While thousands of homes will be built in Hawke’s Bay in the next 30 years, there won’t be any extra water to go around. The aquifers in the region – which is now suffering from near-perpetual summer water restrictions – will not be giving up any more water than they do today, and it’s unlikely that councils will allow more of it to be taken. 

In fact, the amount of water consented to be taken from the Heretaunga Plains aquifer –  which helps feed Napier and Hastings’ water supply – could soon be almost halved. The TANK (Tutaekuri-Ahuriri-Ngaruroro-Karamu) Plan has set an interim limit of 90 million m3/year, compared to the current consented limit of 160 million m/year across all water uses – rural and urban, residential and commercial. The decision on the plan change is still subject to appeal to the Environment Court. 

Napier mayor Kirsten Wise said the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council caps the amount of water each city or council can take from the aquifer. “They won’t increase it as our population grows, so we all need to get better at managing our water demand,” Wise said. 

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s subject matter expert said, in principle, the Mayor’s assessment of the situation was correct. The TANK plan doesn’t mean water consents for residential use will be lowered. “It is not prohibited for public water supplies to seek additional consented water based on growth, but only if they demonstrate that all other options have been taken.” 

Wise said it was a big and important year for the city’s water services. “Local Water Done Well will impact our future water delivery model and ability to fund upgrades, replacements and maintenance. Getting the community’s views on what form our new water services delivery entity takes is essential.” 

She said the council had a comprehensive programme of work to improve the resilience of its water supply, including new water reservoirs on Mataruahou to increase available storage and replace the aged Enfield reservoir, new water bores and treatment plants at Taradale and Awatoto to provide higher available flows and compliant treatment systems. The council work included new rising and falling water mains to the main storage reservoirs, ongoing leak detection and repairs, new reservoirs at Mission Hills to allow for development, increasing storage volumes, and encouraging conservation. 

“This is not a comprehensive list of all our activities, rather a snapshot of some of our more significant initiatives that are currently under way or being planned. When we talk about future-proofing our water network we are looking out 30 years with some projects and with others, even further. “Mataruahou – our new reservoir – is scoped to provide for the Napier of 2080. With Taradale and Awatoto bore fields and treatment plants, we are looking at what we’ll need in 2050. Our future planning is based on an additional 2000 homes in the next 30 years. “Our approach to water is multi-faceted. We have more than $100 million budgeted for water supply projects over the next 10 years,” the mayor said. 

A spokesperson for the Hastings District Council said new developments cannot be successful unless there is the infrastructure (including three waters) to service them. “It is important to note that inclusion in the Future Development Strategy (FDS) does not negate the need for all the normal planning and consenting processes. “What it does do is indicate areas where applications and/or future long-term funding should be focused. As part of the process of identifying these areas, Council has taken into account where current or new services can provide for development,” the spokesperson said. 

URBAN WATER WASTAGE 

While councils can monitor how much water households use every day, there’s no way in Hawke’s Bay currently of knowing how much of that water is wasted. Napier council estimates leaks use 16%-19% of its total water production. A spokesperson for the council says leakage was calculated using a variety of data sources by experts in the field. “But without water meters there is no way to calculate the exact figure,” the spokesperson said. 

Hastings District Council is in the same boat. Its spokesperson said it can’t measure essential and indoor use versus non-essential and outdoor use during water restrictions. “However, significant increases between cooler and hotter times of the year would indicate an increase in outdoor use – most likely garden watering.” 

On the Heretaunga Plains there is approximately 160 million m3/year of water allocated to around 1400 consents in this area. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council says water bottling makes up 2.5% of the total amount of water consented to be allocated from Heretaunga Plains Groundwater Quantity Area (i.e. 4 million m3/year out of 160 million m3/year). The actual use levels from water bottling are significantly less than what is allocated, and accounts for less than 0.12% of the Heretaunga Aquifer Resource (data from HBRC website, last updated 2019). 

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.