Water July/August 2022

water MAY 2015 | ISSUE 189

JULY/AUGUST 2022 ISSUE 225

Celebrating and communicating at conferences Water New Zealand Conference & Expo Part 2 Stormwater professionals gather in Christchurch Wetlands for water health

CONTENTS WATER NEW ZEALAND

President: Helen Atkins Board Members: Troy Brockbank, Fraser Clark, Tim Gibson, Lorraine Kendrick, Priyan Perera, Dr Deborah Lind, Shelley Wharton, Chief Executive: Gillian Blythe Water Group Co-ordinator: Katrina Guy Administration Officer: Pip Donnelly Technical Manager: Noel Roberts Insight and Sustainability Advisor: Lesley Smith Training Development Manager: Mumtaz Parker Communications Manager: Debra Harrington Design and Marketing Coordinator: Paris Elwood Executive Administrator: Amy Samuelu Bookkeeping and Administration assistant: Zoe Hubbard SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Backflow: Paul van den Berg, P: +64 27 509 9962 Climate Change: Jon Reed, P: +64 9 300 9267 Smart Water Infrastructure: Rachael Casey P +64 27 378 1401 Modelling: Fiona Macdonald, M: +64 21 390 781 Small Wastewater & Natural Systems: Terry Long, M: +64 21 025 73881 Stormwater: Peter Christenson, P: +64 22 342 2164 Water Service Managers’ Group: Kalley Simpson, P: +64 21 223 3428 WeCan: Christine McCormack, P: +64 22 512 3553 Young Water Professionals: AKL: Olivia Philpott, P: +64 22 043 2419 WLG: Rumana Sayyad, P: +64 21 140 8271 CHC: Liam Allan, P: +64 27 385 7003 WATER JOURNAL Editorial: Mary Searle Bell, Contrafed Publishing M: +64 21 676 034 Advertising Sales: Debbie Laing M: +64 27 455 0223 Design: Jonathan Whittaker M: +64 21 147 5591 Publishing: Contrafed Publishing, Managing Editor: Alan Titchall, 1 Grange Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024 PO Box 112 357, Penrose, Auckland, 1642 P: +64 9 636 5715 www.contrafed.co.nz

water Issue 225 JULY/AUGUST 2022

INSIDE

WATER CONFERENCE

4 President’s comment: Engaging and

46 Overview

celebrating at our conferences 9 Submission on climate change adaption plan 11 Singapore International Water Week 15 Building shared understanding through data 18 The broad ranging benefits of smart water metering 20 How Kiwis use water at home 82 Legal update on water interests

48 Mahuta – Reforms will unlock investment opportunities 49 Pre-conference workshop Taumata Arowai – Te Mana o Te Wai Department of Internal Affairs – Three Waters priorities

84 Time to take the invisibility cloak off water

50 Wiles – Communicating complex stuff – lessons from Covid

86 Towards a mercury-free future

52 Award winners

90 Focus on the future

56 Water conference in pictures

92 Female staff key to success of critical

60 Project of the year: Green engineering a winner

infrastructure projects

FEATURES 24 Profile – Anthony Wilson 26 Profile – Richard Wilson 28 Making invisible species visible 30 Removing barriers to ensure freshwater fish can complete their lifecycle 32 Wastewater project spawns hapu laundromat 34 Cleaning water with nature 38 Looking back to look forwards – Reconstructing wetlands in Porirua 42 Assessing harbour health 44 Living roof for Auckland’s central library

Distribution: Pip Donnelly P: +64 4 472 8925 DISCLAIMER: Water New Zealand reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material submitted for publication. The opinions expressed in contributions to Water are not necessarily those of Water New Zealand. The information contained in this publication is given in good faith and has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, neither Water New Zealand, nor any person(s) involved in the preparation of this publication accept any form of liability whatsoever for its content including advertisements, editorials, opinions, advice or information. This extends to any consequences from its use. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or ink–jet printing without prior written permission of the publishers.

47 Jon Lamonte – Big challenges and big questions for water sector

64 Paper of the year – Addressing nitrate in drinking water

STORMWATER CONFERENCE 70 Overview 71 Turnbull – Tackling flood challenges, an insurer’s view 72 Beaumont – The need to learn to live with water 73 Knuijt – Visions about water and landscape 74 Award winners 76 Paper of the year – 3D modelling for fish passage design

- ‘Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora nga tangata’ ‘If the water is healthy, the land is healthy, the people are healthy’

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ISSN 1179-2949 (Print) ISSN 2382-1906 (Online) www.waternz.org.nz

The official journal of Water New Zealand – New Zealand’s only water environment periodical.

Established in 1958, Water New Zealand is a non-profit organisation.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND FROM THE PRESIDENT

Engaging and celebrating at our conferences Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora ngā tāngata

Helen Atkins President, Water New Zealand

A

s I enter my final months as Water New Zealand’s president, it was great to finally meet and have real faceto-face discussions with so many people at our two big conferences – Stormwater at the new Te Pae Convention Centre in Ōtautahi Christchurch in May, and then two weeks later at Kirikiriroa Hamilton for the Water New Zealand Conference and Expo Part 2.

Both conferences had a festive atmosphere. We were celebrating leaving the Zoom and Teams cameras behind and getting out of our home offices to take part in so many lively, informative talkfests and presentations.

And the timing was great; there’s so much to talk about right now. Water reform is front of mind and our conferences reflected that.

Last month, the Water Services Entities Bill, enabling the establishment of the four new water service entities, began its journey through Parliament. The new legislation is the first of a series of proposed bills to establish the new system for national water service delivery.

Later legislation will provide for the transfer of assets and liabilities from local authorities to the regionally based entities as well as economic regulation and consumer protection.

Understanding the need for change to support and sustain the new investment and provide for healthy water does need to be at the forefront of our conversation on this extremely important matter.

4 www.waternz.org.nz

Whatever the specific outcome of any reform package it would be a great pity if the important discussion around the need to find an affordable way to provide safe drinking water for everyone and ensuring a healthy environment, gets drowned out due to disinformation and misinformation.

While the Government has looked overseas at other successful service delivery models to help inform its approach, here in Aotearoa New Zealand we have a unique foundation in the form of Te Tiriti o Waitangi which will give us a uniquely Kiwi adaptation of those models.

We can use this to our advantage and benefit from the role and knowledge of mana whenua and local iwi. After all, Te Mana o te Wai – healthy water, a healthy environment and healthy people – needs to be at the heart of any water reform.

I hope that as the bill goes through the various Parliamentary processes, including at the Select Committee, we will see genuine debate and focus on addressing the real challenges and opportunities ahead. And that as a result, we get the best legislation possible.

With that I urge you all – the people who work water everyday – to stay engaged, share your knowledge and make sure you get your voices heard.

Ngā mihi nui, Helen Atkins President

Mānawatia a Matariki Celebrating, reflecting and acknowledging the past, present and future 21 June — 29 June 2022

Three stars have a deep connection to water Waipuna-ā-rangi – ‘the spring in the sky’. Rain from Waipuna-ārangi helps nourish the whenua (land) and waterbodies and is returned through evaporation.

Waipuna-ā-rangi reminds us that manaaki (generosity) that is given to others, will eventually be returned.

Waitī - fresh waterbodies and all the food sources, and creatures within. Rainfall from Waipuna-arangi nourishes the freshwater bodies watched by Waitī, before flowing out to the saltwater bodies of Waitā. This flow of freshwater to the sea reminds us of our connection to water, and to each other.

Matariki Waipunārangi rain

Waitī freshwater

Waitā seawater

Waitā - oceans and salt waterbodies and all the food sources, and creatures within.

It receives the flow of water from the freshwater bodies on the land. It reminds us that our actions upstream can have adverse effects downstream.

WATER NEW ZEALAND UPFRONT

Three waters upgrades for marae First-of-their-kind upgrades to Horowhenua water systems benefitting 13 marae were celebrated at Horowhenua District Council Chambers at the end of May. Funding for the upgrades came from the Central Government Three Waters Stimulus package, with the Horowhenua District Council allocated $520,000 of the funding to improve water, stormwater, and wastewater at marae across the district.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta spoke at the celebration alongside Taumata Arowai CEO Bill Bayfield, Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden, and marae leaders.

“It was important for me to be here to acknowledge what is being achieved alongside council and marae; it’s an important proof point of the work I’ve been doing over the last four to five years,” said Mahuta.

“The policy work, the analysis and all the things that get done in Wellington is underscored by what really matters, and how we make things happen – and that’s the

partnership that the council and iwi have undertaken.”

All Horowhenua marae have received upgrades to their wastewater, stormwater and drinking water services. Twentythree 30,000 litre water tanks have been installed alongside nine new drinking water and UV filtration systems.

Funding is also being sought for electric backup generators, ensuring uninterrupted water supply and safe drinking water, in the event of a power cut or emergency situation.

“In the event of a natural disaster and with challenges like Covid we see our marae become community centres.

When we ensure that marae have all the infrastructure that is required to enable them to operate effectively as community centres, the future looks very bright,” says Mahuta.

Speakers at the celebration also paid homage to former Horowhenua District Council chief executive David Clapperton whose shared vision with local Maori leaders was the genesis for both projects.

Digital badges roll on Focus on Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2)

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Two more learning opportunities are being added to Water New Zealand’s digital badge learning programme.

Work is currently underway on a new badge, Small Waters 101, which focuses on the challenges of supplying safe drinking water to small communities. There are more than 200 suppliers serving populations of between 101 and 500 people and in total more than 50,000 New Zealanders receive water from small suppliers.

Also in development is the next level learning opportunity to find out more about complexities of drinking water – Drinking Water 201.

This course delves deeper into components of the Drinking Water 101 digital badge.

Currently Water New Zealand has had more than 1000 water sector professionals enrolled in its digital training modules.

Training development manager Mumtaz Parker says the flexibility of the online opportunities have been key to their popularity.

“The courses have been structured into a combination of reading, videos, resources and activities that can be completed over a fourweek period.”

The Cultural Significance and Importance of Wai module has also been popular.

“This course, delivered fully online, is designed to help deepen understanding of connections and interdependencies of water through a te ao Maori lens, have been getting booked out quickly.

So, to try to meet the demand, we have managed to squeeze in further courses this year.

“There are now two more opportunities – in August and October – to complete this course in 2022.”

To find out more about digital badge learning opportunities, go to www.waternz.org.nz

Panel discussion: Economic regulation Scale is important when it comes to delivering water services, Water Industry Commission for Scotland chief executive Alan Sutherland told around 100 water sector professionals in Wellington.

Alan was speaking as part of a panel discussion chaired by Water New Zealand chief executive Gillian Blythe on the challenges and opportunities of a future water regulatory environment.

He said that larger organisations can deliver services more effectively and efficiently because they can afford to employ professionals with the right skills to think about how services can be improved and become more accountable.

He was joined by Kaupapa Maori environmental consultant Tina Porou, who spoke about Te Mana o Te Wai and her concerns about the real issue of water and water quality becoming lost in the current debate.

Other panellists included the chief executive of Taumata Arowai, Bill Bayfield who welcomes the setting up of a new economic regulator, and Andy Burgess, GM, Infrastructure Branch, Commerce Commission, who agreed that enshrining Te Mana o te Wai would help ensure engagement with communities as well as consumers.

You can catch up with the panel discussion by viewing the recording on the Water New Zealand website.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND UPFRONT

Flushability standard update Consumers will now be able to identify products that are safe to flush following the publication of new Australian-New Zealand flushability standards.

Water New Zealand, with the backing of water utilities, has been working with its Australian counterparts – WSAA (Water Services Association of Australia) and water utilities – as well as some manufacturers for the past three years to develop an agreed and enforceable flushability standard.

Water New Zealand’s technical manager Noel Roberts was a member of the technical committee developing the standard.

He says this is the first time in the world that there is an agreed manufacturer and industry-wide flushable standard (AS/NZS 5328:2022).

“Wipes and other non flushables are a major cause of blockages in pipes, contributing to fatbergs and environmental pollution through sewage overflows.

“We conservatively estimate that it costs Kiwi utilities at least

WATER NEW ZEALAND

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$16-million each year to unblock pipes caused by wipes and other non-flushables.

“While we at this stage continue to urge people not to flush anything other than the three p’s (pee, poo and toilet paper), consumers will soon be able to check for the flushable symbol on packaging.

“If there’s no flushable symbol on the packet then don’t flush it, bin it.”

Water New Zealand would like to thank the following councils for their contributions towards creating the new standard: Opotiki District Council, Central Otago District Council, Wairoa District Council, Tauranga City Council, Timaru District Council, New Plymouth City Council, Nelson City Council, Horowhenua District Council, Hamilton City Council, Hauraki District Council, Gore District Council, Invercargill City Council, Clutha District Council, Gisborne District Council, Tasman District Council, Porirua City Council, and Carterton District Council.

Submission on climate change adaptation plan Water New Zealand says there is a need to improve flood management and ensure a stronger focus on resilience for urban water as we face inevitable climate change.

The Government is developing a national plan to help the country adapt to and minimise the harmful impacts of climate change.

The plan follows the development of the first national climate change risk assessment. The assessment identified risks to potable water supplies (availability and quality) due to changes in rainfall, temperature, drought, extreme weather events and ongoing sealevel rise, as New Zealand’s most urgent climate change risk.

A draft plan released for consultation is the government’s first step in setting a clear direction for adapting to the irreversible impacts of climate change. The consultation also outlines proposals for flood insurance and managed retreat policies.

Water New Zealand welcomes the plan’s development, which collates a heartening number of initiatives across government, but says few (other than sector reform) directly address urban water management.

“Our submission focuses on opportunities to improve urban water".

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INTERNATIONAL WATER NEW ZEALAND

Singapore International Water Week Watercare’s head of innovation, Apra Boyle-Gotla, made a presentation on ‘adaptive planning’ at Singapore International Water Week, in April. Here she shares her insights on what we can learn from Singapore’s transformational water journey.

Singapore International Water Week is one of the most highlyregarded water events in the world, and I was very fortunate to attend this year’s event, in person.

The themes focused heavily on the impact of climate change and other global megatrends, including digitalisation and urbanisation. What really hit home to me was how far Singapore has come on its own water journey in a relatively short time.

As recently as the 1970s, Singapore was one of the poorest countries in Asia. Domestic waste was stored in buckets and collected by hand – not too dissimilar to the night cart system used to collect Auckland’s waste in the early 20th century.

Sometimes, domestic waste was chucked straight into the Singapore River, and the river became so polluted that the country’s chief economic advisor in the 60s – Dutch economist Dr Alert Winsemius – recommended to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew that it be re-branded as a sewage system. The PM refused, and promised Winsemius that he would live to catch a fish in the river.

It prompted a clean-up that spanned a decade (1977-1987) and cost the government SGD$300 million. During Winsemius’s last visit in 1993, he accepted defeat when he caught a grouper fish in the river. It was a wager he was proud to lose.

Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s water utility, then changed its emphasis from wastewater treatment to water reclamation.

Singapore’s water reclamation plants are connected by a deep tunnel sewage system, which is like a sewer highway. It’s an important enabler of Singapore’s integrated water strategy, which allows every drop of used water to be collected, treated and further purified into NEWater – Singapore’s own brand of reclaimed water.

At the conference I tried NEWBrew – a beer made from NEWater. I even brought back a few cans for Watercare’s team currently exploring opportunities to trial purified recycled water.

Brendon Dockary, our recycled water lead, gave it the thumbs up: “I really enjoyed it, it was a lot fruitier than I expected, with a really bright flavour. It’d definitely go down a treat on a summer’s evening – I’d happily buy a six-pack!”

At Watercare, we’re at the early stages of our water recycling journey – but it’s definitely time to be on the journey. It’s about making the best use of our resources.

The concept of using treated drinking water for things like irrigation is increasingly becoming outdated. Over the next year we’ll be trialling the use of purified recycled water to irrigate sports fields and a garden by the Watercare Coastal Walkway.

As our journey progresses, we’ll be taking learnings from countries like Singapore and the US, and sharing our own learnings here.

Singapore feeds its own innovation with a research and

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

development programme that receives $220 million in government grants for water and sustainability research, reviewed in five-yearly cycles. This gives certainty and time for frontier research to mature into applied research.

I visited the Nanyang Environment and Water Research institute, headed by Prof Shane Snyder, who spoke about some of the key research themes at the university: biotechnology and bioprocesses, chemical and materials engineering, resource recovery, membranes, engineering analytics and modelling and artificial intelligence.

Specific research examples he gave were around recovering resources like bioplastics, metals, and sand; the use of drones and remote sensing of water quality; novel carbon sequestration techniques; and purple phototrophic bacteria for converting waste to high protein fish food.

Investing in research is important. Watercare is partnering with Auckland University to find opportunities for applied research into some of our crunchy challenges, like low-carbon infrastructure, asset renewals and climate change.

It’s early days, but this collaboration is opening up opportunities to access multi-industry partnerships like MBIE’s Building Innovation Partnership. We’re certainly not the only infrastructure provider looking for solutions to these challenges, so it’s great to be aligning our efforts and making the best use of our investments.

Whether it is investing in waterways clean up, water and sustainability research, or integrated water and waste systems, it is clear there is a deep appreciation in Singapore for the connection between effective and efficient water systems and a thriving economy.

12 www.waternz.org.nz

This was evident at the convention with a passionate speech from Minister Grace Fu about the importance of sustainable development. Singapore’s strong political will and mature leadership clearly pulls all of its ministries in a common direction towards meeting sustainable development goals. And Grace highlighted the central importance of the water sector in this journey.

The plenary and technical themes of the convention covered a broad range of topics – including climate mitigation and adaptation.

Key global megatrends were the need for digitisation and lateral thinking and partnerships across sectors to be able to meet future challenges.

A key concern highlighted was that climate change experts are still divorced from the water industry, evidenced by the COP26 reports having not a single occurrence of the word ‘water’. Carbon and water are intrinsically linked, and hence water should not be forgotten in the transition to net zero.

It is important to be collaborating with different industries when it comes to trying new things and sharing learnings. If we’re to meet our net-zero ambitions, we have to work together.

At Watercare, we have some great work going on to explore ways to first measure, then reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emitted in the wastewater treatment process.

In the first experiment of its kind in New Zealand, we’re trialling a portable greenhouse gas monitor to trap and measure nitrous oxide (N 2O) at Rosedale Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Once we have the results, we’ll be sharing them nationally and globally.

Digitisation is another major disrupter and enabler.

Left: A display explaining the deep tunnel sewage system. Above: The 350 metre wide Marina Barrage dam across the mouth of Marina Channel creates a water reservoir in the heart of Singapore and is part of a comprehensive flood control scheme to alleviate flooding in the low-lying areas of the city.

Woven in to almost every presentation was the growing need for a ‘digital water utility’. Many utilities, including Watercare, are rolling out smart meters and smart network strategies, enabled by the growth in sensor technologies.

Smarter networks will result in larger swathes of data that, if well-structured and managed, can enable databased models, physics-based models and machine learning/ AI algorithms to unlock deep insights and capabilities. In essence, we could potentially have networks managing themselves.

Finally, what really impacted as I explored Singapore was the level of investment in visual storytelling and the embedding of the value of water.

Next to the Marina Barrage is an impressive Sustainability Centre that displays Singapore’s past, present and future. It tells a story of where Singapore began, showcases how much has been achieved so far, and outlines the possibilities that lie ahead.

Complex and technical subjects – like deep tunnel systems, resource recovery and even Singapore’s Climate Action Plan – are laid out in interactive displays taking people on a journey.

By the time you come out of this impressive and beautiful gallery, you cannot help but feel a strong sense of understanding of why water and water management is so critical for the survival and success of a society.

I think we could all take a lesson from Singapore on this one – we need to invest in engaging communication and storytelling to help Kiwis truly appreciate water as the precious taonga it is.

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TAUMATA AROWAI WATER NEW ZEALAND

Building shared understanding through data Michael Howden, data and insights manager at Taumata Arowai, talks about the new water services regulator’s approach to data.

He explains what they’re currently doing with data, what they’ve got planned, and where they need your help.

The amount of change happening in the water sector right now is incredible. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to support such large-scale change.

It’s been seven months since we went live as the water services regulator, and I joined Taumata Arowai in October 2021.

Establishing our organisation while learning a new role has felt like building a plane while flying it.

At the same time, proposals for new water entities are being developed, an economic regulator is anticipated, there’s resource management reform, health reform, regional councils setting up new environmental reporting systems, and the whole sector striving to give effect to Te Mana o te Wai. As some of our functions involve sharing data across the sector, I think a better analogy than building a plane, is building a bridge, between two planes which are also under construction, mid-flight. Working in such a complex dynamic environment makes my job both exhilarating and challenging.

