Ranfurly water supply resilience investigation continues
The Central Otago District Council will progress a business case to guide investment in water treatment upgrades for the Māniatoto water supplies.
For more than a year, Council has been investigating options to provide a water supply for Ranfurly that complies with the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards and improves its resilience. There are turbidity and quantity issues with the existing source water, which has required other sources to be investigated. Significant investment, in the range of $20-25 million, may be required to build a new Ranfurly plant with a new water source.
During the first two weeks of February this year, there was a water supply event on the Ranfurly water supply which resulted in a Conserve Water Notice being put in place on 4 February, a water restriction on 7 February, and a Boil Water Notice for eight days from the 8 February to 16 February.
The matter was discussed at the Council meeting at Alexandra today (Wednesday 27 September 2023).
In her report, Three Waters Director Julie Muir referred to the events and what transpired in the timeframe of this incident from about 26 January through to 16 February, and the actions that have been identified to address the shortcomings of the response since then.
Ms Muir said there were a number of failings, both by Council’s contractor and by Council.
“There has been changes with both the contractor and council delivery teams since April, and these are resulting in a significant change in culture.”
She outlined the nature of water delivery in Central Otago and the vulnerability of the water sources to climatic events, and the inevitability of continuing challenges with the source water used for Council supplies.
There were still further process improvements which needed to be put in place to ensure events like February’s did not result in similar outcomes in the future, which were outlined in the report tabled at the meeting.
The level of involvement the Council took in responding to an event with the potential to lead to disruption to the level of service was a key point, she said.
“In this event Council took a passive role in managing the contractor during the event.
“Council’s water team is now taking a more active role and where necessary directing the required response.”
Cr Stu Duncan gave feedback that the response had been less than ideal, however pointed out the learnings from situation, and vulnerability of the community to weather conditions.
In a statement, Fulton Hogan said they took the issue seriously and had made significant changes. The company apologised to the community for the impact of the water restrictions.
Identifying what was a critical event and to escalate it if necessary; that messages from the community got conveyed to the appropriate people to council, and that there was a record of these, were other key aspects addressed by the Council.
“I am confident that this issue has already been addressed through the change in culture that is occurring,” Ms Muir said.
The weather event of last week, where a Conserve Water Notice was issued for both Omakau and Naseby, was an example of an improvement in communication and processes, and as a result, the Naseby community in particular was able to avoid a Boil Water Notice, she said.
“It is entirely possible that there will be another dry summer and we are committed to ensuring that all of the actions identified are in place before Christmas.”
The work that was being done to upgrade Māniatoto water supplies would be progressed to the point where it would be ready for inclusion in the investment programme for the 2024 Long-term Plan.
