IrrigationNZ: Out & About

Water infrastructure delivery through our COVID-19 recovery

By John Mackie, Acting Chief Executive Water New Zealand and Elizabeth Soal IrrigationNZ CEO.

Water infrastructure is crucial in New Zealand for so many reasons. For creating resilience in times of climate change, supporting the environment by enhancing river flows and creating climates for aquatic life, for cultural and recreational purposes, for drinking water for rural and urban and communities and also for growing food and fibre for both Aotearoa and the world. Although COVID-19 has had detrimental effects on communities and the economy it has heightened the importance of having reliable access to water to grow food and fibre. Coupled with the Hawke’s Bay drought – which has been one of the driest years for the region on record and the recognition that these extreme climatic conditions are likely to be become more common in future shines the light on how important sustainable access to water is. New Zealand needs to be able to capture water and store it in periods of high rainfall to use it in times of drought.

Three decades on from the dis-establishment of the Ministry of Works and Development, there are renewed calls for a similar Crown entity to be established to assist in the economic recovery of the nation, as we enter the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The focus is on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders and creating jobs for those displaced as a result of the crisis – in addition to creating and upgrading much needed core infrastructure.

While it is true that our current generation owes a debt of gratitude to the Ministry of Works and it’s the predecessor, the Public Works Department, for the core infrastructure we now rely on including transport, power and water schemes, many are cautious for a back to the future approach of establishing a state owned infrastructure department.

When the call went out to the industry from the Infrastructure Minister on 1 April (2020) seeking “shovel ready’ infrastructure projects over $10 million that could be mobilised within six months, a wave of anticipation swept across the country. Both private and public sector organisations have submitted many hundreds of projects valued in the billions of dollars. The Government has received a lot of feedback on the proposal and submissions from a variety of public and private sector organisations. This is not surprising as this pandemic has presented us with a once in a generation opportunity to prudently invest in resilient water infrastructure to create sustainable outcomes across the four wellbeings.

During April a joint submission was made by a collaboration of not-for-profit organisations, commending the Government on their efforts to date and recommending a means by which the objectives of both the Infrastructure Industry Reference Group programme and the water services regulatory reforms could be aided. In this submission, Infrastructure New Zealand, Water New Zealand, IrrigationNZ, the Quake Centre and the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA NZ) jointly urged the Government to seize the opportunity to improve the performance of the water sector to create sustainable outcomes through the delivery of this programme. They also consider that this programme of work needs to be effectively co-ordinated, funded and delivered for it to be successful.

The focus is on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders and creating jobs for those displaced as a result of the crisis – in addition to creating and upgrading much needed core infrastructure.

A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

The opportunity is broader than just the Three Waters. Te Mana o te Wai, Our Freshwater 2020 and the Living Standards Framework all recognise the importance of healthy sustainable water systems. The distinction between rural and urban water services is becoming less clear, as climate change impacts the traditional weather patterns and increases the importance of water storage. During the droughts this year,