Part of our role as the water services regulator is to shine a light on the issues affecting three waters. And data is our torch.

Our vision is to make data easily accessible to the right people across the sector so they can lift performance and make good decisions. Whether that’s a member of the public being able to find out who supplies their drinking water, where it comes from, and get assurance that it’s safe to drink, or a water supplier understanding the performance of their network, so they know how to fix it.

After all you can’t fix what you can’t see!

A single portal for drinking water data

When we took over from the Ministry of Health as regulator in November last year, we received a database of 2004 previouslyregistered supplies. Because around half of these supplies served under 100 people, they were not required to provide any regular reporting and many of their details were out-of-date.

It’s been a major challenge to track down these registered suppliers, support them to set up accounts in our new portal, Hinekōrako, and verify their contact and supply details. This is something we’re still working through, although good progress is being made.

As of June 14, we have 1970 active supplies in Hinekōrako.

These serve around 86 percent of the population. Certain details

about these supplies are now accessible to everyone on the public register of drinking water supplies, which is available at taumataarowai.govt.nz.

It’s a significant milestone, as this is the very first time the register for all supplies has been brought together on a single online platform. We’ve already been able to gain some useful insights from Hinekōrako as shown in the table on the following page.

Hinekōrako, our online portal, will become a rich resource for the sector as we collect more data. We’ll be collating data on notifications, boil water notices, monitoring results and network performance, amongst other things.

Data collection

Drinking water suppliers need to provide Taumata Arowai with information about the drinking water they supply. We’re working to streamline this flow of data and make sure that it leads to a shared understanding that can inform the infrastructure and operational performance improvements that are needed.

We’re designing different channels for drinking water suppliers to report on the safety of drinking water as well as the environmental performance of networks operated by central and local government.

This data will be analysed together with evidence from risk maturity assessments, audits and investigations, to provide Taumata Arowai with the insights we need to inform regulatory activities according to the scale, complexity and risk of different supplies.

Drinking water supplier portal Hinekōrako is our self-service portal for drinking water suppliers, accredited testing laboratories and members of the public. It’s the central hub for all our data and the primary channel for drinking water suppliers to register and manage their drinking water supplies and for suppliers and laboratories to share information with Taumata Arowai.

Hinekōrako is the Māori name for the lunar rainbow, an optical phenomenon brought about when light from the moon deflects through tiny droplets of water. The name evokes the sense of many pieces of data coming together like droplets of water to create something beautiful.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND TAUMATA AROWAI

Channel

Data collection approach

Key dates

Through Hinekōrako, our online portal.

Suppliers who have not yet created their accounts on Hinekōrako can use a form available on our website.

November 2021: All registered drinking water suppliers and accredited laboratories need to notify us when they become aware of safety or compliance issues.

We are exploring automatic data reporting and talking to suppliers to develop the reporting approach.

July 2022: Expect the new rules will be published.

July-Sept 2022: Targeted consultation to confirm our reporting approach.

November 2022: Finalised rules likely to come into force.

Jan 2023: Expect suppliers to begin reporting in line with the new rules; timing will need to be covered in drinking water safety plans.

Expect suppliers will be required to respond to a survey within Hinekōrako.

July-Sept 2022: Targeted consultation to confirm our reporting approach.

Jan-Feb 2023 (TBC): Annual Assurance Reporting Survey to be completed.

Notifications All water suppliers are required to notify us if their drinking water is or may be unsafe, or if it does not comply with drinking water standards. Laboratories also have to notify us of test results that show noncompliance with drinking water standards or compliance rules.

Compliance Monitoring New draft rules outline compliance, monitoring and reporting requirements for drinking water suppliers. These range from testing once per year for very small suppliers to continuous monitoring for large suppliers.

Annual Assurance Reporting Each year we plan to ask suppliers how they comply with the assurance rules and to report on their overall compliance with legislative requirements.

Network Environmental Performance Reporting Council and government networks will need We’ve been working with Water to report on their environmental performance. New Zealand to build upon their work on the National Performance Review, collecting data via Excel. In future this will be integrated with Hinekōrako.

Wastewater and stormwater

In October 2023, we will kick off our oversight role in relation to the environmental impact of wastewater and stormwater.

One of our duties in this area will be to develop public registers of wastewater and stormwater networks, which has never been done before.

We will build on the wastewater treatment plant inventory compiled by Water New Zealand and collaborate with regional councils and other agencies to coordinate the way we collect and share this data.

Making data accessible

We’re already working on public-facing dashboards that present data we currently collect and hold in useful, visually appealing ways through graphs, maps and infographics. In addition, where appropriate, we’ll aim to proactively release open data sets to support further analysis and research.

We are also exploring how we can weave our data together with mātauranga Māori to find meaningful ways to share insights with all New Zealanders.

16 www.waternz.org.nz

1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023: Mandatory data recording for drinking water networks operated by central and local government.

Information to be provided to Taumata Arowai by 30 September 2023

Water data ecosystem framework

Later this year we’ll begin a series of workshops to start pulling together a conceptual framework for a water data ecosystem. The idea is to help everyone holistically understand the data that’s collected and shared across the water sector (freshwater, stormwater, wastewater and drinking water) into a single picture.

We aim to involve regional councils, central government agencies, mana whenua and others who collect and use water data.

The plan is to systematically list everything we are doing or planning to do, to make it easier to work with others, who will also have their own data initiatives.

By developing relationships between organisations and streamlining the way we collect and share data, we hope to build a common understanding that can be a platform for lifting the performance of the sector across the board.

If you are interested in being involved in any of these initiatives, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch through info@taumataarowai.govt.nz

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JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND TECHNOLOGY

The broad-ranging benefits of smart water metering

By Lesley Smith, Water New Zealand insights and sustainability advisor With smart water metering understood to deliver a range of benefits, the technology is increasingly being deployed to help manage water use, both in New Zealand and abroad.

A smart water meter measures water consumption in households – sending usage data back to water network operators much more frequently than conventional meters. Smart meters will typically send hourly readings once every day, whilst conventional meters are read periodically, typically between monthly and quarterly.

This regular flow of information allows water network operators and customers to more accurately monitor water usage, supporting earlier leak identification and unlocking a broad range of benefits.

Costs and benefits of smart water metering

One of main advantages offered by water metering is that it helps reduce water usage and identify leaks. A recent BRANZ project examining water usage in Kiwi homes, found median water use in non-metered households in the study (551 litres) was 72 percent higher than in metered households (319 litres).

Smart water meters extend the benefits of metering further than conventional meters, bringing numerous flow on benefits to customers and water service providers alike. Watercare is on a journey to replace all conventional meters with smart meters over the next decade. Watercare has broken down some of the many drivers of its project, summarised in the below image.

Over in the UK, the costs and benefits of a co-ordinated national smart water meter roll-out have been analysed by Frontier Economics and Artesia. The study found a nearly two to one benefit

18 www.waternz.org.nz

to cost ratio, with every £1 spent delivering £1.73 in social benefits.

The list of benefits goes on; management of backflow prevention, reduction of stress on local water environments, reduction in energy usage and ultimately emissions associated with water use.

A recent study by Waterwise and Arqiva found smart meters could reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by up to 0.5 percent.

Across the country, customers are already seeing the benefits of water metering. Both Wellington Water and Watercare already have smart meters in place with many of their institutional and commercial customers.

Fast leak identification demonstrates its not just network providers who benefit from smart meter installation.

Massive leak at school

Ahead of a roll-out of residential smart meters, Auckland schools and other commercial customers have been fitted with smart meters. Over the next decade Watercare will be gradually replacing mechanical meters with smart meters, starting with the installation of 44,000 residential meters this year.

Smart metering on schools enabled Watercare’s schools account manager, Ange Hibberd, to quickly spot skyrocketing water use at Mt Eden Normal Primary School, going from an average daily usage of 6000 litres a day to about 74,000 litres a day.

Ange got in touch with the school to let them know they might have a leak and gave advice on how to check for one. The school’s property manager was on to the case straight away, but no leak was immediately apparent.

However, the data was clear – the school was losing thousands of litres of water every day. When a specialist leak detection agency was called in, a massive leak was found under volcanic rock, believed to be losing about 46 litres every minute.

Had it not been for the new smart meter, this leak would likely have gone unnoticed for months, until the school’s next meter reading. But with early warning, the school was able to identify the problem and arrange for the pipe to be repaired promptly. Left unnoticed, the leak would have been costing the school about $347 every day.

Escalating leaks at Wellington business

Wellington Water has built a dashboard for analysing water usage of 167 commercial customers that are automatically read through smart meters. Amongst these is a business precinct, comprising a collection of cottage businesses.

These businesses are fed by a private network, which is metered through the Wellington Water network, and has a typical day peak of around 10 litres per minute. The new dashboards enabled Wellington Water to quickly identify when the base flow jumped up to 170 litres per minute.

Contractors were sent to the site and found copper service pipes into many of the abandoned buildings had been removed, leading to the jump in water usage. Further pipes were found to have been leaking that night causing water usage to jump again to 480 litres per minute.

Without remedy, the leaks would have cost the customer $1990 per day in additional water charges. Updates given to the customer enabled them to see the immediate impact of their actions. Within the week they were able to reduce the flow from 400 litres per minute down to just half a litre per minute.

This significant reduction in water use represents an absolute percentage reduction of 1.9 percent in leakage for all WCC.

Smart water eco-system

Experiences with smart water metering ecosystem, from both water suppliers and suppliers of metering technology, were recently brought together in a workshop hosted by two Water New Zealand Groups; the Water Efficiency and Conservation Network and the Smart Water Infrastructure Group.

Their webinar wanted to highlight the need for more than a digital meter for smart water metering, rather, a smart metering ecosystem that will measure water demands in a way that is used to influence customer water use behaviour and improve network management.

Through the experiences of suppliers, New Plymouth District Council, Watercare, and Sydney Water, the discussions helped to untangle the sweet spot between what the customer wants and what the technology can provide. They explored practical approaches to meter roll-out, ownership models, and questions you might ask on your own smart meter journey. A recording of the workshop is available on the Water New Zealand knowledge base.

Indeed, there is much to learn from each other as this game changing technology takes flight. Links to the resources shared in this article can be found below.

Webinar: Smart water metering solutions: it’s not just about the meter, Water New Zealand Water Efficiency and Conservation Network and Smart Water Infrastructure Group: bit.ly/3HTKujK Report: Cost benefit analysis of water smart metering Produced

by Frontier Economics and Artesia, supported by Arqiva: bit.ly/3HTvB0N Report: Smart Metering and the Climate Emergency (2021), Waterwise and Arqiva: bit.ly/3HXvTnE

Net present value of the costs and benefits of a co-ordinated smart water meter roll out in the UK.

SOURCE: COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF WATER SMART METERING PRODUCED BY FRONTIER ECONOMICS AND ARTESIA, SUPPORTED BY ARQIVA.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND INSIGHTS

How Kiwis use water at home

By Dr Colin Whittaker, senior lecturer, University of Auckland; Andrew Pollard, building physicist, BRANZ; and Lesley Smith, insights and sustainability advisor, Water New Zealand Completion of a residential end-use study has provided, for the first time, a national picture of household water use. This ambitious project has been undertaken by BRANZ, supported by 29 councils, Water New Zealand, and the University of Auckland.

Residential dwellings are the major water user in urban water networks. With capital works on New Zealand’s water and wastewater infrastructure topping $1.5 billion last year, there’s a strong driver to get foundational information right.

A Water New Zealand modelling symposium workshop identified a broad range of decisions underpinned by residential water use information. Amongst them were infrastructure sizing, water efficiency programme design, and water demand forecasting.

Survey and high-resolution data from homes has been collated

by BRANZ and analysed by the University of Auckland to provide information on seasonal and diurnal peaks, water end use, average dwelling and residential water use, and minimum night flows.

The findings of the report will come as no surprise to most, but critically, provide a quantifiable basis to inform decision making.

information was unavailable, and BRANZ was unable to complete the data analysis as originally planned. The University of Auckland stepped in to complete a water end use analysis, combining timeseries and event-based data disaggregation with a support vector machine supervised learning model to extract insights on how water was being used in the home.

What we have learnt

Median water usage better represents household water use than average use, because a small number of very high users push up average household consumption.

Study approach

The project was first launched by BRANZ in 2015. By partnering with councils, water use surveys and high-resolution meter reads were arranged with a broad cross-section of households up and down the country.

Surveys were completed from households within 29 of the 65 water supply authorities’ jurisdictions. Having characteristics of the home and occupants alongside measured data was key to informing how water is being used.

From the surveyed households, a selection of households were fitted with instruments to provide high-resolution data on end use.

Information was analysed to identify diurnal seasonal, trends, night flows, understand leakage, and identify water uses.

Several challenges arose during project delivery, meaning fewer households were included than originally intended, and the analysis approach varied from the original plan.

Co-ordinating across multiple stakeholders caused problems, as well as practical issues related to meter installation, communication signal strength, battery life, and data management. The challenges and lessons for the design of future water end use studies have been documented in a BRANZ report.

This meant complete time-series data and event signature

20 www.waternz.org.nz

Distribution of average water use in litres per day, considered on a per-dwelling (top) and per-person (above) basis.

Figure 1: Hourly fluctuations in water use, broken down by use type and averaged across all dwellings.

Figure 2: Seasonal variation in peaking factor diurnal curves.

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JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND INSIGHTS

Daily use statistics, considering whether dwellings were metered and volumetrically charged Average daily volume (litres)

Median daily volume (litres)

Average daily volume per person (litres)

Median daily volume per person (litres)

All households

543

397

237

165

Metered and volumetrically charged

424

319

198

127

Not metered and volumetrically charged

682

551

304

266

Figure 3.

Mean daily water use in the study was 543 litres per dwelling (237 litres per person), while the median daily use was 397 litres per dwelling (165 litres per person).

Histograms of daily water use showed a prominent skewness with most values occurring at values lower than the average, skewed by several high values. Average values were notably skewed by these high-water users.

This indicates that the average is not a reliable indication of central tendency, and that the median more closely represents the water use of a ‘typical’ dwelling.

had grown significantly since the last BRANZ water use study.

In 2010, six percent of households in BRANZ’s study had frontloaders, significantly lower than in this study, where 36 percent had front-loaders. Front-loading washing machines can have much lower water consumptions than top-loaders.

The increased efficiency of front-loading washers was reflected in the overall proportion of water used within dwellings. Washing machine water use in previous studies was around 23 percent of overall water use; in this study it had reduced to around 13 percent.

Where water is used

Accessing the reports

The contributions of different appliances to total water use were generally in agreement with previously reported studies undertaken in Auckland and Kapiti. Toilets (24 percent of water) and showers (31 percent) were the primary water users, followed by taps (19 percent), washing machines (13 percent), dishwashers (three percent), high flow or outdoor use (seven percent), leaks or drips (two percent). A further one percent of use was not able to be defined.

Diurnal variations show a peak in overall water use, particularly due to showers, in the morning, while any high flow or outdoor use tends to be concentrated in the afternoon. See figure 1.

Un-metered households use more

Households within the study that were metered and volumetrically charged use significantly less water than households that weren’t.

Median daily water use in non-metered households in the study (551 litres) was 72 percent higher than in metered households (319 litres). See figure 3.

Seasonal fluctuations

Average per person water use over summer is considerably higher than for winter. Median per person water use in the summer of 231 litres per person per day was 45 percent higher than the winter median of 159 litres per person per day.

Variation in water use over the year, averaged over all dwellings is shown by the figure and separated by end use. The figure reflects general patterns of enhanced consumption, and outdoor use, during the Spring and particularly Summer, with lowest consumption in Winter. See figure 2.

Washing machine efficiency gains

The proportion of homes with front loading washing machines

22 www.waternz.org.nz

The findings are summarised in the following two reports, both of which are publicly available via the BRANZ and Water New Zealand websites: The BRANZ Study Report, Residential Water Use in New Zealand, by Andrew Pollard.

Residential Water Use in New Zealand – End Use Disaggregation, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Auckland University, by Dr Colin Whittaker, Teresa Scott, and Professor Kobus van Zyl. This study comes at a turning point in the use of smart metering and intelligent networks. As highlighted in the article on Smart Water Meters, page 18, the adoption of smart water meters is beginning to take off here.

Combining this rich information in this data with enhanced end-user engagement represents an opportunity to broaden the depth and accuracy of our residential end use understanding in years to come.

Acknowledgements

This research was primarily funded by the Building Research Levy, with additional funding provided by the Water New Zealand Water Services Managers’ Group and Wellington Water.

The project was led by Andrew Pollard of BRANZ, and project reports and analysis were completed by Colin Whittaker, Teresa Scott, and Kobus van Zyl from the University of Auckland.

A number of BRANZ staff and contractors have worked on the project, too numerous to list here, and the project has also been supported by members of the Water New Zealand Water Efficiency Conservation Action Network Special Interest Group and Water Services Managers’ Group.

Thank you also to councils and home occupants participating in the study.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PROFILE

Celebrating a reform pioneer Anthony Wilson was awarded the prestigious Association Medal at this year’s Water New Zealand Conference for his service to the industry. Throughout his long career, notably, he has been a strong advocate for reform of the water industry; something he says has been a long time coming. By Mary Searle Bell.

Upon receiving the Association Medal, Anthony said his one regret is that he is not 20 years younger, as the next 20 years in water are going to be revolutionary. But with 45 years as a professional engineer under his belt, he has done the hard yards and instead, he gets to look back over what he has accomplished that has resulted in such a rare and distinguished accolade.

Growing up in Taranaki, Anthony was a young lad at a time when New Zealand was building its biggest infrastructure.

“My father was an industrial chemist before becoming a secondary school teacher, and I suspect he was probably a frustrated engineer. He would take us to see these big infrastructure projects on our holidays – things like the Manapouri Power Station and the Auckland Motorway.”

Anthony was competent in maths, physics, and chemistry at school, so chose to study engineering. His reasons for choosing which university to attend were less obvious.

“Back in those days there were only two universities offering engineering degrees – Canterbury or Auckland. I was very interested in vintage cars and as the Christchurch vintage car club was stronger, I opted to head south.”

Mechanical engineering might have been the natural choice for Anthony, but he chose to do civil instead because the dean of civil engineering told him he could go straight into the second year, whereas mechanical would require him to start in year one.

After graduating in 1977, Anthony took a job with the New Plymouth City Council, which he says gave him a good grounding in civil engineering. He also had a vintage car restoration project back home that needed finishing, influencing his choice to return to Taranaki.

While at the council, he worked with a Kenyan who got him a job interview with Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners in Nairobi.

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24 www.waternz.org.nz

“I walked into the interview and there was a photo of the Meremere Power Station on the wall – that was a good starting point.”

Anthony had also joined the Royal New Zealand Engineers and was commissioned as an officer. He says Nairobi was still a major training post for Britain at that time and there were a lot of British sappers there building infrastructure for the Kenyan Army.

“I joined them and among other things did some surveying on the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia border – it had previously been surveyed only once, back in the 1920s. The political borders don’t match the tribal borders which caused of lots of issues and the whole area was completely closed to civilians.

“These were the days before GPS, so we would sit out all night surveying the stars, inputting our data into a very primitive computer.”

Anthony recalls reconstructing a road 7000 feet up on the side of Mt Kenya: “The original road was 99 kilometres long, while our new one – with the same start and end points – was just 48 kilometres long.”

Leaving Kenya in 1982, Anthony worked his way up through Egypt and Greece, then through countries behind the Iron Curtain – Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia – to Western Europe.

He returned to New Zealand fully expecting to work on the Clyde Dam, but instead found himself back in Taranaki working on the construction of the Motunui Synthetic Fuels plant.

In mid-1983, work began on a new wastewater treatment plant in New Plymouth and Anthony transferred across, and “that’s how I ended up in water,” he says with a chuckle.

The plant was commissioned in 1984. A Carrousel plant, it was the first of its kind in New Zealand and at that time offered the highest level of wastewater treatment before discharge to ocean outfall.

Once operational, Anthony became responsible for all water and

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wastewater for the council. In addition, given his love of cars, he also took on the responsibility for the council’s mechanical fleet.

Notably, in his time at the council, he introduced asset management for its water and wastewater sectors.

“New Plymouth is an old city – it got its first water system in the 1880s and sewerage in 1904, so by the 1980s we were well into the replacement of the pipe system. We had to look at the whole-of -lifecycle, not just new infrastructure.

