskforce (the taskforce) looking at issues concerning Wellington’s water. He added a report from the taskforce would be released shortly.

11. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

Resolved: (Cr Bassett/Mayor Beijen) Minute No. WWC 20608

“That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely:

12. Minutes – 2 September and 3 November 2020

13. Appointment of a Director to Wellington Water Limited (20/1546)

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

(A)	(B)	(C)

General subject of the matter to be considered.	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter.	Ground under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution.

Minutes of the Wellington Water Committee held on 2 September 2020 – Appointment of Directors to Wellington Water	The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons. (s7(2)(a)).	That the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding exist.

Minutes of the Wellington Water Committee held on 3 November 2020 – Appointment of Directors to Wellington Water Ltd	The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons. (s7(2)(a)).	That the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding exist.

Appointment of a Director to Wellington Water Limited.	The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons. (s7(2)(a)).	That the public conduct of the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good reason for withholding exist.

This resolution is made in reliance on section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by section 6 or 7 of that Act which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public are as specified in Column (B) above.”

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 4.34pm and the non-public portion of the meeting closed at 4.49pm.

Cr D Bassett

CHAIR

CONFIRMED as a true and correct record

Dated this 5^th day of March 2021