Water supply is one of the coming issues of the age. The importance of securing supply in the most economic and sustainable manner cannot be underestimated.
In Otago, where rain, rivers and an accessible and - at least until relatively recently - uncompromised potable water table has provided a plentiful resource, this has not been considered a high priority. But times are changing: the value, and indeed the cost, of maintaining clean water can only rise as population pressures grow.
The Dunedin City Council's initiative to address the treatment and supply of water is thus to be welcomed. The city has an estimated $1.6 billion portfolio of water, wastewater and stormwater assets.
The council's Three Waters working party has been working on a detailed proposal on the way forward since January this year, and on Monday two models for managing the city's water will be put before the council. Both will involve the creation of a council controlled organisation (CCO). In the same breath as the announcement, there have been reassurances to the public that such a move would not herald privatisation, water metering or higher prices.
By attempting to allay such fears, however, council staff may in certain respects be premature: eventually, all three of these options will surely have to be considered to some degree or other.
The first proposal would see the formation of SouthernWater, a CCO created and 100% owned by the council, with 100 council staff transferred to it. The second has been suggested by Delta Utility Services and would likewise see the creation of a new CCO to own the city's water assets, but with Delta providing all CCO services and 100 council staff transferred to Delta instead.
The choice of which option to go with - if indeed the DCC decides to change the status quo - may largely come down to which provides the greatest savings. Already, there is conjecture over this. When the SouthernWater option was contemplated in January, a "conservative" estimate projected savings at $20 million over a decade.
Revised figures to go forward to Monday's meeting however put potential savings at $1.7 million-$1.8 million a year, or $10 million-$12 million over a decade. The downward revision was the result of additional analysis and peer review. The Delta option posits savings of $2 million-$3 million a year across the Dunedin City Holdings Ltd group, and a $3 million-$5 million increase in Delta's annual dividend to the council. However, this option contains financial projections yet to be tested.
It is incumbent upon the council to find cost savings in all its operations given the state of the city's books. But care should be taken to ensure it produces real savings rather than illusory ones.
Control and supply of water, considered a basic human right, is inherently controversial. Thus the sensitivity over the potential for privatisation. Certainly, the formation of a CCO, and bringing the city's water infrastructure into its purview, could be seen as a first step towards future possible private investment. But without an overwhelming public mandate this is unlikely ever to happen.
For all that, water is a precious resource. Should all ratepayers bear the cost of those who, for whatever purpose, choose to use a great deal more of it than others?
Water metering exists in other cities in New Zealand - such as Auckland - and the sky has not fallen in: anecdotally, what appears to have happened is people have become more aware that there is a cost associated with clean potable water and have adjusted their consumption accordingly.
Although there does not seem an urgent need to introduce metering in Dunedin, it should not be ruled out indefinitely. The alternative, as investment is poured in to upgrade and future-proof supply, is costs are transferred, indiscriminately, to everyone's rates bills. Our future water needs must be protected and paid for.
• And another thing
The pundits have said tomorrow night's Rugby World Cup semifinal clash with Australia will be about mental toughness. And they are right. We all have to harden up. Relax, enjoy the build-up, and prepare to celebrate if we win; and if the unthinkable happens, just get over it. It is, after all, only a game - isn't it?