“We introduced the PAMS project (Pipeline Asset Management System), which most councils signed up for, and it led to NAMS (the National Assets Management System).”

In 1986, the city council had a major boundary adjustment with the neighbouring council and consequently became responsible for the upgrade of the water and wastewater systems for Bell Block.

A couple of years later, another major shuffle saw four Taranaki councils amalgamate (two of which were already amalgamations of two councils).

“We had 12 months to sort out the amalgamation. What we found in the water department was some very, very run-down towns – it was not uncommon to find a dead eel in a hot water tank!

And that was just the start of it!”

Anthony and his team spent years installing tens of kilometres of new watermains, constructing 12 new water and wastewater plants, building transfer stations and closing tips, and building 12 new treated water reservoirs.

“It is a real reflection on the current changes. Smaller towns are afraid they will miss out once amalgamated but we found the reverse was true – we spent nothing in New Plymouth for 15 years (it had a good system) while the smaller towns caught up.

“We ended up with a pretty robust network.”

Then, in 1991, a seagull entered the Waterloo water treatment plant (via an open access hatch) and died, resulting in contamination of the water supplied to Hutt City and, consequently, a boil water notice for its 200,000 residents and businesses. Anthony was asked to chair the independent inquiry committee into the incident.

“People were suspicious that a single seagull could cause that much mayhem.

“Our conclusions found that the core of the problem was that the predecessor to the Greater Wellington Regional Council was focused on building new infrastructure and not allocating enough to operations, something that is a real risk for all councils.”

Anthony says this work was the beginning of his national profile, and his passion for improving drinking water quality started to heat up.

“In Taranaki, our surface water is very difficult to treat – it runs off the mountains, is weather dependent, and has colour and low alkalinity. Its pH can change from six to nine in a matter of hours. Subsequently, I had a diverse team of specialists to run our treatment plants, but it was not as efficient as it could be as our customer base was too small.

“How could we become more efficient? We needed more customers.

“I looked at the rest of the world – in 1994, the state of Victoria restructured its system to fewer providers, the Scots did the same in 1996, cutting providers from 12 to just three (it now has just the one).

“I went to Scotland to look at the newly reformed water system, came back, wrote a paper on it, and became a leading proponent for water reform in New Zealand.”

Anthony has been heavily involved with Water New Zealand throughout his career, serving as president in 1998-99, as well as on the Drinking Water Standards Committee and a number of other national committees.

“I ran two conferences – Crossroads 99 and Crossroads 00 – and at these we came to the conclusion we needed the water reforms we are now getting. Unfortunately, it is coming 20 years later, thanks to the decision at the time to hand the job to Local Government, which then did nothing with it.”

In this time, Anthony continued as general manager of infrastructure with the New Plymouth City Council, then, after “helping out” for six months in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 (he was technical manager infrastructure with CERA), he returned home and found himself with “nothing to do”.

He was soon headhunted to Wellington City Council where he helped establish Wellington Water during his five years there. Then, after the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak occurred, he was recruited to the Government Inquiry into the matter.

“As I always say, you shouldn’t waste a decent crisis!”

Havelock North was the kick in the pants needed to finally get the water reforms underway and Anthony was involved in the establishment of the regulator, Taumata Arowai, and appointed to its board.

As part of his reform work, Anthony set up the team to manage the $523.1 million Three Waters stimulus package: “We have funded 468 projects from 68 councils, with very few not finished by the end of June this year.”

He is now assisting with the $2 billion Better Off programme for the Department of Internal Affairs, one of the financial support packages to be provided to Local Authorities under the Three Waters Reform.

In addition to his career and work with Water New Zealand (of which he is an Honorary Life Member and member of the NZ Gold Shovel Chapter), Anthony is a Distinguished Fellow of Engineering New Zealand and served a term as its president, and is a Fellow of both CIWEM (The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

He is the author of more than 40 technical papers presented and published here and overseas.

And if this wasn’t enough to fill his time, he’s worked his way up to Colonel Commandant with the Royal New Zealand Engineers, been happily married to Juliet for 38 years (they have three children), and also managed to indulge his passion for motor cars.

“I have a 1914 Calcott which is very rare – it’s the only one running in New Zealand. I spent 26 years rebuilding it.

“I do have another Calcott in the shed, but that’s a project for the years ahead.”

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

25

WATER NEW ZEALAND PROFILE

Up for a challenge Richard’s journey into the water industry is a conventional one – at high school in Whakatāne he opted for STEM subjects and was particularly drawn to physics and engineering.

“I loved the problem-solving aspect of engineering. I thought I’d become an electrical engineer.”

With this plan in mind, in 2008, he headed to the University of Auckland, but things soon changed.

“During my first year of my degree, we were exposed to all the different engineering disciplines, and I felt drawn towards civil engineering, particularly environmental.

“I ended up specialising in civil and environmental engineering, and became fascinated with the mechanics of water. I therefore enrolled in all the water-related papers I could – fluid mechanics, hydraulics, water resources, and so on.”

During his third year, he undertook a summer research scholarship, comprising a 10-week project over the summer break. He was placed in a research environment; assigned a topic (a bit like a mini-Master’s thesis), and was required to do a literature review, spend time in the hydraulics lab, and write up his findings.

“It was my first exposure to research work at an academic level, and I loved it.”

After completing his degree, Richard took a graduate role in Tonkin + Taylor’s water team. He was immediately put to work on the Waterview Connection, a massive roading project in the heart of Auckland.

26 www.waternz.org.nz

“It was an awesome experience, and a fantastic opportunity for a graduate.”

Working as a drainage engineer, Richard helped design the stormwater infrastructure, spending two years working on the project.

“This role really kicked off my career as a stormwater engineer and exposed me to some exceptionally talented engineers.”

Things stepped up again, when he received an email from associate professor Heide Friedrich, saying she had funding for Ph.D. research and was Richard interested in taking this opportunity.

“I felt I still had unanswered questions from my earlier research work and saw it as a challenge I couldn’t turn down.”

His thesis looked at unconfined turbidity currents, specifically, how fluids of different densities interact with obstacles and substrates, using advanced photometric and ultrasonic measurement techniques.

“Turbidity currents are understood to be a major sediment transport mechanism in deep oceans and lakes and are thought to be the major contributor to the creation of submarine canyons. During a flood event, the muddy water discharging from a river will flow along the base of the submarine canyon. They can pick up considerable speed, creating enough force to break through submarine structures such as telecommunication cables and pipelines.

“My research recreated these currents in the lab, gaining more insights into how these currents interact with obstacles, so ultimately better mathematical models can be created to predict their nature. As a part of this, I developed imaging techniques to extract data on these currents.

“It was great to be back in the lab, getting my hands dirty – and especially so as I was the first to use the new lab at the university’s Newmarket campus.”

During this time Richard also took on the role of teaching assistant, and says he really enjoyed facilitating lab tutorials for undergraduate students.

In September 2017, Richard returned to Tonkin + Taylor and resumed his work with stormwater and network design for large infrastructure projects, starting with two years on the Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway extension before moving to the 36th America’s Cup infrastructure development in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter with the Wynyard Edge Alliance.

He was involved in the project from concept design through to construction and worked across multiple sub-projects including the Wynyard Point infrastructure to support team bases, SeaLink ferry terminal relocation, Silo Park extension, and Daldy Street outfall extension.

Alliance design manager Will Ingle says Richard rapidly became a key member of the civil and wider alliance team and assumed responsibility for the overall delivery of the landside stormwater designs.

“The low-lying waterfront site, complex stakeholder requirements,

PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN RAY

Richard Wilson has been named as the 2022 Beca Young Stormwater Professional of the Year.

His passion and dedication to the industry comes from a deep love of engineering, research, and problem-solving. By Mary Searle Bell.

and varying design lives associated with the event infrastructure presented numerous challenges in the design of stormwater management solutions. Richard embraced these challenges, which led to the development of unique stormwater design solutions to overcome complex problems.

“He actively promoted a water sensitive design approach to stormwater management and design and worked collaboratively with others to create enhanced environmental and community outcomes.

“Working closely with our landscape and urban designers, Richard designed raingardens in the award-winning Silo Park Extension and swales in Brigham Street that integrated stormwater functionality with amenity value for the community.”

Richard describes the America’s Cup project as amazing to work on.

“Not only were we in the public eye, but there was also a lot of time pressure, and we had a lot of constraints design-wise: Wynyard Quarter has contaminated land from historic industrial activities, a lot of services, and the low-lying reclaimed land is generally of poor structural quality. However, with significant cross-discipline cooperation and the use of cutting-edge BIM and survey techniques, we were able to overcome these constraints.”

With the completion of this job, Richard decided to take a break from big projects, choosing instead to build his experience as a project manager and team leader.

“I also wanted to expand my knowledge of dam engineering – everything from design to safety management. There is a lot of complex hydraulic theory behind dam design. I find it technically rewarding to

frequently return to first principles.”

Richard says he is also drawn to teaching and training upcoming stormwater engineers – for which there is unprecedented demand in New Zealand. He currently volunteers with the Water New Zealand mentoring programme.

“I want to give back. I have been heavily supported at Tonkin + Taylor and have worked with some exceptionally talented people.

I’m very grateful for this as I appreciate not everyone has the same opportunities.

“I can also see where there are some gaps in industry training – things like learning how a consultancy works – and I believe I can help young engineers be better prepared for the realities of working in the industry.”

Along with his mentoring roles, Richard shares his technical solutions and challenges with the wider stormwater community in New Zealand and around the world through conference presentations and the publication of technical papers.

He continues to grow his knowledge, saying he is enjoying learning about te ao Māori, and says there are great people in the water industry to guide us on this.

For his work and dedication to the industry, Richard was named as the Beca Young Stormwater Professional of the Year at the 2022 Stormwater Conference, an honour that has left him both humbled and honoured.

“My early career has involved a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but I have been very lucky to work with such talented people, and believe this award is a reflection of what they have invested in me.”

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND GROUNDWATER

Making invisible species visible Pale translucent creatures without sight crawl, and swim, in the water beneath our feet. And while this might sound like the start of a science fiction film, it’s simply a description of organisms that live in groundwater. ESR is searching our aquifers to see what is living there.

These tiny animals are called stygofauna, a name that has its roots in the River Styx, the underground river in Greek mythology by which souls are ferried to the underworld. It’s a fitting analogy for groundwater, because this water squeezes through the subsurface and is stored beneath the earth in pockets between rocks and soil particles.

This rocky layer that stores water, also known as an aquifer, is home to many living things from bacteria to mites to crustaceans, but you’ve likely never heard of them, let alone seen them. Since groundwater and the species living in it are underground, they are invisible to most of us. This lightless environment means that they range in colour from pale to transparent, and many are microscopic.

Unfortunately, the invisibility of groundwater makes it difficult for researchers and practitioners to raise awareness about its importance.

In New Zealand, nearly half of our drinking water comes from groundwater, and groundwater is vital for irrigation and agriculture.

Plus, groundwater feeds surface waters like rivers and lakes, so it’s an integral part of the water cycle.

To raise awareness about groundwater, the theme for the 2022 UN World Water Day and focus for the whole year is: ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible, Visible’. At ESR, Dr Louise Weaver and her team are making sure this effort extends to the species that live in groundwater, because they serve both as indicators of the health of their environment and can also help to clean up the groundwater that they live in.

However, this mission is not easy, because these creatures are excellent at hiding.

Unearthing groundwater organisms

In collaborations past and present, with researchers from NIWA, University of Auckland, and University of Canterbury, researchers at ESR conduct surveys of groundwater species and investigate their function in groundwater environments. The sampling has taken years of perfecting techniques to capture the whole scale of diversity present, from the microscopic to the visible, macroscopic species.

For the organisms that are big enough, the ESR groundwater team use nets to collect them. As for the others, genetic technology is used to identify which species are living in a particular region of groundwater.

The team collects samples from groundwater by netting, pumping, and filtering water from a well. Then the sample is taken to the lab for taxonomic identification and genetic analysis. The lab process for genetic analysis is similar to the way wastewater is tested for Covid-19:

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Flagellated protozoa found in a groundwater sample in pursuit of a meal.

Arrow indicates the whip-like tail. Photo: Panan Sitthirit, ESR.

the team searches for genetic material within the sample.

When creatures swim or float along in groundwater, some of their DNA enters the water. This is known as environmental DNA (eDNA), and it helps scientists to detect which species are living in a particular place, even if they can’t be seen.

While this genetic method is powerful, matching the DNA found in groundwater to a particular species relies on having that species’ DNA in an online database.

Research has yet to catch up with the number of species that live in groundwater, because these species are often endemic to groundwater or even to a particular aquifer. Plus, the ESR groundwater team is regularly finding new species that have never been described before, and there are likely many more species to be found.

While these gaps in knowledge can be obstacles to identifying species, the groundwater team at ESR are excited to be on the forefront of this research discovering new species.

Illuminating groundwater ecosystems

Even less is known about how groundwater species interact with other organisms in the ecosystem.

The team is investigating the trophic interactions between organisms within the foodweb of the groundwater community. Groundwater can be a difficult place to live because it doesn’t contain many nutrients that are readily available. Large creatures, in particular, have adapted to environments where food is scarce by developing a low metabolism.

Since groundwater lacks light, species cannot use photosynthesis to produce energy, so most of the food source for the base of the food chain flows in as dissolved carbon. This carbon is readily taken up by prokaryotes, like bacteria, which form a structure known as a “biofilm,” a collection of microorganisms that stick together and adhere to the hard surfaces of rock or earth underground.

Then, species that are higher in the food chain graze on biofilm.

But for some species, grazing is too passive a word for what they do.

For example, flagellated protozoa use their whip-like tails to hunt their targets down, capture and eat their prey. They play an important role in keeping the population of bacteria small which prevents bioclogging.

Bioclogging is exactly what it sounds like – bacteria form big masses that act like a plug in a bathtub and prevent water from moving through an aquifer.

Not only do these grazers keep bacteria from backing up groundwater, but they also help cycle nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus through the trophic system. In fact, all the species living in groundwater are important for cycling nutrients through the system.

For example, bacteria that use nitrate to breathe can convert it into harmless nitrogen gas, in a process called denitrification.

These little microbes are the centrepiece of one project at ESR to clean up nitrate that leaches into groundwater from fertilisers. In the project, woodchip walls are placed within groundwater both to prevent the flow of fertiliser into groundwater and to act as a carbon food source where the helpful microbes can grow. From their place on the woodchip wall, microbes breathe in the nitrogen and release harmless nitrogen gas.

Many organisms in groundwater have evolved unique mechanisms and tolerances to groundwater chemistry, so they can be used to purify groundwater by removing excess nutrients or contaminants.

However, these natural clean-up efforts may not work as well if a groundwater ecosystem is stressed. Changes in the chemistry of groundwater or the presence of contaminants can change which species are there and how abundant they are.

To figure out how these environmental changes cause shifts in a groundwater community, the ESR team also takes measurements of water chemistry, to quantify the concentration of nutrients and contaminants in a particular region. The team then associates the numbers and types of species in groundwater with these measurements.

In the future, the makeup of a particular groundwater community could be used as a proxy to determine the quality of that groundwater.

This groundwater ecosystem analysis will help guide efforts to deal with groundwater contamination when it happens and to prevent contamination in the first place.

The ESR groundwater team hopes their research will shine a light on the importance of groundwater ecosystems. While groundwater organisms can maintain healthy groundwater and purify the water we drink and use every day, they need our help.

Just like we value our native birds and plants, we also need to value our stygofauna and groundwater microbes.

If we take care of groundwater and groundwater organisms, then they will take care of us in return.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND FISH MIGRATION

Removing barriers to ensure freshwater fish can complete their life cycle World Fish Migration Day on May 21 served as a prompt for NIWA to highlight the challenges migratory fish face, and also the research that is underway to provide solutions.

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freshwater migratory fish, led by University of Waikato student Rachel Crawford.

On a four-year scholarship with NIWA, Rachel is conducting a series of experiments at its Hamilton lab as part of her PhD in ecology and biodiversity. The tests aim to calculate the top swimming speeds that freshwater fish can sustain indefinitely and the impacts water temperature has on swimming ability.

The results will determine the water velocities needed to let fish swim through culverts, dams and weirs to reach upstream habitats.

This data will help engineers and water managers design better structures and fish passage systems.

Fish migration barriers are found in both rural and urban environments making it a national issue, Paul says.

One of the ways that people can help is by using the fish passage tool that NIWA developed. It is available on the NIWA Citizen Science mobile app.

“People can use it to record instream structures and the data will give us an idea of the scale of the problem and help us focus our efforts to help migratory fishes.”

See page 76 for article on 3D Modelling for fish passage design.

PHOTO: STUART MACKAY, NIWA

Of our 50-plus native freshwater fish species, 85 percent are endemic and 75 percent are deemed to be at risk of decline or are threatened.

With many fish species migrating significant distances upstream and downstream to complete their lifecycle, poorly designed culverts, dams and other structures are preventing them from completing their migrations.

NIWA’s Freshwater Species Programme leader Dr Paul Franklin says we haven’t been looking after our freshwater fish very well and one of the consequences is a reduction in the distribution and abundance of some of the country’s most valued species.

“Some of the well-known migratory species are eels or tuna, torrentfish, lamprey (piharau/kanakana), several bully species, and whitebait of which there are five species: īnanga, kōaro, banded kōkopu, shortjaw kōkopu and giant kōkopu.”

Paul, who is a freshwater ecologist at NIWA’s Hamilton office, says migratory fish deserve more attention.

“A high percentage are endemic, meaning they only exist in New Zealand, so we have an obligation to improve our efforts to look after them.”

Part of the effort is a $7.2 million, five-year Endeavour Fund research programme that NIWA is leading to develop tools and guidance to reduce bottlenecks to freshwater fish migration.

The programme supported the creation of the New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines to help water managers, environmental officers, iwi, infrastructure owners, and local communities design instream structures to provide better fish passage.

The guidelines document was developed with the Department of Conservation in partnership with the New Zealand Fish Passage Advisory Group. Released in 2018, it was used in the development of new fish passage regulations in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater.

Those policies now require that any new structures on rivers are designed in a way that minimises impacts on fish migration.

“But we have many existing structures where it’s impossible for fish to pass, and over the coming years we need to look at how we can remove those barriers.”

Eels migrate to upstream habitats where they can live for several decades before returning to the sea to spawn.

“Many instream structures would not have been present when those eels first made their way upstream, so returning to the sea is going to be difficult.

“Our research shows that there are about 120,000 structures on our river network and fish can encounter 10 or more barriers on their migrations.”

NIWA is working with the Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation to update the Fish Passage Guidelines in 2022, informed by the outcomes of the Endeavour Fund research.

An example includes research on the swimming capability of

An example of a fish ramp with rocks to slow water velocity and to provide resting places for fish as they journey upstream.

The Smart Pipeline Assessment Alliance Asset owners can benefit from the physical condition assessment being completed as a total package, as Pipeline and Civil are experienced in confined space entry, service location, excavation, dewatering, traffic management and pipe wrapping. Minor treatment and repair work can be planned or undertaken as part of the inspection works.

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In order to support this effort, Pipeline & Civil Ltd and ProjectMax Ltd have combined resources and expertise to form the “Smart Pipeline Assessment Alliance”.

ProjectMax guides our clients to make the best economic and sustainable decisions on when and why to build new, maintain, or renew their water infrastructure.

Through ProjectMax’s expertise and experience we interpret pipe condition information be it from emerging technologies or from more traditional sources like CCTV and laser profiling and make sense of this data and determine the condition of the asset. Based on our experience we are able to predict how that condition might change with time taking due regard to the environment the asset is operating in.

Recently. the leaders of this group got together to sign an MOU which describes our new collaboration, where ProjectMax Ltd provide the know how around selection of tools and interpretation of field information and Pipeline & Civil Technical Services provide the practical smarts and engineering grunt to make it happen.

With this knowledge we can determine for each asset what the most appropriate intervention might be……. which may be to renew or repair the pipe now or later or reinspect in several years’ time.

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The Smart Pipeline Assessment Alliance is a one stop shop to understand what’s happening in three waters’ networks throughout New Zealand.

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Pipeline and Civil Technical Services provides data needed to make informed asset management decisions, ensuring priority is given to the assets most in need of maintenance and renewal and that the most cost-effective methodologies for inspection are considered.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND TE AO MĀORI

Wastewater project spawns

hapu laundromat

Watercare says its Central Interceptor project team has partnered with local hapu Te Ahiwaru to create a laundromat in the hope that one day it will become a thriving business initiative for group.

