Water Questions
Why has money been allocated for water supply and reticulation works in the Thames Valley and Matatoki areas?
This project has been identified in our plans for a number of years. The reticulation is aging and needs renewing. The water sources currently in use are relatively small and as such are hard to consent for the future. This means a new source of water is potentially required to secure the supplies for the future. As part of this work, new long term resource consents would also be required for any water sources.
Note: by Thames Valley we mean the Omahu and Pururi water supplies.
Why has no money been allocated for the treatment of the water supply in theThames Valley and Matatoki areas?
New Zealand Drinking Water Standards have changed in recent years. During the term of this Ten Year Plan allocations have not been made for full compliance with the Drinking Water Standards 2005 (revised 2008) in the Thames Valley/Matatoki area as we believe it is unaffordable to do so.
To achieve full compliance with the Drinking Water Standards in the Thames Valley/Matatoki area significant funds would have to be spent on a new water treatment plant.
The Thames Valley/Matatoki water supplies fall into the 'Rural Agricultural Drinking Water Supplies' class of Drinking Water Standards. The section of the Standards which relates to this particular class is incomplete.
In June 2009 the Minister of Health announced that the timelines for compliance with the Drinking Water Standards had been deferred three years while the costs and benefits of the legislation were being reviewed.
The revised timelines require compliance for Rural Agricultural Drinking-water supplies by 1 July 2016, or the date on which the drinking water standards are amended to include them, whichever is later.
We have taken the view that until such time as further development of the Standards indicate there will be no agricultural standard options available and that the current standards must be met, we are proposing not to plan for a treatment plant upgrade in the Thames Valley/Matatoki area. For the time being we will continue to explore alternative options for the provision of safe, appropriate and affordable water supply to these areas.
If you would like to read more about drinking water standards the Ministry for the Environment has a good range of information on the subject.
Why is there a need for new Water Supply treatment plants in Pauanui and Tairua?
As part of the new water supply strategy for Tairua and Pauanui, the Tairua water treatment plant requires a significant upgrade to enable reliable production of drinking water to the current Drinking Water Standards, both now and in the future.
In Pauanui, a replacement water treatment plant is required for the same reasons as listed for Tairua as it is not feasible to upgrade the current plant.
What is the proposed water meter investigation project in Tairua?
As part of the on-going focus on efficient use of the available water resources, we are subject to stringent conditions of consent in these areas. As such we need to be able to demonstrate that the consented water being taken is being utilised efficiently. The water meter investigation project in Tairua is a proposing to install meters on 25% of the properties in Tairua. The objective of the project is to obtain detailed information regarding patterns of water use in our communities. This information should be useful for resource consent and water use purposes in the future.
What are the changes proposed to the funding of the water activity?
The draft 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan proposes four changes to how the water activity is currently funded.
There are as follows:
- Introducing District wide funding - Previously each water scheme has been funded by those who are directly connected or have the ability to directly connect to the scheme. We are proposing that the total cost of funding all schemes is now pooled and shared amongst all of those who directly receive the service. This is consistent with our current approach to the funding of the Wastewater activity.
- Introducing an equal charge to every rateable rating unit in the District - To recognise the district-wide benefits of the water activity, we propose to introduce a small portion of funding from the uniform annual general charge. This means that every separately used or habited part of every rateable rating unit in our District will pay a fixed-amount equal contribution to the water supply activity, regardless of whether or not you are connected, or have the ability to connect to the service.
- For Thames Valley and Matatoki specifically - The Council operates two rural water schemes in Thames Valley and Matatoki. These two schemes by their nature supply water to high consuming properties (such as dairy farms) who consume significantly greater quantities than the standard urban household or corner dairy. As a result of the Council's proposal to introduce District wide funding for the water activity, and in the interests of equity it is proposed that the rating units over four hectares in size, along with other extraordinary water consumers such as piggeries, connected to the Thames Valley and Matatoki Water Supply areas will incur a water by volume charge in addition to the flat water rate per separate and inhabitable property. The application of the water serviced charge will be on a per separately used and inhabited part basis and is applicable to all rating units in the rural scheme areas not just the farms and extraordinary users. To this end water meters will be updated/installed throughout the Thames Valley and Matatoki Water Supply areas prior to 1 July 2012. For the 2012/2013 year only charges will be set based on an estimated usage of the total scheme. 'Other' meters will be installed and read for statistical purposes only at this stage.
- Increasing the charge to those who have the ability to connect but are not currently - we also propose to increase the 'availability charge' from 50% to 75% where the water supply is not metered as this better reflects the fixed cost of supplying water. Where water is also charged at a per meter rate the 'availability charge' will continue to be assessed at the same amount as the serviced charge. This proposal is in line with our financial strategy to target those who benefit from the service.
