Water is indeed a terrible thing to waste
The Upper Mangatawhiri Dam in the Hunua Ranges is pictured at about 45 percent capacity on April 29. Phil Walter, Getty Images
On the 5th May I was really happy to put forward a notice of motion to the Waitemata Local Board to recommend to Watercare to explore accelerating their work in creating a circular waste system. I had circulated the documents in advance and had already incorporated some suggestions my fellow board members had given me but I was still nervous. After speaking to the motion and having it seconded it there was a bit of a silence before the chair spoke in support. When we voted however there was no-one against. It was a thrill and a relief.
Why do I care so much? For a long time water extraction has been considered an environmentally neutral activity. There is plenty of water around and New Zealand doesn’t seem short of it so it is easy to take for granted. New Zealand weather is also famously changeable, sometimes dry but it always rains in the end, they say, so what’s the problem with extracting it from aquifers, rivers, dams?
As time goes on though there is increasing evidence that everything has a cost to it. The city of Jakarta has taken so much water from its aquifers that it is now sinking and a new capital is to be found. The plastic used for water bottles ends up back in the oceans in places like the great Pacific Garbage Patch. Dams and river take for agriculture and cotton have destabilised natural eco-systems in New Zealand and elsewhere. In Kazakhstan, ships lie on their sides on dessicated mud, the Aral sea having been drained for cotton plantations.
“he effect of changing water flows on fresh water” taken from 'Our freshwater 2020', a new report by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ: http://ow.ly/seI330qycLf
However, there is also cause for hope. Drainage, water capture and waste water management has become increasingly sophisticated. It is possible to treat waste water and make it drinkable. It happens right now. We drink water from the Waikato that contains treated waste water from Hamilton. Treated waste water can be pumped back into aquifers. Grey water systems and water tanks can reduce the amount a household takes from dams etc, and mean more water for garden irrigation when times are dry. Roadside “rain gardens”, and swales help filter the rain on road so that what goes into the harbour is less damaging to wildlife. Installing the new central interceptor drain will mean less effluent getting washed up with stormwater after heavy rainfall and ending up in the Western Bays, raising e-coli levels. The Eastern Isthmus really needs their version and soon. The toxicity of water in Hobson Bay is far above what is considered safe for even a dog to paddle in. And dogs can eat poo.
Watercare is one of the most efficient and effective CCOs in Auckland. They have ambitious goals to become carbon zero by 2025, and are exploring ways to install a circular waste system. I know they have the capacity to do this. My notice of motion is to encourage them to push on sooner rather than later rather than take more and more from rivers. If the droughts continue, will there be enough to take?
We want swales, we want a cleaner harbour, we don’t want new plantings to die next summer because of another drought, and there have been more summers with droughts than without in the last decade. It is possible to find solutions that are regenerative and resourceful. This is a strong signal not to make cuts, but to invest in a resilient future.