The Whare Manaaki laundromat cleans all staff PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) from the various sites along the route of the giant wastewater tunnel.

“We have a number of aspirations we want to achieve for our hapu and our marae. We recognise this opportunity with Watercare brings us a step closer to making that a reality. It’s an investment we want to see excel,” says Te Ahiwaru Trust operations manager Tuini Tuwha.

Based in Māngere and managed by Te Ahiwaru Trust, the Whare Manaaki laundromat opened for business in November last year.

Watercare sustainability and community outcomes manager Bernice Chiam says the purpose-built laundry and repair service was established as part of the project’s focus on supporting their neighbouring communities.

“We want to leave a legacy that’s beyond the infrastructure in the ground – we want to support the communities alongside our tunnelling route in a way that has a lasting impact.

“We’re currently part-way through a trial period and are intending to extend Whare Manaaki’s contract until construction is complete in 2026. Our long-term goal for the laundromat is to establish a hapu business and employment venture after the project is finished, so that it continues to give for generations to come.”

Watercare has funded the capital cost for this initiative and will continue to support the operational costs until Te Ahiwaru Trust are in a position to take over on their own.

32 www.waternz.org.nz

A key driver behind the laundry is to protect staff and their whānau from being exposed to contaminants on site. The Manaaki laundry team collect PPE from all active construction sites, wash, and dry gear overnight and return them back to site the next day.

“We collect all nightshift uniforms from each site every morning. We could be laundering anywhere between 100 and 500 uniforms a day. Covid-19 has meant we’re not fully operational in terms of servicing the business. But we are getting a sense of how the laundromat will look once we’re working at full capacity,” Tuini says.

“We’re excited about the new challenges and learnings to come, it’s a positive step forward for us.”

The laundry is made up of two containers. One is equipped with commercial washing machines and driers; the other with sewing and embroidery machines that has additional space to store PPE. Along with Tuwha who manages the laundry, a team of three operators work across seven sites. The containers are designed so they can be easily relocated at the end of the project.

“We’ve purchased a van and all those employed to run the dayto-day services are descendants of Te Ahiwaru from Makaurau Marae,” says Tuini.

“It’s important for us that this laundry is a success because we see the growth opportunities beyond the current mahi we are doing with the Central Interceptor project.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WETLANDS

Cleaning water

with nature

Fonterra’s Maungatūroto project in Northland has won the Water New Zealand Environmental Sustainability Project Award sponsored by Morphum for its innovative use of nature to reduce water usage by up to 25 percent. In a first of its kind for the dairy co-operative, evaporator condensate (water extracted from milk) from the site is redirected through a natural wetland before being further treated and re-used at the site.

Maungatūroto is one of six water constrained sites across the country where Fonterra is working to reduce water use by 30 percent by 2030.

By recycling up to 700,000 litres of water a day through the wetland the site has been able to reduce its reliance on Kaipara District Council supply – giving the community more security of water supply.

“Recent drought and infrastructure failures impacting water supply to the site mean it’s more important than ever that

34 www.waternz.org.nz

we do what we can to limit our impact,” says Maungatūroto environmental manager Stuart Glen. “I could see the circular way to clean water from site as the only way to do it.

“I started with the Co-op a little over two years ago, and the idea for cleaning site water by using the wetland as a natural bioreactor had been looked at but faced a few challenges.”

Fonterra has taken a holistic, circular, and nature-based approach to look at how it could work in partnership with nature.

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Left: By recycling up to 700,000 litres of water a day through the wetland the site has been able to reduce its reliance on Kaipara District Council supply. Above: Stuart Glen, Environmental Manager at Fonterra Maungatūroto.

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faceted approach to overcome these challenges including maintaining the wetland’s ecosystem, ensuring food safety quality, and not interrupting the site's efficiency to operate.

“The reclaimed water is treated using the natural wetland and our water treatment plant before it is reused throughout the site, including for drinking water. And by providing the right amount of nutrients for the native plants and habitat to thrive promotes greater biodiversity within the wetland.”

Stuart spent about 18 years living in Australia where he was involved in several water-saving projects in the food industry, so has been able to apply his knowledge to this project.

“So much of this project has been about overcoming all the potential risks to our business. We had to be able to prove that we were not creating any risks to the site or the food we are making. We’ve gone through every aspect and managed to prove that it can work.

“It’s taken about a year to go through everything and prove the concept.”

The evaporator condensate is tested before it enters the wetland and again when it is brought back into the processing plant.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WETLANDS

sure the water is as pure as possible at all stages in the process.

“The pumping system is set up to be able to divert water back to the Wairau River at the first sign of any flooding of the river. This is critical to protect the integrity of the water for the site.”

The wetland covers about one hectare. It was already well established with flaxes, reeds, and trees, with some additional planting done over the years.

“There is quite a bit of wildlife in there as well.”

Stuart says further water-saving measures were being introduced within the factory to try to get savings of up to 50 percent.

“We’ve been looking at all processes on the site to make sure we are not using more water than we need to.”

The project has enabled Kaipara District Council to have more resilience in its water supply and has been seen as a great initiative by representatives of local iwi, Te Uri o Hau, and the Northland Regional Council.

Fonterra says this initiative is a model that could be implemented at some of its other manufacturing sites across the country, and also around the world.

“The reclaimed water is treated using the natural wetland and our water treatment plant before it is reused throughout the site, including for drinking water. ” Stuart Glen

Huge opportunity for biogas solutions - Fonterra’s Tirau site biogas plant.

36 www.waternz.org.nz

Co-creating healthy landscapes and resilient communities The way we manage water is vital to flourishing communities. Morphum Environmental’s approach to water sensitive urban design is about delivering a solution that responds best to the site and understands it’s life cycle, integrates an ecological function, and connects communities to water.

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JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WETLANDS

Looking back to look forwards -

Reconstructing wetlands in Porirua Te Kukuwai o Toa is the name gifted by Ngāti Toa Rangatira to a new wetland at Elsdon Park, Porirua. The wetland is part of a wider programme of work aiming to reduce flooding and improve water quality in the harbour. Stu Farrant, Morphum Environmental Mataaro Taiao/water sensitive design lead, explains the signifiance of this project.

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It would be an understatement to say that Te Awaruao-Porirua (Porirua Harbour), north of Wellington, has undergone significant change over a long timeframe.

Once an incised freshwater stream during the last ice age, the basin progressively filled in as sea levels rose to become the largest tidal estuary in the lower North Island.

For thousands of years it was a thriving and diverse habitat for marine and migratory freshwater fish, shellfish, birds and plants, with catchments cloaked in podocarp and broadleaf forests nourishing the ecosystem with fresh clean water.

The shores provided protection and sustenance for early Māori including Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Ira, and from the 1820’s, Ngāti Toa Rangatira. These were times of plenty – giving rise to the name Porirua, from Pari-rua, meaning ‘the tide sweeping up both reaches’.

The tides provided a safe breeding ground for ocean species such as snapper and brought shoals of flounder, mullet and kahawai into the sandy bottomed harbour, providing a valued food source alongside scallops, cockles and other shellfish.

Freshwater streams were alive with freshwater fish, tuna, and koura, and the tidal stream mouths supported vast spawning habitat for our now threatened galaxiids.

The sheltered bays, tidal inlets, and fringe wetlands also provided highly valued clays to make cooking stoves and dyes, fibre for cloth making and weaving, timber for carving and birds for the whare kai.

The arrival of early European whalers and sealers was a catalyst for significant and abrupt change. As colonising European settlers arrived in the catchment, the tall forests were felled, roads cleared, and hillsides stripped bare for farming.

In 1855, the magnitude 8.2 Wairarapa earthquake lifted the land beneath the harbour by over 300mm. Shallow bays were elevated above the tide line, morphing into brackish wetlands that continued to flourish as plant communities adapted to the changed hydrology.

Adjacent to the Ngāti Toa community of Takapūwahia, a large wetland beneath the slopes of Rangituhi (prominent hill west of Porirua) provided a source of mahinga kai and connection for the people who called it home.

As Porirua continued to grow, a road was constructed across the coastal edge of the wetland severing the free connection between fresh and coastal waters. Whilst the road provided easy access to Takapūwahia and Titahi Bay beyond, the once abundant wetland was progressively drained for marginal grazing and the freshwater streams ‘trained’ into straightened channels and culverts to the coast.

Further growth brought an increased demand for flat commercial land and the once thriving tidal margins east of the road were infilled and reclaimed from the 1940’s.

The last semblance of wetland was converted into the expansive Mana College playing fields, flanked by imported Norfolk Pines.

Urukahika Stream, which once supported so much life, was piped from the top of Elsdon to its discharge point to the harbour and re-named the ‘Semple Street outfall’.

Industry and residential development followed with the JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WETLANDS

ensuing discharge of unmitigated contaminants.

In the space of a few decades, Te Awarua-o-Porirua was seen as a degraded, mud-choked and polluted harbour increasingly unsafe to gather fish and shellfish from, or even launch waka.

The community of Takapūwahia and businesses on reclaimed land were increasingly subject to damaging flooding and public health notices painted a sorry picture of the state of the environment. Buried beneath layers of fill and years of neglect the wetland was lost but never forgotten.

Significant flooding in 2015 of the Takapūwāhia area, including the marae, school, and businesses, was the catalyst to explore ways to undo some of the historical decisions that had led to degradation of ecological, cultural and social values and started to threaten the commercial viability of businesses in the area.

Porirua City Council tasked Wellington Water with finding viable and robust solutions, initially focused on flood mitigation but later expanded to include water quality at the request of Ngāti Toa. GHD was engaged to investigate suitable flood attenuation solutions and Morphum Environmental to undertake an optioneering exercise to look at opportunities to retrofit longterm water quality interventions into the developed CBD. Morphum identified an initial shortlist of six locations where existing stormwater could be intercepted to divert and treat flows.

One of these was in Elsdon Park, which GHD had also identified as an optimal place to formalise flood attenuation within the

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Once established, the wetland will support resilient treatment of stormwater runoff from the residential and commercial catchments while also supporting urban ecology and amenity in a high profile site.

large playing fields and improve flood flows through a new highcapacity pipeline.

This presented the ideal opportunity to co-locate a constructed wetland system with a dedicated flood detention area and design the new pipeline as a cost-effective bypass to protect the wetland in high flows.

These synergies led to collaboration between the pipeline/ flood designers and project managers (GHD), wetland designers (Morphum), and Wellington Water to progress the design alongside partners Ngāti Toa and Porirua City Council.

The wetland is situated within Elsdon Park, itself formed through the land reclamation of the harbour foreshore. With the Urukahika Stream currently piped down Awarua Street, the design was able to divert a portion of flows and route them through the one-hectare wetland which sits on ground once saturated as a natural coastal wetland ecosystem.

Indeed, during construction the contractors, E Carson and Sons, uncovered beds of old scallop shells (long since lost to Te Awarua-o-Porirua), and the base of the excavations was coincidently precisely at the level where remarkably preserved wetland grasses had been buried some 70 years previously.

Further, excavation uncovered the remains of an historic road

along the same alignment as the original coastal path which had provided the early access to Takapūwāhia village and marae.

Surveyed and documented by Ngāti Toa and Subsurface Ltd, the layers of this long-buried road are now better understood and the memories kaumātua have of when this was still the coastal route to town can be retold with renewed context.

A new section of 1200mm pipe wraps around the wetland perimeter providing additional capacity and redundancy to the previously overwhelmed system. It extends from new mega sumps in Awarua Street, around to the wetland outlet, beneath Titahi Bay Road and out to a duckbill check valve at the harbour outfall.

The wetland therefore receives a moderate baseflow under normal conditions and the first flush of rain-generated stormwater before the bypass is engaged to ensure that biological water quality processes are not damaged.

During infrequent large storms, the new bypass pipe will reach capacity with a large surcharge chamber at the outlet end of the wetland, enabling the wetland to provide a further 7500 cubic metres of flood attenuation without forcing flood flows through the vegetated system. These flows engage a wider footprint integrating a ‘flood plain forest’ as part of the overall planting that includes over 35,000 locally eco-sourced aquatic, riparian and terrestrial species.

Once established the wetland will support resilient treatment

of stormwater runoff from the 40 hectare commercial and residential catchments, while also supporting urban ecology and amenity in a high profile site.

With two schools immediately adjacent, and another two in proximity, it is hoped the wetland can support a living classroom environment for ongoing learning and engagement with kids, parents and visitors.

Additional stormwater upgrades were included in this project to protect two adjacent low-lying areas, including Porirua School, that historically flood multiple times per year. In recent heavy rainfall events both areas have seen dramatic improvement with the schools and social services being able to continue independent of the weather.

The Porirua Central Stormwater Upgrades have taken 24 months to construct in four portions, with the wetland taking six months and completed in June 2022.

Officially blessed and opened by Ngāti Toa following Matariki celebrations, the wetland will hopefully provide an enduring example of how to better manage urban water, urban open space and our communities which will have to confront an everchanging climate in years to come.

Further, the project provides lessons in how the engineering community can work well as collaborators and how we can all learn lessons from the past to inform how we tackle challenges of the future.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND HARBOUR HEALTH

Assessing harbour health A survey of seafloor life and sediments can provide an excellent snapshot of the state of a harbour or estuary’s health. NIWA explains how and why.

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) regularly assesses sediment quality and seafloor community health in the subtidal areas of Porirua and Wellington harbours. NIWA completed the latest surveys for the council at five sites in Porirua and at 15 sites in Wellington in November 2020, with the results published by the council in February 2022.

NIWA’s principal scientist, marine ecologist Dr Vonda Cummings, who led the project, says sediment samples were analysed for contaminant concentrations and sediment-dwelling invertebrates were identified to provide information on the combination of different species and their abundances found at each site.

The species names were confirmed by specialist taxonomists.

Good examples of each species were selected, photographed, and put aside as ‘voucher specimens’ for long term preservation and research with the NIWA National Invertebrate Collection, at its Greta Point campus in Wellington.

More than 700 invertebrate specimens were saved as vouchers from the 2020 surveys. It will allow researchers to cross check any future specimens gathered for consistent taxonomic identification.

A team of NIWA researchers were involved in the surveys, including environmental chemist Greg Olsen, who led the contaminant analyses; taxonomists and para-taxonomists led by Jane Halliday; and a five-person dive and boating team.

GWRC senior coastal scientist Dr Megan Melidonis says data from the surveys will help decide where efforts should be focused.

“The regional council is responsible for monitoring the health of our harbours, which are under great pressure from landbased activities.

“The data NIWA provides is very important to help us understand which areas are being negatively impacted by disturbance and require improved management.”

42 www.waternz.org.nz

1

2

“It’s these animals that provide food for the many fish and birds that use the estuary. All the different animals living in estuaries have distinct functions, that is why having a diverse ecosystem is important.”

The composition of the seafloor invertebrate community can reflect the quality and type of sediments they are living in.

High concentrations of finer sediments, like silt and clay, are easily resuspended and may make it difficult for suspension feeding organisms to filter the water for food.

“Contaminants such as heavy metals, including copper, lead and zinc, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (commonly known as PAHs) are sometimes associated with sediments.

“In high enough concentrations these contaminants can be detrimental to the health of seafloor organisms.”

Detecting changes in seafloor life

3 1. Arthritica bifurca is a small deposit feeding bivalve found in estuaries. 2. Borniola reniformis is a small bivalve, found only in New Zealand waters.

3. Harmothoe is a marine worm commonly found in shallow water.

Why study harbours and estuaries?

Vonda said the seafloor of a harbour or estuary is home to a myriad of organisms that live in and on the sediments – consuming organisms and organic matter, filtering the water, recycling nutrients and mixing sediments through their activities on the seafloor.

The seafloor community contains many different types of invertebrates, including worms, shellfish and sandhoppers, and kina (polychaetes, molluscs, amphipods and echinoderms).

A survey of seafloor life and sediments can provide an excellent snapshot of the state of a harbour or estuary’s health.

Increases or decreases in abundances of animals over the longer term can reflect changes to sediment types, concentrations of contaminants or a disturbance, and provide important information on whether an area is healthy or not.

“However, species' abundances naturally increase and decrease over time – throughout the year, or on greater than annual cycles – as they reproduce, recruit to the site and move around.

“Repeatedly surveying the same sites over time helps us to understand this natural variability in the seafloor communities and enables us to distinguish and detect longer term trends.”

Reports on the recent surveys can be found at the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s document library: gw.govt.nz/document-library/

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WATER NEW ZEALAND LIVING INFRASTRUCTURE

Living roof for Auckland’s central library Auckland Council has installed a living ‘green’ roof on the central Auckland Library in response to delivering climate change targets and raising awareness of the environmental benefits living infrastructure can provide.

It has been common practice for many years for conventional roofing to be covered in stone ballast, asphalt, concrete, or metals.

These types of impervious surfaces can expose the vulnerabilities of streets and stormwater drains during storm events and limit the degree to which rainwater can be absorbed.

However, living roofs, which use vegetation to form their top layer, are becoming more desirable due to the benefits they present. Making the surface more permeable, it is anticipated that the new roof will reduce the flow of stormwater run-off entering the natural receiving environments (by improving retention and through evapotranspiration).

For context, on March 23, 2022 the library’s living roof was tested by a significant and rare weather event that saw 62.8mm of rain fall in an hour, making it a one in 250 year event. This event exposed a few areas on the new roof that required improvement, but notably, none of these areas related to the planted roof area, which performed well, slowing the flow of water.

Additional benefits of living infrastructure include, reducing a building’s energy demand by providing increased insulation, counteracting urban heat island effect, increasing biodiversity and habitat opportunities for insects and birds, and protecting the roof membrane from UV solar damage.

44 www.waternz.org.nz

These benefits are becoming increasingly recognised, so much so that in some parts of the world, living roofs have even been made compulsory should the roof dimensions meet certain criteria, for example, size, whether they are new buildings, and the degree of slope.

A total of 560 eco-pillows and 2050 plants were installed on the central library roof. The intention is to plant an additional 300400 plants over the coming months to improve overall coverage and to replace any that may have perished in the harsh summer sun before they’d had a chance to establish.

The living roof system will require initial development maintenance to support the establishment of the vegetation.

However, as the membrane system is unaffected by the surface finish (whether stones or planting), there would be the same maintenance inspection and related costs regardless of whether a living option was pursued.

For context, a stone ballast roof would have required quarterly weeding and weed spraying to prevent the establishment of invasive plants that may take seed in the ballast.

The roof 's performance will be monitored, reported on, and data shared publicly to support our understanding of the living infrastructure space.

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Conference: Part 2

A big success

By Gillian Blythe, CEO, Water New Zealand Responding to Covid-19 required us to think a bit outside the box.

Earlier this year we were in uncharted territory when, following several postponements, we decided to split the Water New Zealand Conference and Expo 2021 into two parts. It’s not something we would have chosen to do in normal circumstances but we’re delighted that our gamble paid off and we had a highly successful conference, Part 2, in Hamilton in May. It was great to catch up in person with so many people that we’d spent the past two years meeting online. It was inspiring to listen to the many thought leadership, mātauranga Māori, and technical presentations and workshops and be surrounded by so much lively discussion, innovation and by so many of our exhibitors.

There were too many highlights for me to single out, but thank you to the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, for coming to our second conference in as many weeks. Her update, along with presentations from the Department of Internal Affairs and Taumata Arowai gave a great insight into the scale of transition work underway on the three waters reforms.

Siouxsie Wiles' presentation left me in no doubt as to why she became such an important communicator during the Covid pandemic.

And it was great to see so many achievements celebrated and to meet

Nominations for the 2022 5S prize are now open In 2022, the NZ 5S chapter and Water New Zealand will again support four young water professionals with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and gain a greater appreciation of the water industry by attending one of Water New Zealand’s major conferences.

The closing date for nominations is 4pm Friday, August 5, 2022. Visit waternz.org.nz/5sYWP to find out more and submit your nomination.

As 2021 winner Ashleigh Dick from Stantec suggests: “If you know any young professionals working with water, please encourage them to stay involved in the industry, and to apply for the 5S Emerging Water Professional Conference Attendance Prize. My thanks to the NZ 5S group, it’s a great thing your group is doing for us YWPs!”

46 www.waternz.org.nz

many of our new young water professionals.

A big thank you to our technical committee and event managers, Avenues, who help pull together such a varied and relevant programme.

We have assembled a collection of highlights from the conference in the next few pages for you to enjoy.