Remember, this is a draft plan and therefore a proposal. We are very interested to hear whether or not you agree with these proposed changes. So please make a submission and tell us.
I don't receive the Council's water service, so why should I have to pay a contribution towards it?
The Council has taken the view that everybody, regardless of where they live in the District, benefits from Council providing services such as water. There are five services we consider 'essential' to our District being able to function. These are water supply, wastewater, stormwater, district transportation, and solid waste.
Without the Council providing these essential services, our town centres wouldn't be able to exist, and we have taken the view that everybody in the District benefits from the town centres and the ability to move around throughout the District. Town centres are where the majority of people go to do their shopping, and have access to other social and cultural services, such as doctors and so on.
The Council is proposing that 10% of the total cost of the water and wastewater services are paid for by the entire district community. This 10% works out at $22.48 + GST for water, per ratepayer in the 2012/2013 year.
Remember, this is a draft plan and therefore a proposal. We are very interested to hear whether or not you agree with these proposed changes. So please make a submission and tell us.
Wastewater Questions
What are the changes proposed to the funding of the wastewater activity?
The draft 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan proposes three changes to how the water activity is currently funded. They are:
- Introducing an equal charge to every rateable rating unit in the District. We propose to introduce a small portion of funding from the uniform annual general charge, recognising the benefits district-wide of this activity. This means that every separately used or habited part of every rateable rating unit in our District will pay a fixed-amount equal contribution to the wastewater activity, regardless of whether or not you are connected, or have the ability to connect to the service.
- Increasing the charge to those who have the ability to connect to a our wastewater service, but are not currently. We have also proposed to increase the "availability charge" from 50% to 75% as this better reflects the fixed cost of supplying wastewater. This proposal is in line with our financial strategy, to target those who benefit from the service.
- A gradual implementation of trade waste charges - We are proposing a low portion of fees and charges be gradually implemented and collected from trade waste generators. This allows businesses time to implement their own on-site solutions ahead of gradually increasing costs. It is anticipated that this will provide approximately 1.6% of funding for the wastewater activity. The figure of 1.6% is conservative, which is owing to the gradual implementation approach and also the risk associated with collecting the fees and charges.
I don't receive the Council's wastewater service, so why should I have to pay a contribution towards it?
The Council has taken the view that everybody, regardless of where they live in the District, benefits from Council providing services such as wastewater. There are five services we consider 'essential' to our District being able to function. These are water supply, wastewater, stormwater, district transportation, and solid waste.
Without the Council providing these essential services, our town centres wouldn't be able to exist, and we have taken the view that everybody in the District benefits from the town centres and the ability to move around throughout the District. Town centres are where the majority of people go to do their shopping, and have access to other social and cultural services, such as doctors and so on.
The Council is proposing that 10% of the total cost of the water and wastewater services are paid for by the entire district community. This 10% works out at $36.74 +GST for wastewater, per ratepayer in the 2012/2013 year.
Remember, this is a draft plan and therefore a proposal. We are very interested to hear whether or not you agree with these proposed changes. So please make a submission and tell us.
Stormwater Questions
What are the changes proposed to the funding of the stormwater activity?
We are proposing a change to the stormwater catchment areas. This means a change is proposed to those who will be charged for stormwater.
For those communities with rating units with an average stormwater asset value or $1,000 or greater, the charge will remain the same, we are proposing that communities with a stormwater rating unit asset value of less than $1,000 pay a 0.75 differential charge (calculated on both the stormwater targeted rate and charge).
Communities with no stormwater assets will receive no charge.
The implications of this change are as follows:
Why is the Council proposing to decrease stormwater levels of service, and what does this mean for me?
To date the Council has been focussed on reducing the risk of inundation to dwellings. By dwellings we mean houses (so stormwater inundation to a house).
For reasons of affordability, we looked at all our activities and considered where we could save or reduce costs. We have proposed removing the "systems improvement programmes" for the first three years of the Ten Year Plan in order to reduce costs.
The implications of this are an increase in the number of dwellings which may be inundated with stormwater during a storm event that is expected to occur once every ten years, and there is a possibility that there will be some escalation of cost when the work commences. Reducing the risk of stormwater inundation to properties is not provided for in this draft 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan. By properties we mean stormwater inundation to land, such as ponding on a lawn.
Where we do propose to spend money on the stormwater improvements we are proposing that our focus be first and foremost on dwellings, however, as there are less funds allocated to this task than what there has been in the past, this means we would not be considering 'large-scale' improvement projects. We would now be more likely to consider smaller more isolated circumstances or projects and look at ways to mitigate and manage these.
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