5S supports YWP The NZ Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers (5S) gave four young water professionals the opportunity to attend one of the two recent Water New Zealand conferences In May, Katie Potts from GHD, Rosa Wallace from Beca, and Ashleigh Dick from Stantec New Zealand, attended the Water New Zealand Conference & Expo 2021 in Hamilton, while Cathy Xiong from the Ministry for the Environment, attended the Stormwater Conference in Christchurch.

This prize is made possible by donations from members of the New Zealand 5S group and Water New Zealand.

Rosa says, “It was a privilege to learn from and connect with people within the industry,” and highlights for her included the discussion on the future of water and what it means to give effect to Te Mana o te Wai. “It is an exciting time to be within the water sector and, as Anthony Wilson told us, it is time to ‘get in the waka, paddle hard and enjoy the ride’.”

Garry Macdonald, Beca; Rosa Wallace, Beca; Ashleigh Dick, Stantec; Katie Potts, GHD; Helen Atkins, Water New Zealand, at the conference gala dinner.

WATER CONFERENCE WATER NEW ZEALAND

Big challenges and big questions A relative new-comer to the sector, keynote Jon wonders, as a leader on the demand side, if speaker Jon Lamonte, CEO of Watercare, says he he can do something differently – by contractual has been impressed with the sector's diversity of means, or by setting a standard. He gave the talent, experience, and thought. However, he told example of the CrossRail Tunnel project in the UK, delegates, it is an industry with challenges. which set up an academy to train 3500 people in “If we’re going to position New Zealand as a key construction skills. global leader in water, to deliver safe drinking water “They made it very real for people – not on to all our people, and protect the environment, paper or online. They provided specialist tunnelling we’re going to have to take some big leaps in a lot training facilities that included a simulated tunnel, of areas.” spray concrete, and loco driver training equipment.

Jon says the key challenges facing the water “Where’s our academy? Where’s our facility? We industry are climate change, population growth, need one.” health and safety, and aging infrastructure.

Jon says Watercare is doing something; “In my view, climate change is the biggest it recently celebrated, along with Fletcher challenge we face. Operating water and Construction and Beca, becoming foundation particularly wastewater infrastructure generates Jon Lamonte, CEO of Watercare sponsors in the South Pacific Professional emissions. Building infrastructure also means more Engineering Excellence Network. concrete, more transport, more energy and, as a result, more emissions.”

“It’s something that’s going to support Māori and Pasifika engineers He says traditionally the industry has focused on emissions from through building strong connections and professional development. operations, and largely these are from energy-intensive wastewater “But that’s just us, and it’s a drop. We need to work collectively to actually treatment processes. However, Watercare is now looking separately at the do something in the people space.” emissions from its operations and those from its infrastructure programme.

In 2019, Watercare signed a 10-year, several-billion-dollar contract with The company has found activities involved with building a new asset Fulton Hogan and Fletchers for the delivery of water and wastewater pipes generate far more emissions than operating and maintaining that asset and tunnels for Auckland. He says this is now operating for every project over its lifetime – he says the split is about 55/45 percent between valued between $5 million and $170 million that Watercare does. embodied and operational carbon.

“By having a 10-year programme of work, our construction partners have “How can we replace and maintain assets on time and still keep certainty that they can invest in the right staff, equipment, and processes – that emissions low?” they can deliver all that production line output far more cost effectively, more Jon then moved onto the challenge of health and safety, in NZ saying sustainably, and get safety in it because they’ll be used to doing it every time.

14 construction workers died in the year to October 2021 while another 474 “That is going to develop expertise in New Zealand, and that can apply construction workers suffered injuries on the job that required a week or though other projects across the whole of the country.” more off work.

Jon says these companies haven’t been given a free pass, however, and “Our track record is twice as bad as Australia, four times worse than some pretty ambitious targets have been set around reducing carbon in Europe. Something has got to change.” construction by 40 percent by 2024; reducing the cost of delivery by 20 The rising costs of living is a challenge impacting everyone. percent by 2024; and reducing the number of injuries by 20 percent year Jon says Watercare can see it in the company’s capital programme: on year.

The cost of steel has risen 74 percent between August 2020 and February “We’re going to need new ways of thinking and new ways of working if this year, concrete is up 19 percent, HDPE pipe up 38 percent, concrete we’re going to make a difference.” lined pipe up 75 percent, and the cost of electrical equipment increasing He says we need to use technology to achieve better outcomes for by 24 percent. less cost, suggesting off-site modular construction, exploiting 3D printing This is thanks to the rising cost of materials and transport prices, he says. capabilities, and designing infrastructure to keep people out of harm’s way.

Additionally, pay rates have increased by up to 33 percent in some sectors.

“What would happen if we used common systems for computer “The question is, how can we deliver more and much needed modelling? So the designer uses the same model as the constructer does, as infrastructure in a much smarter and cost-effective way?” the operator then does throughout its life.

Jon’s fourth big challenge is talent shortage – something every sector “What would happen if in the four water entities we said, we want 5D BIM is grappling with. (building information management) minimum standard for all our future “In construction, I’d argue, we are currently sized and shaped around infrastructure? Is that something we could do? I think we could.” small infrastructure projects, rather than a huge pipeline of work. What As he ended his presentation, Jon said he probably raised more questions this means is there aren’t many construction supervisors who have than he gave answers. delivered really large programmes or led big teams – the experience isn’t “We’re facing challenges right now that I don’t have the answer to and there. So, when the big international firms come over here looking for that Watercare can’t solve alone. local partners, they can’t find them.

“But I do think that if we start having honest conversations about what “At the moment, when something comes up, you tend to rob another we’re doing, and we’re open and transparent with our peers and industry, company for people.” and outside of industry, then that’s a good starting point.”

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER CONFERENCE

Reforms will unlock

investment opportunities In her keynote address, local government minister Nanaia Mahuta told delegates that the certainty of the water reforms means that the sector can now move forward together and bring shared aspirations into reality.

She said the water sector voices and knowledge will continue to be crucial to identifying areas to continue improving and building trust in the transition, and the knowledge and expertise shared by so many professionals within the sector has been valued during the reform process.

“Now is the time to be aspirational about what our three waters system across Aotearoa will look like as we move into the future.”

Reform progress so far includes transferring drinking water regulation responsibilities from the Ministry of Health to Taumata Arowai.

From 2023, Taumata Arowai will monitor and report on the environmental performance of wastewater and stormwater networks.

The Water Services Entities Bill, introduced in June 2022 is the first of a suite of legislation that will establish the new water services entities and implement the reforms.

The Bill sets out the ownership, governance, accountability arrangements of the four new entities including the ongoing public ownership and engagement, and safeguards against future privatisation. It also provides for transitional arrangements relating to the establishment of the new entities and the oversight powers of the Department of Internal Affairs during establishment.

This, she said, will enable continued work with councils and mana whenua to establish the entities and prepare for their full operation on July 1, 2024.

Later this year the government intends to introduce further legislation containing the detailed functions and powers of entities, set up the means to transfer assets and liabilities from local authorities to the water services entities, and integrate the entities into other regulatory systems, such as the resource management and economic regulatory regimes.

“My goal is for this legislation to reflect international best practice, and also be tailored to Aotearoa New Zealand’s local environment.

“I anticipate that there will be significant interest from members of Water New Zealand in both bills.”

She told the audience that the National Transition Unit has been working with councils to establish local transition teams in each region.

“These groups are the primary interface with the unit’s workstream leads and will be undertaking the work that is needed to support the smooth transition of water services.

“The teams will play a key role in ensuring that the respective entities are shaped to meet the unique views of their communities and places, and that we are not taking a cookie-cutter approach to reform.”

The Minister says that the reforms will bring more than just

48 www.waternz.org.nz

Local government minister Nanaia Mahuta

reliable cost-effective water services to communities.

“For those in the water sector, they bring new career opportunities, and new ways to connect with your sector and develop your own skills and capabilities.

“An expert, well-supported workforce is crucial to the effective delivery of water services and well-being of the water workforce is central to the design, of the transition.”

The Government is focused on retaining and developing existing staff during the transition and building a pathway for water professionals to grow in their careers.

“The scale of the four new entities will provide new development opportunities and attract new people to the sector.

“It will also create opportunities for the many contractors and suppliers who are an important part of the delivery of this infrastructure.

While all communities will benefit from these reforms, it is smaller rural communities who are likely to benefit the most.

“As it happens, this is counter to a lot of the concerns we hear about the reforms.”

She said the new entities will unlock investment and new connections in a way not possible under the status quo.

“We know this because it is exactly what happened in Auckland with the creation of the super city, where districts like Rodney and Franklin saw massive inward investment flows into water assets, which had long sat on the books but never had the funding to go ahead.”

Pre-conference workshop

Prior to kicking off the Water New Zealand Conference 2021 Part 2, Taumata Arowai and the Department of Internal Affairs joined together to host a pre-conference workshop. This was a great start to the conference and expo and the audience was buzzing to be back together.

Taumata Arowai – Te Mana o Te Wai

Taumata Arowai chief executive Bill Bayfield opened the workshop, focusing on Te Mana o te Wai. He spoke of the whole of system approach needed to care for water, and what this means for the new water services regulator and the sector it will regulate.

The new regulator’s head of strategy and insights, Katy Te Amo, shared the legislative and strategic framework of Taumata Arowai.

She spoke about how much the conversation about Te Mana o te Wai has shifted, saying, at the last Water New Zealand Conference in 2020, there was a sense that it was a hard concept for people to understand and unpack.

Now, there is a new level of comfort and excitement and a desire to dig further into the application of Te Mana o te Wai to work out what it means in practice.

Katy was joined by Julian Williams, director of Te Huia, who is supporting Taumata Arowai on their journey to discover how they can give effect to Te Mana o te Wai by embedding it into the work they do.

Group asset manager at Hastings District Council, Craig Thew, highlighted several water projects and initiatives the council has been working on. While he said he didn’t have all the answers or shortcuts, he provided some valuable learnings about Te Mana o te Wai and engaging with mana whenua. He talked about building strong relationships and trust, engaging early, and letting go of the pen.

The Taumata Arowai session finished with a panel discussion.

Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) – Three Waters priorities The DIAs’ session provided a meet-and-greet with the three newly appointed executive directors leading aspects of the three waters service delivery reforms and transition.

This session began with Heather Shotter, executive director of National Transition Unit, who spoke about her work in leading the unit and her keen focus on what day one of the new entities will look like. Heather emphasised this is about a seamless transition for customers and the workforce, with continuity of service and

clarity about who to call should an unexpected fault happen.

Beyond the immediate transition, the audience was asked to think about what good looks like for three waters services 10 years after the reform.

This feedback reflected aspirations for new workforce opportunities, strengthened public trust and confidence in quality services, innovative practices, and greater partnerships with mana whenua, to name a few.

Maria Nepia, executive director, Three Waters iwi/Māori, then built on the earlier session held by Taumata Arowai to discuss Te Mana o Te Wai in the context of three waters service delivery reforms.

Among other things, Maria talked about how Te Mana o Te Wai is about improving outcomes at a local level; enabling greater strategic influence for iwi/Māori to exercise their rangatiratanga; recognising the holistic way in which water is viewed; and taking a catchment-based approach.

In this session, the audience submitted their views of what upholding Te Mana o Te Wai means to them and the challenges and opportunities the industry faces in undertaking this through service delivery. This feedback reflected on the opportunities to build greater collaborative partnerships and sustainable services that are environmentally conscious.

In terms of challenges, reflections focused on ensuring the appropriate resourcing to achieve results, growing public education and workforce skillsets, and making space for meaningful collaboration across multiple perspectives.

Hamiora Bowkett, executive director Three Waters Reform, closed out the pre-conference session with an overview of the year ahead for reform.

Hamiora highlighted the Water Services Entities Bill and the report from the Rural Supplies Technical Advisory Group, both of which were about to be made public at the time of the conference.

Since then, the bill has been introduced to Parliament and is now with the Select Committee, and the Rural Supplies Technical Group report has been released.

The team at the Department of Internal Affairs would like to acknowledge those of you who have engaged with the details of the bill and submitted to the Select Committee.

The water industry is encouraged to make a similar contribution to further additional legislation expected later this year. This legislation will cover aspects of reform not included in the first bill, including incorporating feedback from the rural working group, pricing and charging settings, and economic regulation.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER CONFERENCE

Communicating complex stuff –

lessons from Covid As an outsider looking in, award-winning high profile science communicator Siouxsie Wiles reckons the water sector could take some lessons out of the Covid-19 response.

Microbiologist, Siouxsie Wiles, became a household name during the pandemic, speaking daily to media in her articulate and informative style. Her commitment to keeping us informed about how to stay safe during the lockdowns helped secure her the title of New Zealander of the Year 2021.

In lessons learned from Covid, Siouxsie told delegates at the Water New Zealand Conference and Expo that the current debate over the Three Waters Reforms suffers from a similar problem to one that emerged during Covid – misinformation and disinformation.

Misinformation is false or misleading information shared with no intent to harm, while disinformation is information that is deliberately misinterpreted by people pushing an agenda, which is then spread through the public networks, often through fear or anger.

So how do you break through a seemingly endless stream of misleading headlines and social media posts to get important but complex messages out to a wider public audience?

Lesson one, she says, is lots of practice. Complex information communication takes lots of practice to do well.

We shouldn’t forget that before the pandemic, Siouxsie was already known to journalists as a scientist who was always prepared to answer the phone and explain scientific issues in a language they could understand. She’d been a regular Stuff columnist, and had made web and TV shows. In 2013 she won the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize.

What Siouxsie didn’t know then was that she was using this time to train for a marathon that she didn’t know existed.

In January 2000, the phone starting ringing with journalists asking about a mysterious virus in China. Within two weeks it was clear that Covid wasn’t like anything we’d had before.

But her willingness to go public with her strongly evidencebacked explanation of Covid unfortunately also made her the target of vitriolic online abuse.

Lesson two in explaining complex information is collaboration.

It’s important to work with others and to understand the needs of different media to reach different audiences. Working with professionals who know how to communicate in different ways, including creative and visual thinking is vital.

That’s why Siouxsie teamed up with award winning illustrator Toby Morris.

Together they produced a series of easily understood graphics and messaging including the ‘flatten the curve’ illustration and message picked up by the Prime Minister.

They also deliberately ensured their work was issued under a creative commons licence so that others could use and adapt the

50 www.waternz.org.nz

Microbiologist, Siouxsie Wiles, became a household name during the pandemic, speaking daily to media in her articulate and informative style.

material to suit their own communities. As a result, a lot of their artwork and messaging went global.

Lesson three, says Siouxsie, is to use trusted voices to convey important messaging. People are convinced by listening to people they know and love.

Giving those trusted voices the information they need to get out to different communities such as churches, schools, small towns is important.

An invitation by community leaders at Matakaoa on the East Coast led to Siouxsie spending several days discussing the impact of the pandemic on their small community and how to stay safe.

The result was a community that picked up the mantel and worked together to embrace vaccination, declaring themselves an ‘immunity community’.

Its innovative campaign to create social unity was to work with storytellers, scientists and doctors to learn about vaccinations and make sense of the information from their own perspectives and community values.

A series of short creative videos were made to encourage Māori vaccination rates, and members of the Matakaoa community featured in the ‘Be a doer, karawhiua’ series, profiling locals and why they chose to receive the Covid-19 vaccination.

As a result, Matakaoa won the 2022 New Zealand Community of the Year Award.

So the final word is that communicating complex stuff takes a team effort, and it won’t happen overnight. The more disinformation that’s out there, the more difficult it becomes.

18–20 October 2022, Te Pae Ōtautahi Christchurch

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER CONFERENCE

Award winners

Ronald Hicks Memorial Award, sponsored by Mott MacDonald: Evaluation of the efficacy of Sift-MS for speciation of wastewater treatment odours in parallel with human sensory, Vaughan Langford, Syft Technologies; Murray McEwan, Canterbury University, and Cassandra Trent, Watercare: Gillian Blythe, Water New Zealand; Cassandra Trent, Watercare; and Nick Dempsey, Mott MacDonald.

Project Award, sponsored by Pipeline & Civil: Drury South stormwater wetland, Tonkin + Taylor: Hugh Goddard, Pipeline & Civil; Jade Huffadine, Tonkin + Taylor; and Stephen Hughes, Drury South.

52 www.waternz.org.nz

Health and Safety Innovation Award, sponsored

by Site Safe: Three waters worker geofencing project, Downer: Hamish Morton, Downer, and Chris Jobson, Site Safe New Zealand.

Operations prize, sponsored by Ixom: Reinstatement of the Pukekohe Water Treatment Plant, Watercare: Mark Bourne, Watercare, Matthew Tolcher, Watercare; and Nathan Swain, IXOM.

Young Author of the Year sponsored

by Trility: What about a zero environmental footprint wastewater treatment plant.

Grace Stumbles, Jacobs.

Environmental Sustainability Project Award, sponsored by Morphum Environmental: Cleaning water with nature, Fonterra: Gretel Silyn Roberts; Gillian Blythe; Dana Gardner, Morphum; Taryn Haslam; Ian Goldschmidt; Stuart Glenn; and Bipan Bansal.

Paper of the Year runner up, sponsored by Hynds: It is water conservation or universal water metering – applying the Kübler Ross change curve. David Taylor, Maria Buzzella, and Justin Lundon, New Plymouth City Council: Gillian Blythe, Water New Zealand; Maria Buzzella and David Taylor New Plymouth City Council; Aaron Hynds, Hynds.

Online Presentation of the Year Award, sponsored

by Hynds: Application of digital engineering in the water sector: Gillian Blythe, Water New Zealand; Matt Stanford, Fletcher Construction; and Farzam Farzadi, Beca.

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53

WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER CONFERENCE

Award winners contd...

Association Medal: Anthony Wilson (see profile on page 24), pictured with his wife Juliet.

Young Water Professional of the Year, sponsored

by Beca: Tom Dyer, Otago Regional Council.

Presentation of the Year, sponsored by Hynds: Our Highly Critical Assets – What Is Under The Bonnet? Robert Blakemore and John Scott, Wellington Water: Robert Blakemore, Wellington Water and Aaron Hynds, Hynds.

Trainee of the Year, sponsored by Citycare Water: Huia Anderson, Taupo District Council.

Paper of the Year, sponsored by Hynds: What if allowable drinking water nitrate limits are reduced to address emerging health effects?

Bridget O’Brien, WSP, and Timothy Chambers, University of Otago: Timothy Chambers, University of Otago, and Bridget O’Brien, WSP. Opposite page: Winning Poster of the Year – AWMA Water Control Solutions

54 www.waternz.org.nz

SELF-CLEANING INTAKE SCREENS AWMA CYLINDER SCREENS WERE CUSTOM-ENGINEERED FOR WATERCARE’S WAIKATO 50 PROJECT

The design process for the bespoke intake screens was focused on:

Watercare’s Waikato 50 Project was an integral part of the Auckland region’s ‘drought response initiative and water resilience plan’.

Raw water is drawn from the Waikato River via a purpose built floating pump station.

The Pump Station Intakes are fitted with AWMA Fish and Debris Screens featuring specifically sized wedge-wire and automated internal and external brushes to maintain self-cleaning functionality.

This system allows a safer, more fish-friendly and effective means of delivering screened water to the new Water Treatment Plant, even during times of exceptionally challenging river turbidity.

• delivering the required flow rate • meeting the specified 1.5mm wedge wire aperture • achieving a through screen (slot) velocity of 0.15m/s or less across the entire screen surface • construction from stainless steel materials for longevity • maintaining a clean screen surface to accommodate expected river weed and debris conditions • programmable screen cleaning intervals ensuring uninterrupted flows • low operating and maintenance costs The original intake screens require regular, underwater maintenance, to clean the screens from algae build-up, an inconvenient and costly process.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER CONFERENCE

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1 & 4. The conference opened with a powhiri 2. Aurecon Young Water Professionals' breakfast 3. The Brian Perry Civil chill zone proved very popular 5. Several board members chat with Frank Stevens from Avenues Event Management. From left: Deborah Lind, Frank Stevens, Priyan Perera, Helen Atkins, Tim Gibson, and Fraser Clark.

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6 6. The board and staff of Water New Zealand. From left: Noel Roberts, Tim Gibson, Helen Atkins, Priyan Perera, Lorraine Kendrick, Debbie Laing, Gillian Blythe, Debra Harrington, Katrina Guy, Troy Brockbank, Zoe Hubbard, Fraser Clark, Shelley Wharton, Deborah Lind, and Pip Donnelly (absent: Paris Elwood, Mumtaz Parker, Lesley Smith, Amy Samuelu). 7. MC Te Radar kept delegates entertained, informed, and on time. 8. Discussing all things pipes at the Hynds stand. 9. Water New Zealand’s technical manager Noel Roberts chats over a drink. 10. A foldable electric bike on offer as a prize at the Citycare Water stand.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Green engineering a winner The green engineering of stormwater and floodwater management on the massive Drury South Crossing subdivision has created a functional and aesthetically appealing wetland. The project won the Project Award at the Water New Zealand 2021 Conference & Expo.

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The design team of Boffa Miskell and Tonkin+Taylor applied a green engineering approach to stormwater management across the site, including rain gardens, tree pits, and swales, leading to a large central wetland.

South Auckland’s 361-hectare Drury South Crossing subdivision – the largest business park development in the country – required a suitable storm and floodwater management solution under the mandates of the Auckland Council Unitary Plan. This prompted setting aside over 80 hectares for a system of ecological parks and recreation areas.

The design team of Boffa Miskell and Tonkin+Taylor applied a green engineering approach to stormwater management across the site, including rain gardens, tree pits, and swales, leading to a large central wetland. This central wetland is 3.5 hectares in size, located within the active floodplain of the Hingaia Stream, a significant ecological area.

The constructed wetland sits below a large mixed-use commercial precinct and, like the precinct itself, is one of the largest in the country – taking over two years to complete and

requiring the excavation of over 396,000 tonnes of earth.

Located in one of Auckland’s deepest floodplains, the wetland is designed to hold floodwater volumes of up to 58,900 cubic metres – the equivalent capacity of 23.5 Olympic size swimming pools.

Input from Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngāti Te Ata, and Ngai Tai ki Tamaki resulted in the design including two forebays, a sinuous alignment, and a green outfall.

Further collaboration with artists Ted Ngataki and Maaka Potini incorporated Tikanga Māori and embraced symbolism and metaphor as guiding principles. That process led to the embodiment of a tuna kuwharuwharu (longfin eel) within a functioning wetland; providing for cultural permanence and delivering an intergenerational landscape feature that provides diverse habitats and complex ecosystems.

JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Boffa Miskell led the landscape architecture and ecological aspects of the project.

Mark Lewis, the landscape architect for the wider project, says, “We promoted a sinuous wetland design with a double forebay device. This offered an efficient treatment approach, diverse ecologies, and an opportunity for a strong landscape response for public enjoyment.

“Taking inspiration from the tuna that inhabit the adjacent Hingaia Stream, an iterative design process with Ted Ngataki and Tonkin+Taylor translated those representative forms, while consolidating the functional elements required for effective stormwater treatment and operation.”

Multi-disciplinary workshops balanced requirements for aesthetics and function and developed a digital model for analysis and fine-tuning.

The curved geometry inspired by the sinuous form of the tuna was achieved using detailed 3D modelling and providing precise machine control systems for Stevenson Mining – the company in charge of earthworks construction.

The team’s desire was to achieve the required engineering outcomes whilst creating a signature feature for the project. The result is a mosaic of terrestrial, wetland and aquatic habitats; providing an artwork at a landscape scale that can be viewed from the commercial precinct and explored by a network of paths.

Mark says that extensive research was undertaken to understand the area’s specific ecological values.

The first stage of the project began more than 10 years ago, with Boffa Miskell ecologists undertaking bird surveys and mapping of

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Above: Artist's impression of the Hingaia stream corridor with stormwater wetlands as a centre piece.

key vegetation. Pre-construction surveys identified more than 50 bird species in the area including eight endangered species.

Creating new habitats for these bird species, such as the grey duck, red-billed gull, white heron, kākā, and pied shag was a priority.

The project team worked closely with Auckland Council and mana whenua to develop a revegetation strategy of diverse native planting types, representing the historic vegetation in the area, says Mark.

“One of the key outcomes of our consultations with local iwi and hapū will see the establishment of hectares of harakeke [flax] and purei [sedge] wetlands, and large stands of kahikatea, kanuka, podocarp, and broadleaf forest types.

“These restored natural systems will connect the mature vegetation remnants scattered across the site.”

The first stage of the restoration programme included more than a quarter of a million native plants introduced to help support the regeneration of indigenous birdlife. The number of plants will more than double by the time the project is completed.

Over the next few years, the project will continue, with further restoration and enhancement of the Hingaia and Maketu Streams, which meander through the project’s open spaces, and will include many kilometres of walking and cycling trails to connect the wetland and open space recreation areas to Drury Village.

“We promoted a sinuous wetland design with a double forebay device.

This offered an efficient treatment approach...”

Mark Lewis

Above: The curved geometry inspired by the sinuous form of the tuna was achieved using detailed 3D modelling and providing precise machine control systems for Stevenson Mining – the company in charge of earthworks construction. Right: A cross-section sketch of the wetland area.

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JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR

Addressing nitrate in drinking water Nitrate is one of the most common drinking water contaminants in New Zealand, largely driven by agricultural activity, with nitrate leached into water from dairy farming doubling since 1990.

Emerging evidence has suggested a link between nitrate in drinking water and a range of adverse health outcomes. The strongest evidence on these adverse health outcomes relate to colorectal cancer and preterm births.

In this paper, ‘What if allowable drinking-water nitrate limits are reduced to address emerging health effects?’, Dr Timothy Chambers, University of Otago, and Bridget O’Brien, WSP New Zealand, look at the health and economic implications of setting a nitrate limit based on the technical reports and evidence prepared for Proposed Plan Change 7 of Canterbury’s Land and Water Regional Plan.

The maximum acceptable value for nitrate

The current maximum acceptable value for nitrate in the Drinking Water Standard is 50 mg per litre (which equates to 11.3 mg/L nitrate-nitrogen). This follows the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (World Health Organization, 2017) which are based on the risk to infants of developing methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) and do not consider any other possible health conditions.

Colorectal cancer includes cancers of the colon or rectum, commonly referred to as bowel cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second highest cause of death in New Zealand, and we have one of the highest colorectal cancer rates in the world.

South Canterbury, Southland, Wairarapa and Nelson Marlborough District Health Boards have the highest rates of colorectal cancer. Canterbury DHB has an average rate of colorectal cancer incidence compared to other DHBs but has the highest number of colorectal cancer cases.

An estimated 90 percent of colorectal cancers are sporadic (non-hereditary), meaning they develop after birth due to a range of modifiable risk factors. Known risk factors including obesity, alcohol, physical inactivity, smoking, consumption of red meat and processed meat. But emerging international evidence has suggested that nitrate contamination in drinking water is another potential risk factor for colorectal cancer.

A recent meta-analysis that pooled the results from eight epidemiological studies reported a four percent increase in colorectal cancer risk per mg/L increase in nitrate-nitrogen concentrations.

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Nitrate and preterm births

Any birth that occurs before 37 weeks is defined as a preterm birth. In New Zealand, preterm birth is the leading cause of mortality in infants (23 percent of all deaths in 2017) and children under five years (22 percent of all deaths in 2018).

Surviving preterm infants have higher rates of chronic health conditions including neurological and developmental disabilities, mental health, emotional and respiratory problems. The impacts of prematurity worsen with lower gestation ages, with the most severe outcomes experienced by early preterm birth.

Established risk factors for preterm birth include maternal tobacco use, age, socio-economic status and obesity. Several environmental exposures have been suggested as additional risk factors for preterm birth including air pollution and nitrate contamination in drinking water.

One proposed mechanism for nitrate impacting preterm birth is through oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants, which can cause accelerated ageing of fetal cells. The aging of fetal cells generate biomolecular signals that can trigger the labour process.

One biomarker of oxidative stress is high methaemoglobin levels from the conversion of haemoglobin to methaemoglobin (a by-product of nitrate metabolism). Elevated methaemoglobin levels have been observed in umbilical cord blood of pregnant women exposed to nitrate.

Current state of Canterbury groundwater quality

The median nitrate-nitrogen concentration in Canterbury’s groundwater in 2019 was 3.4 mg/L, with values ranging from <0.05 to 23 mg/L. Nine percent of monitoring wells exceeded the maximum acceptable value of 11.3 mg/L in the Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand (see Figure 1).

Forty percent of wells had likely increasing or very likely increasing trends of nitrate-nitrogen concentrations (see Figure 2).

Christchurch water supply and groundwater quality Christchurch is fortunate to have a very high quality groundwater source for the residents and businesses of the city and Lyttelton Harbour. This is the sole water supply source for Christchurch,

KEY: 2019 Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations <3.0 mg/L 3 - 5.6 mg/L, less than 1/2 MAV 5.7 – 11.3 mg/L, greater than 1/2 MAV >11.3 mg/L, exceeds MAV Areas of potential groundwater use CWMS zones

Figure 1: Summary of the nitrate-nitrogen concentrations sampled in the 2019 survey.

10 year trend in nitrate-nitrogen concentrations 2010 to 2019 very likely decreasing likely decreasing no trend in nitrate likely increasing very likely increasing CWMS zones Areas of potential groundwater use

N 0

25

50

100 Kilometres

Figure 2: Ten-year trends (2010-19) in nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in annual survey wells.

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WATER NEWThis ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR River. is based on groundwater modelling undertaken by GNS for Environment

Canterbury (Kreleger & Etheridge, 2019). The source area north of the Waimakariri River is shown in Figure 3. Therefore, increased nitrate leaching from land use intensification in the Waimakariri District would likely lead to increased nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in the deep Christchurch aquifers.

Interzone receptor area Interzone transfer source area

Number of model realisations showing recharge to Christchurch aquifer 1% – 10% 11% – 20% 21% – 30% 31% – 40% 41% – 50% 51% – 60% 61% – 70% 71% – 80% 81% – 90% 91% – 100%

Figure 3: Waimakariri recharge sources of the Christchurch groundwater system.

Figure 3:

Waimakariri recharge sources of the Christchurch groundwater system (Figure 3-8 from Kreleger and Etheridge (2019))

The Kainga, average nitrate-nitrogen concentration waterissupply bores in 2021 is average concentration 1.4 mg/L, indicating anthropogenic Brooklands, Lyttelton, Governors Bay and Diamond in Christchurch (Christchurch City Council, 2021). Elevated nitrate-nitrogen concentrations sources of nitrate are already affecting these aquifers. in Harbour0.7 (totalmg/L population 342,000). the northwest of Christchurch been found where concentrations the current measured averagein active Maximum nitrate-nitrogen There deep are 48bores water insupply pump stations spread across have concentration is 1.4 mg/L, indicating anthropogenic sources of nitrate are already affecting water supply wells for the period 2008 – 2020 have values up to Christchurch city, which pump water from 142 wells directly into these aquifers (Thorley, 2020). Maximum nitrate-nitrogen concentrations measured in 4.2 mg/L. the water supply network. The water supply network is divided active water supply wells for the period 2008 – 2020 is shown in Figure 4, with values up into eight water supply zones, with between two and 16 pump to 4.2 mg/L. stations supplying each zone.

Waimakariri District water supply Recharge of the Christchurch groundwater system occurs in the The Waimakariri District also relies on groundwater for its unconfined areas primarily from drainage from the Waimakariri water supply. Some 53,800 people are served by water supplies River and rainfall on a small area of the plains northwest of owned and operated by the Waimakariri District Council. There Christchurch. About three quarters of groundwater is recharged are approximately 2750 active private water supply wells in the

by Waimakariri River, with rainfall derived infiltration providing district, with an estimated 6900 people using these wells. most of the remainder.

The average nitrate-nitrogen concentration in Waimakariri Another contributing source of groundwater to the deep District Council water supplies was 1.9 mg/L and in private water aquifers in the north of Christchurch is deep flow beneath the supply wells was 3.5 mg/L. Waimakariri riverbed from north of the Waimakariri River.

This is based on groundwater modelling undertaken by GNS for Regional plan change scenarios Environment Canterbury.

ECan’s Waimakariri Zone Committee set target nitrate-nitrogen The source area north of the Waimakariri River is shown concentrations for the Waimakariri and Christchurch aquifers to in Figure 3. Therefore, increased nitrate leaching from land inform the Proposed Plan Change 7 of the Canterbury Land and use intensification in the Waimakariri District would likely Water Regional Plan. lead to increased nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in the deep For the Waimakariri District, the target was 5.65 mg/L, which Christchurch aquifers. is half the DWSNZ maximum acceptable value. For Christchurch The average nitrate-nitrogen concentration in Christchurch aquifers the target was 3.8 mg/L, to protect the 90 percent of water supply bores in 2021 is 0.7 mg/L. aquatic species, recognising the interconnectivity of the aquifers Elevated nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in deep bores in the with spring fed streams. northwest of Christchurch have been found where the current Environment Canterbury and its consultants undertook

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extensive modelling and analysis to assess various land use scenarios that were considered for the proposed plan change. For simplicity, this paper focuses on the good management practice scenario, described in IndustryAgreed Good Management Practices Relating to Water Quality (2015).

Methods

We used the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile groundwater modelling nitrate predictions results for the good management practice scenario for ECan’s Plan Change 7 to provide a range of possible groundwater quality scenarios in Christchurch and the Waimakariri District.

Nitrate-nitrogen levels for the Waimakariri District were provided for community and private water supply wells, while only community wells were provided for Christchurch.

Thus, we have three exposure groups for analyses.

We took the current average nitrate-nitrogen for each exposure group reported as our current state.

In our analyses, we assumed 100 percent of the population were exposed to this level of nitrate. While the nitrate concentration varies depending on well location, as there appears to be a linear relationship between nitrate concentration and health effects, using the average concentration is appropriate at a population-based level.

Results discussion

Under current exposure, nitrate contamination in drinking water contributes to an estimated 6.6 and 1.8 colorectal cancer and early preterm cases per year in Christchurch, respectively. These rates rise to 60.4 colorectal cancer cases and 20 early preterm births in the 95th percentile scenario (7.5mg/L nitrate-nitrogen).

While Waimakariri is projected to experience slightly higher nitrate exposure than Christchurch, its overall population contribution is low. However, Waimakariri rates of nitrate-attributable colorectal cancer are 2.8 times (community supplies) and 4.8 times (private supplies) higher than Christchurch under current scenarios.

Current nitrate contamination costs an estimated $6.7 million each year. The cost of 5th percentile scenario (3 mg/L) is $21.5 million per year. The 95th percentile has direct and indirect health costs of $47.8 million per year.

The majority of the costs are associated with colorectal cancer but it should be noted the preterm birth estimates do not account for stillbirths or infant mortality associated with preterm births.

Water treatment options – cost

If water had to be treated to remove nitrate, ion exchange is the most likely treatment method, as this is well-proven and more cost-effective than other methods. However, this would be challenging in Christchurch due to the large number of pump stations where treatment plants would need to be installed.

The cost of nitrate removal increases with the mass of nitrate to be removed. Evidence for Christchurch City Council considered the cost reducing a possible future JULY/AUGUST 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR

Target future nitrate-nitrogen concentration Cost Estimate

5.65 mg/L

3.8 mg/L

1 mg/L

$347m

$461m

$610m

$13m

$18m

$24m

$829m

$1227m

$1507m

Capital Cost Annual Operating Cost Net Present Value

nitrate concentration of 7.9 mg/L down to 5.65, 3.8 and 1 mg/L (half the DWSNZ maximum acceptable value, the zone committee target and the target that CCC was requesting based on emerging health evidence respectively).

The estimated capital and operating costs are shown in the table above, along with net present value calculated over 100 years with a discount rate of three percent.

By way of comparison, the cost of the scenario to reduce future nitrate concentrations to 1 mg/L equates to 19 years of planned capital expenditure by Christchurch City Council on water supply and would result in a 75 percent increase in operational costs.

This compares with the cost to farmers of implementing the nitrate loss reductions in Proposed Plan Change 7, which had a net present value of $457 million.

Conclusions

We estimate there could be an additional 32.7 colorectal cancer and 9.8 preterm births per year in the Christchurch City and Waimakariri District under the 5th percentile scenario. Under the 95th percentile scenario, this increases to an estimated 72.1 and 23.9 cases of colorectal cancer and preterm births, respectively.

The estimated economic burden of these nitrate attributable

health outcomes per year is between $21 million under the 5th percentile scenario and $47.8 million under the 95th percentile.

If water had to be treated to remove nitrate, ion exchange is the most likely treatment method, as this is well-proven and more cost-effective than other methods. However, this would be challenging in Christchurch due to the large number of pump stations where treatment plants would need to be installed.

This could cost in the order of $610 million to construct and $24 million per year to operate. By way of comparison, this equates to 19 years of planned capital expenditure by Christchurch City Council on water supply and would result in a 75 percent increase in operational costs.

Across New Zealand, 19 percent of 433 monitoring sites exceeded the DWSNZ maximum acceptable value for nitrate on at least one occasion between 2014 and 2018 in Statistics NZ’s analysis of groundwater quality.

If a lower DWSNZ MAV for nitrate-nitrogen was adopted to account for the emerging health evidence around colorectal cancer and preterm births, this would have a significant impact on land use in water supply catchments and treatment.

This is an abridged version of the paper, which won Hynds Paper of the Year at the recent Water New Zealand Conference & Expo.

Read the full paper at: waternz.org.nz/Resources/knowledgebase-landing

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER CONFERENCE

Stormwater professionals gather

By Gillian Blythe, CEO, Water New Zealand Good stormwater management and new solutions are vital if we are to ensure a liveable and healthy environment in the face of climate change and extreme weather events.

This year’s Stormwater Conference was an important event on the three waters calendar – and I was delighted to meet and connect with so many professionals as well as keynote speakers, including the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta and Professor Te Maire Tau from Te Kura Taka Pini, Ngāi Tahu Freshwater Management.

Congratulations to all our award winners and thank you to our

hardworking and dedicated Stormwater Conference committee who helped pull this incredible programme together, as well as our event organisers, Avenues.

Thank you as well to everybody who came and I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did. It was certainly heartening to see so many committed people working in stormwater and determined to ensure a resilient and healthy future.

We have gathered a few photos and summarised some of the conference highlights in the following pages.

Māori interests in water In his keynote address, Professor Te Maire Tau, co-chair, Te Kura Taka Pini, Ngāi Tahu Freshwater Management, told delegates that Māori communities have been missing out on basic water infrastructure and this has been stymying economic development.

He said the ‘democratic process’ had historically worked against Māori communities getting fair access to basic infrastructure such as water reticulation.

Compounding this inequity, he said restrictive rules and decisions by local authorities have been preventing Māori from building on their own land. And there is a clear correlation between infrastructure and wealth generation.

This failure to provide water reticulation, along with restrictive rules, directly led to Māori being economically deprived.

In a nod to the current discussion around Māori interests and involvement in water infrastructure, he pointed to cases where the local council’s stormwater infrastructure, for instance, directly crosses over or spills into Ngai Tahu land.

“The tribe already has an interest in infrastructure,” and in many cases Ngai Tahu had built infrastructure and handed to

70 www.waternz.org.nz

Professor Te Maire Tau

local authorities to maintain.

He pointed out that the 1998 Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act recognises Ngai Tahu as holding rangatiratanga within the takiwa (territory) of Ngai Tahu whanui and that it goes on to say that the Crown seeks within the legislation to enter a new age of cooperation with Ngai Tahu.

This, he says, requires a bit more than consultation by the Crown. Co-operation requires a partnership approach and that is the direction Ngai Tahu will take as it undergoes a review process of how it engages with local government as well.

The tribe, he says, has an interest in water infrastructure.

“Fundamentally stormwater infrastructure is a matter of local government and sits within the rūnanga in local villages so that engagement will be taking effect this year and we’re moving on it at the moment – how engagement occurs.

“The big question occupying us now is how we implement our rangatiratanga within the institution of local government.”

Looking to the future, he says Ngai Tahu have been looking at various options including smart markets for water resources.

For instance, the tribe is in the process of developing ideas around data-driven water extraction measurement to use as an environmental tool.

“Te Mana o te Wai is important and we need clear data about what’s important for the environment.”

Tackling flood challenges, an insurer’s view Coping with increasing storms and alluvial flooding are problems impacting communities, councils, government and insurers, Tower chief executive Blair Turnbull told delegates in his keynote speech.

“A key part of addressing this is realising there is no silver bullet and that we need to collectively work together in order to mitigate climate and particularly flood related challenges.

Blair shared what Tower is doing to help combat some of these challenges, and how they’re working with various partners to do so.

He says, according to Lloyds of London, New Zealand is the second riskiest place in the world for natural perils – not because of earthquakes, but because of flooding. Interestingly, Bangladesh is first because most of its cities are low lying and prone to monsoon flooding.

Over the past 50 years, 45 percent of our natural disasters are due to flooding, with storms being second, at around 27 precent, with earthquakes, hail and volcanic eruptions making up the balance. And more importantly, there is a large increasing trend line of natural events.

The insurance costs for floods and storms are increasing, with the costs of the past 10 years of events equivalent to the previous 45 years (inflation adjusted).

In the past two years, we’ve had nine large flood-related events, with total insurance industry costs of $390 million, Blair says.

“Insurance, by nature, is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We help customers and communities pick up the pieces after an event and help them rebuild.

“However, we firmly believe at Tower, that we have a role to help prevent, to educate, and to mitigate risks, as well as helping people recover from them.”

Tower is doing this by investing over $100 million in the past five years in data, digital and technology, and by partnering with global leaders, such as ‘data geeks’ RMS, and Auckland and Otago universities, to change how they do insurance – including how they model and price natural perils.

The result was New Zealand’s first pluvial and fluvial flood model. It leverages around five million data points, modelled 350,000 simulated flood events, and is supplemented with Tower’s claims database, which has around 300,000 customers.

This information has enabled the insurance company to view and price at an individual house level right across the country.

Blair says they went backwards and tested how this data worked against previous events, such as the Edgecumbe flooding in 2017 and, more recently, tested the model against the Kumeu, West Auckland, floods in 2021. In both cases, the model was “very, very accurate in terms of simulating the actual event”.

Tower has also shared the flood and peril data with its customers.

Blair says even though 96 percent of Kiwis who have a home

Blair Turnbull

have insurance, only one third understand the cover they have.

Tower is helping them better understand their risk profile by giving houses a rating of low, medium, high, or very high, for both flood and earthquake risk.

Tower has also told its customers how these ratings are linked to their premiums – breaking it down into the proportion that is allocated to flood, earthquake, EQC levy, and fire levy – helping them understand what they’re paying for.

Tower has also shared this data and information with councils, banks, regulators, other insurance groups, and climate change industry bodies.

“There is no flood silver bullet, it will take a collective effort,” says Blair.

He says there are many different ways to tackle the problem – don’t build on wetlands, clean the creeks and riverbeds to support more effective water flow, maintain stormwater systems, have elevated building sites, reduce the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, and consider managed retreat.

Match insurance cover to risk and ensure people understand the insurance cover they have.

“These all have a role to play.”

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER CONFERENCE

The need to learn to live with water Christchurch city’s head of three waters, Helen Beaumont, spoke of the challenge ahead in ensuring that the city is able to cope, minimise costs and bounce back from future climate change and flood events.

Christchurch is a low lying city, built on a swamp. This means the city has faced challenges from the beginning – challenges that were exacerbated and made even more complex by the Canterbury earthquakes, Helen told delegates in her keynote address. As a result, they learned that recovery is a long game.

The city site was chosen back in 1849 when Captain Thomas arrived with a team of surveyors. While the 1000 acres of the central city is on reasonable ground, the urban area has since expanded out across low lying areas to the north, south and east – destroying or altering sand dunes, wetlands, and lagoons as it grew.

Over the next century, homes, community facilities, and commercial buildings sprung up without proper provision for stormwater management and far too close to waterways.

Today there is literally no room for the water – no accommodation of the natural ponding areas in low lying wetlands areas and no space for rivers and streams to expand and convey high flows.

The Christchurch drainage board, in place from 1875 to 1989, had jurisdiction over 13,000 hectares from Opawaho Heathcote in the south to the Puharakekenui Styx in the north and west to upper Riccarton. The board had wide powers to maintain and modify natural watercourses and to construct sewers and drains – including on private land.

Over its 100 years of existence, the Drainage Board straightened, deepened, and widened rivers and streams, and installed hundreds of kilometres of pipes, channels and drains – along with stop banks and pump stations to keep the city dry.

New values

Then, in the 1990s and early 2000s, a new cohort of engineers implemented a multi value approach to surface water planning across the city, acknowledging the importance of the natural environment and the interconnection with the network infrastructure.

In another change of approach, the council acknowledged that success depended on partnerships – with tangata whenua, private property owners, Environment Canterbury, the Ministry for the Environment, and the Department of Conservation.

One of the first examples of this new approach was the reversal of earlier planning decisions around the Travis Swamp that had been zoned for residential. The wetland was saved and Corsers Drain, which was to have been piped, was instead naturalised – creating a green corridor from the Travis Wetland to the Otakaro Avon River.

And it was noted that the naturalisation was cheaper than the conventional piping solution, as well as creating public walkways and an attractive outlook to neighbouring residential properties.

In 1991 the Resource Management Act came into force. The planners got alongside the engineers and the city plan set about ensuring land

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use rules that would ensure the sustainable management of the natural and physical resources.

Key to this was protecting waterways through setbacks and zoning to ensure the residential development incorporated management of stormwater and the risk of flooding.

However, in late 2010 and early 2011 the city was hit hard by the Canterbury Earthquakes.

The quakes changed the pattern of flooding and exacerbated the flood risk. While the recovery brought opportunities to build back better, there was also a sense of urgency. One senior engineer was heard to mutter that drainage trumps ecological enhancements.

And so to the future.

Helen told the audience that today’s planning must respond to the increasing impacts of climate change and sea level rise in the context of Te Mana o Te Wai. Care and respect for the environment is the highest priority and that cannot be traded off in favour of social or economic well-being concerns, she said.

The language of minimising impact on the environment will change and we will be asking how much any particular initiative benefits the environment and improves the quality of our rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands.

Christchurch’s location means that flooding will continue to be a risk because of increased storm frequency and more intense rainfall, as well as land subsidence and coastal erosion and inundation through sea level rise.

Helen told the audience that there are no solutions that will eliminate flooding.

“Whatever we design and build there will always be a bigger storm.

And if it isn’t a storm we can count on a tsunami in the lifetime of this city.”

She said there is a need to learn to live with the water. High and low flows in rivers, intense storms, extreme tides and even tsunami are perfectly natural, and they will happen.

So the challenge is in how to cope. What form of urban development and infrastructure will provide the most resilience?

Not protection necessarily but the ability to survive, minimise the costs and bounce back.

The solution will inevitably involve a combination of many parts – engineering, regulatory, social and economic as the market will respond to risk.

Helen Beaumont

Visions about water and landscape Martin Knuijt, founding partner of Okra, nature-based landscape architects, was a keynote speaker that inspired the audience with his holistic approach to landscape design, that aims to create healthy cities.

He says we are facing many problems, such as climate change, and therefore need to create strong landscape frameworks in our towns and cities, with room for rivers and other natural systems in regard of their catchment zones. We also need to be able to store rainfall after heavy rain events for times when we need it.

“Many rivers have been modified and are under threat of change in the amount of water supply and pollution, but there is hope. New policies like the Emission Reduction Plan are pointing towards naturebased solutions.”

He says New Zealand has already done some great work in this regard – following the earthquakes in Christchurch, a new river landscape along the Otakaro Avon River created more room for the river – rewilding it and building a green landscape along its banks, and ensuring clean water is going into this system.

Martin says the next challenge is to provide solutions within the existing urban fabric – areas that are already developed. To change an existing city to a healthy city, a liveable city – one that is climate adaptive, promotes multimodal mobility, and has vibrant public spaces that people value and want to be in.

Green spaces should perhaps be more natural than have been planted in the past, he says. Think about urban biotopes – a forest system consisting of trees, shrubs, and ground covers, rather than monoculture (one type of tree).

Martin and the team at Okra created a water sensitive landscape design for the Meridian Water mega development in North London – an 85-hectare site which is part of the strategic development within the Upper Lee Valley, a crucial link within the Stansted Cambridge growth corridor. The total project aims to build more than 10,000 new homes and business developments.

There are several different waterways in the area, including the River Lee, the Lee Navigation Canal, Salmons Brook, and Pymmes Brook.

Martin says they started by making a toolbox for water sensitive

Martin Knuijt

design, which incorporates a whole raft of measures to work with water in a sensitive way.

First, where there is a river or brook, is to ensure safety in the event of a heavy rainfall, which meant vulnerable things, such as schools and stations, went on higher ground.

Second, the ability to store the water as long as possible in the area – Martin says some tools are based on infiltration, while others are natural, such as ponds in parks, as well as artificial storage underground and under roads.

Third, was to filter and reuse, also ensuring that other areas downstream are not adversely affected.

The fourth tool was to make it visible and educational – create awareness by making sure people can see the changes in the water system and understand that they are important.

Martin says the tools were applied in various sections along the canals and brooks in the project area – depending on the circumstances, different tools were used. For example, in areas where there were larger parks, water is retained in ponds.

They widened the brooks, made the parks able to be flooded slightly during heavy rainfall, and they were able to divert water to different areas.

In the dense urban areas, the right solutions were also found – a lot more trees were planted, raingardens installed, and green pockets found by planting some parking spaces.

By applying this water sensitive design, Martin says the result was a flexible system and diversification of Meridian Water’s development zones.

Far Left: Outgoing Stormwater Group chair Kate Purton speaks at the conference opening.

Above: From left, Water New Zealand CEO Gillian Blythe, president Helen Atkins, Shelley Wharton Water New Zealand board member, and Mumtaz Parker Water New Zealand's training development manager.

Left: Peter Christensen, the incoming chair for the Stormwater Group.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER CONFERENCE

Stormwater award winners

Aurecon Stormwater Professional of the Year: Nick Brown from Auckland Council

Beca Young Stormwater Professional of the Year: Richard Wilson from Tonkin + Taylor

The Tonkin +Taylor Paper of the Year: Mark Groves and Mark Hansen for Fish Passage Design of High Gradient Channels using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The Poster of the Year: Stephanie Patchett, University of Canterbury, for Integrating fish attributes and freshwater metrics to support instream design

Innovation Showcase: Stormwater360 for Filterra Roof, a New Zealand-made and developed high flow biofiltration system to treat galvanised roof runoff.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR

3D modelling for

fish passage design Tackling an ecological issue with a novel modelling approach, Mark Groves, Mark Hansen, and Francesco Martin of WSP were awarded Tonkin + Taylor Paper of the Year at the 2022 Stormwater Conference for their research on fish passage. Here is an abridged version of their winning paper, ‘Guidance on New Zealand fish passage in high gradient engineered channels based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling’.

With the publication of the National Environmental Standard for Freshwater Regulations in 2020 there is more emphasis than ever on the restoration, remediation, and maintenance of fish passage.

Maintaining fish passage through our waterways helps protect our native freshwater fauna, most of which are nationally threatened or at risk of extinction.

Many projects, particularly transport infrastructure projects, involve construction or replacement of culverts, realignment of watercourses, daylighting of waterways or the construction of riffle type structures to mitigate perched culverts in steep terrain.

When these instream structures are located in upstream catchments, often with a high state of naturalness, they can result in barriers to fish passage if not correctly designed and constructed.

Utilising 3D solid models and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), this paper assesses the three-dimensional hydraulic effects of rock placement in a stream channel of fixed width, flow, and slope, in terms of velocity, depth and turbulence intensity for different rock shapes and patterns of placement.

Most New Zealand guidance is based around lowland native fish species, which are slow and or poor climbers. However, some of our fish species are extremely capable climbers, clinging to rock surfaces and ‘wriggling’ along wetted surfaces to travel upstream.

Whilst overseas guidance is available for riffles of gradients of 1:20 – 1:30, in some cases steeper grades are required where there is limited New Zealand specific guidance for climbing species such as kōaro or banded kōkopu.

Irregular rock edges are identified as a means to provide lower velocity resting areas and swimming paths through higher gradient riffles in conjunction with emergent ‘fish passage rocks’.

This effect can be observed when looking at the flow properties of natural waterways and can be simulated in flumes or through hydraulic analysis.

The research assesses the effect of emergent rock placement, in terms of wake and velocity change, as well as rock edge treatment and in channel rock placement such as rock weirs and ‘rock gardens’.

Equivalent Manning’s n values are also reverse engineered

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to provide an indication of rock placement on the channel's overall hydraulic roughness to assist designers using more conventional analysis which tends to over-estimate velocity.

A step-pool cascade approach to higher gradient streams is also discussed.

The results provide guidance on appropriate edge treatment for fish passage for upland native fish species in high gradient channels, with the aim of improving the outcomes from stream enhancement projects.

Observational support

When observing natural riffles in upland waterways it is apparent that along the stream edge, irregular and emergent edge rocks create areas of low velocity water at the same depth as the higher velocity sections of the channel.

These zones likely provide a lower velocity path for fish, through such riffles where higher velocity flow occurs, and may be an important factor in the migration of native fish species. It is therefore proposed, rock edge treatment of any high gradient waterway may be an important factor for fish passage.

The current New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines also advocate rock weirs in rock lined channels. These generate a tailwater condition, and if correctly spaced, ensure the tailwater influence overlaps with the next weir upstream to reduce flow velocity and increase depth.

Another type of upland channel feature referred to as ‘rock gardens’ or ‘boulder gardens’ by kayakers may also generate lower velocity flow.

Kayakers will attest to how much easier sustained paddling upstream is through such features, whereas as natural weir features can require greater effort to navigate even with lower velocity flow between them.

Hence ‘boulder gardens’ are investigated here as means of lowering channel velocity. Rocks are placed relatively closely, similar to the principal of disruptor baffles, to prevent flow accelerating to higher velocities by generating higher levels of flow turbulence and reducing the cross-sectional area of flow.

Comparison of two different flow rates, indicating that velocity on the open area of the channel was increased, but the low velocity areas along the edge of the channel were not significantly influenced.

Example of free surface flow showing the three-dimensional water/air interface (themed by velocity).

Why assess using CFD?

New Zealand’s current fish passage guidance is based on onedimensional flow analysis using depth averaged velocity. However, in practice this means little for fish which must navigate spatially varying three-dimensional flow.

CFD analysis provides a means to understand the realities of three-dimensional flow more accurately without the need for more time-consuming scale modelling.

A good example of the potential value in CFD analysis is a high gradient stream where the depth averaged velocity is high.

Conventional analysis would imply the channel is a barrier to fish. But if there were a continuous low velocity pathway through the reach (for example along the wetted edge where there are emergent rocks or other debris) the channel may in fact still be navigable by fish.

Continuous low velocity pathways, or reduced distances over which high velocity flow occurs, with appropriate resting locations are more important in practice to fish passage than the mean channel velocity.

CFD application

For this assessment a channel with a fixed width, gradient and flow rate is assessed to understand the impact of rock placement within the channel in terms of velocity distribution and roughness. The intention is to identify strategies that can assist with fish navigation and/or reduce overall channel velocity under low flow conditions.

Due to time constraints, the channel width was not adjusted to achieve a consistent flow depth or tested under higher flow rates.

The flow rate that has been assessed is intended to represent a 95th percentile low flow or similar, where optimal flow depth is required to assist with navigation.

During higher flow events, the rocks can become submerged, though still reducing velocity in the lower portion of the channel.

The different channel forms assessed are visually summarized from the three-dimensional models developed.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR

1. Irregular rock edge

2. Irregular rock edge with emergent rocks

3. Irregular rock edge with emergent rocks

4. Irregular edge with rock cluster

5. Irregular edge and rock weirs

6. Irregular edge and rock garden

7. Irregular edge with occasional 8. Step pool cascade emergent rocks 3D models - Channel forms assessed. Forms 1 to 7 have a mean channel width of 1.4m excluding the emergent rocks.

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Rock edge results

An irregular rock edge is promoted by ecologists for many reasons, including more varied flow conditions and habitat creation.

CFD results indicate that an irregular rock edge can provide not only resting opportunities, but when combined with closely spaced emergent rocks, can also provide a lower velocity pathway for native fish that is shielded from the main channel velocity.

This approach could, for example, be used to create improved fish navigation in an existing channel situation (with sufficient flow depth) without significant in channel works.

The results were also analysed under a higher flow rate of 0.15 cubic metres per second, which indicated that velocity on the open area of the channel was increased, but the low velocity areas along the edge of the channel were not significantly influenced.

Three channel forms are compared – A ‘rock garden’ with a high density of emergent rocks to reduce overall velocity, occasional emergent rocks to create more varied flow conditions, and rock weirs to create tailwater.

To estimate the scale of this effect for the channel forms considered here, approximate Manning’s n roughness values have been reverse engineered from the CFD model results over three cross section locations (to account for three-dimensional variation in flow). This is to provide practitioners with an indication of the potential effect of emergent rocks and the associated turbulence on overall channel roughness under low flow conditions.

It was found that adjustment of the sectional area and wetted perimeter to account for the emergent rocks as physical obstructions to flow provided a more reasonable means to estimate velocity for emergent rocks located along the edge of the channel (where the associated turbulence is lower), though overestimating velocity by 0-26 percent.

This approach, however, was not able to account for (see forms 6 and 7 shown in the image), due to the higher levels of flow turbulence. This confirms the findings of Marcus et. al. (1992), which concluded that Jarret (1984) performed best at estimating roughness in small high gradient streams but noted that it still over-estimated velocity by 32 percent on average.

Channel roughness

Step-pool cascade sequence

Channel form results

Emergent rocks can have a significant impact on channel velocity and Manning’s n.

George et. al. (1989) noted that “if the depth of flow is shallow in relation to the size of the roughness elements, the n value can be large”. Conventional n values used for estimation of flood flows are often not applicable under these conditions and would result in over-estimation of velocity.

Marcus et. al. (1992) found that 10 of the 11 methods they assessed to estimate roughness for small, high gradient streams, grossly underestimated roughness relative to field measurements ranging from 0.056 to 0.183. They concluded that this was the combination of high stream gradient, large sediment size, low R (hydraulic radius), and high levels of turbulence.

Traditionally realignment of waterways down steep slopes has often taken the form of a steep ‘rapid’ commonly known as a ‘rock chute’. Whilst these structures are efficient hydraulically, they are not ideal where fish passage is required due to continuous high velocity and turbulent flow they can create.

Naturally very steep streams often form a series of steps, cascades, or steps with pools. These more natural forms of channel are better suited to fish passage as they can include surface films over rocks that permit climbing and also include pool areas that form resting areas and habitat.

CFD analysis confirms that under low flow conditions, the pool areas force a hydraulic jump and sub-critical flow between the super-critical flow down the cascades.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PAPER OF THE YEAR

Case study – Construction of a stepped pool cascade Construction of stepped pool cascades requires a higher level of construction monitoring versus a rock chute to ensure that nappe flow (flow separated from the cascades rock face) doesn’t occur down any of the cascades and that the pool areas have appropriate depth.

This typically requires supervision from the engineer and/or ecologist and some amount of post-construction adjustment once the flow has been livened.

The sub-grade also needs to be trimmed with steps to mimic the finished surface elevation, rather than a constant slope and hence also requires a higher level of setting out and more careful excavation.

Construction order should ideally be from the bottom up, so that each cascade is supported by the riprap below. However, driven piles can be used to support them during construction if needed, and these have the advantage of increasing stability if left in place (as long as they are not visible when the works are completed).

A solid toe for the structure is essential, as toe scour and undermining is often the primary mode of failure.

A key trench of large rock and bed level armouring are important to manage any changes in downstream bed level and to prevent undermining from erosion. The use of driven piles to support the lowest cascade rock could also be incorporated for additional support.

Due to the requirement to individually place rock with a digger bucket and thumb, void filling needs to be undertaken as the rock is placed. AP65 tipped in small amounts from a digger bucket and hand spread and rammed into voids was found to work well during rock placement and resulted in minimal flow loss once the stream was livened.

Rock was placed directly onto a layer of compacted AP65 without filter cloth or any intermediary filter layer, as the rock void space was filled.

To provide some immediate shading, tree trunks from the site clearance were incorporated into the stream. These are anchored into the edge riprap to secure them in place and have the advantage of providing additional energy dissipation during flood events. Fallen trees have been documented as being a key feature in energy dissipation in high gradient waterways.

Read the full paper at: waternz.org.nz/Resources/knowledgebase-landing

Incorporation of a tree trunk from the site clearance into a pool area.

Step structure between two pool areas.

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STORMWATER360 CONTINUES TO DELIVER INNOVATION IN STORMWATER MANAGEMENT.

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FILTERRA® ROOF

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Research into zinc pollution in New Zealand has shown that zinc concentrations in urban stormwater can be over 100 times the concentration advised for the protection of aquatic environments, with the largest source of zinc being from existing galvanised roofs.

Easily scalable, Filterra Roof is available now for retrofit onto any existing roofs across New Zealand

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WATER NEW ZEALAND LEGAL

Legal update on water interests In this article Helen Atkins and Louise Ford from Atkins Holm Majurey provide an update on several pieces of legislation and government policy which are currently open for consultation. These include the Water Services Entity Bill, updates to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, National Environmental Standards, and the draft National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity.

Freshwater Management reforms

Left: Helen Atkins and Louise Ford.

Water Entities Services Bill

As part of the wider three waters legislation reform, the Water Services Entities Bill (WSE Bill) was introduced to Parliament on June 2, 2022. The three waters reform programme has three pillars: Establishment of a dedicated water service regulator, Taumata Arowai; regulatory reforms outlined in the WSE bill; and reforms to water delivery services.

The WSE bill is the first piece in the water services legislation and establishes four water services entities. The WSE bill has a transitional period of two years, and WSEs will begin delivering the services on July 1, 2024.

The WSE bill also confirms council ownership of the WSEs on behalf of the communities, making councils the sole shareholders.

Councils will have one share per 50,000 people in their area, rounded up, so each council will have at least one share.

In the Beehive press release about the bill, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says that the WSEs will “ensure all New Zealanders get the high-quality water services they deserve, no matter whether they live in our biggest cities or heartland provincial communities.”

The WSE bill is open for consultation until July 22, 2022.

Further legislation will be introduced later this year to enable the transfer of assets and liabilities from local authorities to WSEs and integrate the entities into other regulatory systems.

Separate legislation will cover economic regulation and consumer protection to ensure services are reasonable and affordable.

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In late 2021 the Government consulted on proposed amendments to the wetland provisions in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM) and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NESF).

Due to the number and complexity of the proposed amendments to the wetland provisions, the Ministry provided recommendations to the Minister for the Environment and decisions were made on the basis of those recommendations, enabling the drafting of proposed amendments to the wetland provisions.

The exposure drafts of the proposed changes to the NPSFM and NESF were released and opened for consultation on May 31, 2022.

The exposure draft included several edits for technical corrections and clarifications in the NPSFM. The body of the changes to the NPSFM and NESF included in the exposure draft related to wetland provisions. These included changes to the definitions, addressing pasture exclusion, and tests for national and/or regional benefit and functional needs.

Consultation on the exposure drafts of the NPSFM and NESF closes on July 10, 2022.

National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity After years of development, the Government released an exposure draft of the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) on June 9, 2022. There was public engagement from November 2019 to March 2020 on the introduction of a NPSIB. Seven thousand submissions were received, most of which supported the intent of the NPSIB. These submissions have informed the exposure draft.

The Ministry for the Environment is now seeking feedback from practitioners, iwi, stakeholders, and those highly familiar with the NPSIB. This targeted consultation on the NPSIM closes on July 21, 2022.

The exposure draft includes the fundamental concept of Te Rito o te Harakeke which aims to achieve an integrated and holistic approach to maintaining indigenous biodiversity. It recognises the intrinsic value and mauri of indigenous biodiversity as well as people’s connections and relationships with it.

The NPSIB also includes provisions for significant natural areas, identified taonga species, other important biodiversity, restoring indigenous biodiversity and managing particular land use activities.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND COMMENT

Time to take the invisibility cloak off water Water New Zealand CEO Gillian Blythe says the principles of Te Mana o te Wai will help pave the way towards giving water the recognition and respect it deserves.

With the debate over the three waters reforms continuing to polarise, we now need to make sure the invisibility cloak that has shrouded the water sector stays off.

Many of the reasons that we are now facing a multi-billion dollar water infrastructure deficit can be linked to our decades-long failure to recognise the mauri of the water – to give it the respect that it deserves.

The facts around our creaking infrastructure are clear. Despite the many dedicated and committed staff across our utilities, we know that our aged and under-maintained pipes means that, on average, 20 percent of the water we harvest and put into those pipes is lost through leaks before it gets to household taps. In a few districts it gets even worse, with more water lost to leakage than makes its way to end use.

Recently, I was in discussion with representatives from the water sector in the UK. Water companies there have reduced leakage by a third from the 1990s and are continuing to manage leakage closely.

All UK suppliers have plans to halve their leakages by 2050 through fixing infrastructure, smart water metering, advanced analytics, and improving awareness of water issues.

Perhaps because we’ve always viewed ourselves as ‘waterrich’, we’ve conveniently turned a blind eye to water wastage.

And in doing so have undervalued and disrespected this most important taonga.

As a country, we go through a lot of water. The 2020/21 National Performance Review found that, on average each of us uses 280 litres per person every day. Our water use compared with neighbours across the Tasman is staggering. Each household in Melbourne, for instance, uses on average 147 litres. Right across Australia, with the exception of Darwin where people use 360 litres a day, the average Australian household, let alone person, uses less water. Then if you look at the Pacific, we use nearly three times as much as the Pacific average of 100 litres per person per day.

While it’s right to call to task utilities and councils that have not maintained or properly invested in infrastructure, we should not forget to look in the mirror and reflect on our own role in protecting this taonga.

If we as individuals fail to give water the respect it deserves, the

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cost to infrastructure and our environment is high.

Smart metering and knowing that the more you use, the more it hits you in the pocket, has proven to be a great incentive to get that leaking tap fixed or to turn the tap off while brushing your teeth.

Auckland is a case in point. With metering and volumetric charging, Aucklanders use just 145.7 litres a day – well below our national average.

We’ve also been turning a blind eye to the fact that one in five New Zealanders have been receiving publicly supplied water that does not meet drinking water standards – that means we can’t be certain it’s safe to drink.

And we must not forget Havelock North. An outbreak of campylobacter in a water supply which led to the death of four people and left more than five thousand sick was seen as another indication of the ‘systemic failures’ in water service delivery.

If we’ve been underinvesting in our waste and drinking water networks, our stormwater networks are the neglected cousins.

Water New Zealand’s comparative benchmarking tool, the National Performance Review, has shown that in 2020, participants – councils and water service utilities – invested just over $400 million on stormwater systems, trailing by a large margin the almost $1 billion spent on drinking water supply and $1.28 billion on wastewater.

Yet, stormwater networks are critically important for flood protection and play a massive role in shaping our urban environment, particularly in the face of climate change.

A sobering thought is the fact that much of our water infrastructure is located in coastal regions at risk from sea level rise and coastal inundation.

Over the years, we’ve been living in denial like the proverbial frog in slowly heated water as our quality of freshwater has been declining at an alarming rate.

‘No swimming’ notices at some of our favourite beaches or rivers might have been caused outrage in the localised pockets of communities, but it was not until sewage flowed down the streets in our capital city that the invisibility cloak began to be lifted and it became clear that we’ve been under investing in our infrastructure for many years.

Much of the current discussion – pipe leakage, wastewater overflows, huge variations and costs in services depending on where you live – had been documented for years in many reports including the National Performance Review, reports from the Office of the Auditor General, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and the Havelock North inquiry.

Many of our members, the people responsible for ensuring safe drinking water and delivering water back into the environment in a healthy state, have been talking about the need for more visibility and more investment for years.

Turning around decades of under investment along with the long term need to tackle and reverse declining fresh and groundwater quality is a major challenge.

It requires an acknowledgement that we cannot continue to repeat the lack of investment errors of the past.

Climate risks, over-use, and pollution mean that water scarcity will be a reality in many more places, both here and around the world, and we need to find innovative ways to reduce water consumption as well as deal with the effects of increased storms, flooding and sea level rise.

Keeping water services factored into emission reduction plans will unlock a broad range of opportunities to help achieve our carbon emission goals.

We can be innovative in how we reduce emissions from infrastructure. Wastewater by-products, for example, can

contribute to a circular economy – both through generating energy and reducing reliance on imported fertilisers.

Te Mana o te Wai, the concept of ensuring that the health of the water is paramount provides a set of guiding principles that will guide us towards greater respect and care of this vital taonga.

Fundamentally, ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora ngā tāngata – if the water is healthy, the land is healthy, the people are healthy.

Te Mana o te Wai was first introduced in freshwater management through the requirement to acknowledge it under the RMA in the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM).

But it equally applies to the three waters part of the water cycle because water, whether it’s under or above the ground, falling from the sky, and arriving in our oceans, is all interconnected.

Suppliers are also now bound by it through the new Water Services Act. I think this concept will help us all plan for what success might look like in the future. If we can achieve a step change in leakage management and support the creation of a circular economy from wastewater, as well as personally achieving a reduction in household water consumption we will all be able to say that we have made progress towards looking after the taonga that is water, and doing our part towards giving effect to Te Mana o te Wai. After all, we’re all in the same waka, and we all benefit today from looking after this treasure as well as ensuring we preserve it for future generations.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND HEALTH

Towards a mercury-free future

UV water disinfection revolutionised how we purify drinking water. However, traditional Ultraviolet (UV) water disinfection uses potentially hazardous mercury vapour lamps. Given the dangers and lasting impacts of mercury use, it’s time to look at LED UV-C disinfection. By Caron Prescott, technical sales specialist, UV, at AquiSense New Zealand.

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Mercury is a naturally occurring and highly toxic element found in air, water, and soil. Unfortunately, even in small amounts, mercury exposure can cause serious health problems. Exposure to high concentrations of mercury vapour can be lethal, with death often due to respiratory failure.

Currently, The World Health Organization considers mercury one of the top 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.

The Ministry of Health explains that the toxicology of mercury is complex due to the different states the element can occur in, the different routes of exposure, and the diverse effects over various time periods. Mercury can enter the human body in several ways; inhaled, ingested, or absorbed by the skin.

The list of symptoms and long-term effects of mercury poisoning is alarmingly long and diverse. People affected by mercury toxicity can experience neurological and psychological issues and damage to the muscles, heart, lungs, and reproductive system.

The list of symptoms and long-term effects of mercury poisoning is alarmingly long and diverse. People affected by mercury toxicity can experience neurological and psychological issues and damage to the muscles, heart, lungs, and reproductive system.

WHO warns the most vulnerable groups are foetuses and young children, as elemental mercury can readily cross the blood-brain and placental boundaries.

Conventional mercury vapour lamps

Conventional UV lamps typically use between 5 and 200mg of mercury per lamp. These UV lamps require routine replacement, are susceptible to breakage, and must be disposed of safely.

Once in the environment, mercury does not break down, can travel large distances in the atmosphere and oceans, and bioaccumulate in ecosystems.

If a mercury vapour lamp breaks during transport, installation, or operation (even when the unit is off), inhaling the mercury vapour or small particles is a danger for anyone in the vicinity.

If the outer bulb breaks and the inner tube continues to produce light, UV radiation is emitted, which can cause eye and skin burns, headaches, and nausea.

If a break leads to mercury in the water, it can cause heavy metal poisoning in humans and animals if the water is not treated or sufficiently diluted. Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand specify a maximum acceptable value for inorganic mercury of 0.007 mg/L. Used mercury lamps are regarded as hazardous waste (when the mercury concentration exceeds 0.2mg/l, which includes almost all mercury vapour lamps) by the New Zealand Waste List.

This means that mercury lamps, which require regular replacement to maintain their integrity, are complex and costly to dispose of in an environmentally responsible manner.

The Hazardous Waste Guidelines (2004) published by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) state that waste containing more than a screening limit of 4mg/kg of mercury or a leaching test concentration of greater than 0.2g/m3 should not be disposed of to a Class A landfill without treatment to reduce its leachability.

Many district and city councils have trade waste bylaws to control the concentrations of various hazardous substances, including mercury, entering sewers.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND HEALTH

Changing regulations

In the 1950s, Minamata Bay, Japan, became contaminated with mercury dumped from a nearby factory. The local human (and animal) population that depended on the bay’s seafood was severely affected by mercury poisoning.

It is estimated that over 2000 people in Minamata died, and many thousands more experienced chronic nervous system disorders and crippling injuries.

In 2013, New Zealand, along with 200+ other countries, signed the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Minamata Convention on Mercury, which seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.

New Zealand will ratify the Convention once the required domestic implementation measures are developed.

The current levels of mercury in New Zealand are low, according to MfE, but there is concern that environmental mercury could become a problem in the future.

As the water services regulator, Taumata Arowai’s role is to ensure the drinking water provided by all suppliers is safe, based on the Water Services Act 2021. These regulations will result in an increase in the ultraviolet treatment of drinking water.

If businesses and government organisations respond with a sharp uptake of mercury vapour lamps, we will start to see issues with mercury leaching into the soil and water table.

With the Minamata Convention and Taumata Arowai at front

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of mind, industries and governments are beginning to recognise the need to plan for a future where mercury use will be very tightly regulated.

UV-C LED water disinfection

The fragility and breakability of mercury-based lamps means that seismic activity can be dire to water safety. However, with UV-C LED water disinfection technologies, protection from pathogens in water is now possible without the risk of mercury getting into dams or groundwater.

The recent invention of large-scale UV-C LED disinfection systems for municipal and industrial use is set to transform how towns disinfect their water. The first AquiSense Tera installation (in the United States) provides a disinfection barrier with flow rates up to 7500 cubic meters per day.

But the benefits of UV-C LEDs go beyond being mercuryfree. UV-C LEDs provide the same benefits as conventional UV disinfection with the added features of solid-state technology that visible LEDs are known for.

LED UV-C water disinfection systems are more robust, flexible, and energy-efficient than conventional sterilisation techniques.

UV-C disinfection devices also enable intermittent on-demand disinfection, lowering power usage and prolonging lamp life. Also, a study funded by the Electric Power Research Institute revealed that LED-based systems potentially have lower operational costs than mercury-based systems.

Update from Taumata Arowai As the new water services regulator for Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re committed to ensuring everyone receives safe drinking water every day.

Earlier this year we held the first of many public consultations to help build our regulatory regime under the Water Services Act 2021. Thank you to those who made a submission. You can find summaries of the feedback received at taumataarowai.govt.nz.

We’ve worked hard to incorporate your feedback, making several changes to the proposed documents.

Published

Comes into effect

Drinking Water Standards

9 June 2022

14 November 2022

Drinking Water Aesthetic Values

15 June 2022

14 November 2022

Mid to late July 2022

14 November 2022 (anticipate reporting in line with new Rules from 1 January 2023)

The New Drinking Water Standards and Drinking Water Aesthetic Values have been published and will come into effect on 14 November 2022.

Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules

We’re working on finalising the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules and Drinking Water Acceptable Solutions.

Drinking Water Acceptable Solutions

August 2022

14 November 2022

Drinking Water Network Environmental Performance Measures

By the end of June 2022

Phase one: reporting period begins 1 July 2022

Drinking Water Network Environmental Performance Measures have been finalised. Reporting for network operators will be phased with the first reporting period beginning on 1 July 2022.

Find out more at taumataarowai.govt.nz

Wai ora. Tangata ora.

Healthy water. Healthy people.

WATER NEW ZEALAND EDUCATION

Focus on the future Inspiring the Future is designed to broaden the minds of youngsters about future careers, but the programme needs people already working in the sector to help – is this something you could do?

Research by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) shows that children know very little about the range of jobs open to them, including those in the water sector.

It’s well known that the water industry needs another 6000 to 9000 skilled workers over the next 30 years to meet safe drinking water standards and improve environmental outcomes. Today’s schoolkids will need to fill these roles, but if they can’t see it, they can’t be it.

TEC is appealing to the water sector to help by becoming part of Inspiring the Future, a programme that runs events to connect students aged seven to 13 with role models from the working world.

TEC says, “simply by having a kōrero with students about your job and your journey, you can broaden young people’s horizons and show them the wide range of careers in the water sector”.

Why is it so important?

In 2019, the TEC ran a national survey called Drawing the Future, inviting seven – to 13-year-olds to draw what they wanted to be when they grew up. More than 7700 drawings were submitted and the results were striking. More than half of these young people aspired to one of just nine jobs.

The findings also revealed that unconscious biases to do with gender, ethnicity, and background, were limiting their aspirations and that their aspirations didn’t reflect future labour market needs.

Why does this matter? Research tells us that children’s career aspirations at primary school shape the subjects they choose at secondary school, and what they then go on to study or train in. Their path is narrowing and biases are forming from a very young age.

But there’s good news: research also shows that engaging with role models at primary and intermediate school broadens children’s aspirations, increases the relevance to them of their learning, and challenges stereotypes.

This is where Inspiring the Future comes in.

How does it work?

Volunteer role models and schools sign up on the Inspiring the Future website. Schools can then schedule in-person or online events and invite role models along.

Schools receive resources on how to run an Inspiring the Future event, and role models are supported with information on

90 www.waternz.org.nz

Get the word out

Let your local schools know that they can host an event for free, supported by Inspiring the Future resources. Point them to the website to find out more – inspiringthefuture.org.nz – or suggest they email inspiringthefuture@tec.govt.nz

how the sessions work and the part they play.

Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone can inspire someone.

To sign up to become an Inspiring the Future role model, go to inspiringthefuture.org.nz.

For employers

Employers should consider making Inspiring the Future a staff volunteer day option and encourage their employees to sign up.

Inspiring the Future demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility, while forging connections in the community, it can raise company profile and contribute to staff ’s professional development.

For industries with predicted future skills shortages, such as water, Inspiring the Future showcases the variety of jobs to young people, helping spark interest. It can change perceptions about careers and challenge stereotypes, encouraging a wider range of people to pursue these pathways.

The Inspiring the Future team is happy to present to your organisation, make contact via inspiringthefuture@tec.govt.nz.

Article supplied by the Tertiary Education Commission.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND TRAINING

Female staff key to success of critical infrastructure projects Critical infrastructure projects throughout New Zealand are facing a severe staffing shortage and women are part of the answer, according to Kaarin Gaukrodger, director of infrastructure training provider Connexis.

Gaukrodger says fewer than 14 percent of our civil construction workforce are women, and the sector’s business owners say finding skilled workers remains its biggest challenge.

“Those types of discrepancies across the country’s infrastructure sector demonstrate a clear need to promote the full range of infrastructure jobs in a way that makes them appealing to women.”

And that is the purpose of Connexis’s annual Girls with Hi-Vis (GWHV) campaign, offering hundreds of female students the opportunity for hands-on, onsite experience of a wide variety of infrastructure jobs throughout the country.

This year GWHV had a record number of businesses wanting to be involved, and events were held throughout the country in June. In Auckland, Watercare gave a tour of a plant with talks from some of its female engineers, while in Wanaka, HEB Construction’s event centred on building a wastewater pump station.

Kaarin says the skills shortage is the biggest challenge facing the civil, energy, telecommunications, and Three Waters sectors.

“The country has a huge pipeline of infrastructure projects, predicted to require tens of thousands of additional workers over the next five years. These are projects like building and repairing major roads, upgrading water pipes, maintaining power lines, and delivering faster fibre, that are essential to keeping New Zealand running.

“Without a matching pipeline of skilled workers those projects are at risk of major delays or even failure. Women remain a largely untapped pool of potential talent for infrastructure businesses.

“By showcasing the potential of the sector to women career seekers we can build the workforce required to complete key projects, grow local infrastructure companies and contribute to the country’s strategic goals in

92 www.waternz.org.nz

areas like carbon emissions, sustainability and climate.”

Connexis arranges, delivers, supports, and assesses work-based learning for the infrastructure industries. The sector includes energy, telecommunications, and Three Waters, as well as civil construction.

“The high interest from businesses in this year’s Girls with Hi-Vis indicates that the industry recognises the benefit of diversity within teams and the opportunity to address the critical skills shortage that is presented by recruiting for women.

“The challenge now is ensuring women are provided the opportunity to gain a clear picture of all the employment opportunities available and where that can take them in a career.”

GWHV demonstrates to young women the wide range of infrastructure jobs they can do and build a career on – using practical skills that often involves being out in the elements.

A high number of companies participating

in this year’s GWHV come from the civil construction sector. Recent data from Infometrics shows that just 13.9 percent of that sector’s workforce are women, compared to 46.8 percent nationally.

Meanwhile, a 2021 Construction Industry Survey for Civil Contractors New Zealand and Teletrac Navman found 50 percent of civil construction business owners said generating a skilled workforce was the biggest challenge their business faced, with 80 percent placing it in the top three challenges.

“If we are to have any hope of meeting that number we must recruit more diversity into the sector, and that includes women.

“It’s not just about filling jobs. By actively trying to build a more diverse workforce, we are bringing in fresh perspectives that create opportunity for innovation.

“The infrastructure sector will need innovative thinking and new ideas as we tackle some of those ‘big picture’ challenges around sustainability and the environment.”

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