Water May/June 2022

water MAY 2015 | ISSUE 189

MAY/JUNE 2022 ISSUE 224

Embracing indigenous knowledge The impact of drinking tea on waterborne diseases Improving river water quality Recruiting staff in a tight labour market

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CONTENTS WATER NEW ZEALAND

President: Helen Atkins Board Members: Troy Brockbank, Fraser Clark, Tim Gibson, Lorraine Kendrick, Priyan Perera, Dr Deborah Lind, Shelley Wharton,

water Issue 224 MAY/JUNE 2022

Chief Executive: Gillian Blythe Water Group Co-ordinator: Katrina Guy Technical Manager: Noel Roberts Insight and Sustainability Advisor: Lesley Smith Training Development Manager: Mumtaz Parker

INSIDE 4

Communications Manager: Debra Harrington Design and Marketing Coordinator: Paris Elwood Executive Administrator: Amy Samuel

Climate Change: Jon Reed, P: +64 9 300 9267 Smart Water Infrastructure: Rachael Casey P +64 27 378 1401

64 Staying ahead of the curve

Tawara o te Wai: Groundwater – making the invisible, visible

7

Modelling symposium interesting and informative

19 Profile – David Allan

Tomorrow’s water leaders discuss key challenges

76 Australia – Rethinking flood

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Backflow: Paul van den Berg, P: +64 27 509 9962

60 Modelling for development

6

Bookkeeping and Administration assistant: Zoe Hubbard

President’s comment – Embracing Te Ao Māori knowledge is a win-win

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REGULARS 20 Profile – Ed Dutton

management plans

10 New digital badge launched

83 Oxfam – East Africa in crisis

FEATURES

COMMENT

Water Service Managers’ Group:

16 Drinking water safety planning

12 Heather Shotter: An exciting journey

Kalley Simpson, P: +64 21 223 3428

22 Walking in two worlds

Modelling: Fiona Macdonald, M: +64 21 390 781 Small Wastewater & Natural Systems: Terry Long, M: +64 21 025 73881 Stormwater: Kate Purton, P: +64 21 0375 872

WeCan: Christine McCormack, P: +64 22 512 3553 Young Water Professionals: AKL: Olivia Philpott, P: +64 22 043 2419 WLG: Aidan Crimp, P: +64 21 829 650 CHC: Liam Allan, P: +64 27 385 7003 WATER JOURNAL Editorial: Mary Searle Bell, Contrafed Publishing M: +64 21 676 034

32 Himalayan glaciers melting at

‘exceptional rate’ 38 Liquid water confirmed beneath

68 The role of climate change in

Martian south pole cap 40 Improving river water quality

M: +64 27 455 0223

72 Developing engineering as a career

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 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.

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

of Ko Wai Tātau 66 Wetland cases and lessons

Advertising Sales: Debbie Laing

M: +64 21 147 5591

14 Filling industry’s cup – Phase Three

36 Studying a fragile and icy world

46 How tea impacted waterborne diseases

Design: Jonathan Whittaker

in water

pathway for Maori

84 The risk from cyber threats

CONFERENCE PAPERS 50 Recruiting staff in a tight labour market –

A successful case study in three waters 56 Innovation for solutions and savings

Three Waters reform 70 The value of Overseer

TECHNICAL 74 Making fertiliser from treated

wastewater 80 Underground upgrade 86 Protecting water infrastructure

from cyber attacks 90 Five pump myths debunked 94 Dealing with phosphate residues

- ‘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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76

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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.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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Cover image from Pixabay: Kawarau River.

Administration Officer: Pip Donnelly

WATER NEW ZEALAND FROM THE PRESIDENT

Embracing Te Ao Māori knowledge in water is a win-win Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora ngā tāngata

Helen Atkins President, Water New Zealand

R

ecently my fellow board member Troy Brockbank and I took part in a Water New Zealand podcast discussion on Te Mana o te Wai. This was the second episode in our new podcast series where we look at key issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the water sector.

Te mana o te Wai is a concept that those of us working in the Three Waters sector are now very familiar with, even if we’re still grappling with just what it means for us in our day-to-day work.

Te Mana o te Wai is a broad and holistic concept based on matauranga Māori, ensuring that the health of the water is paramount, because without healthy water, we won’t have a healthy environment or people.

It’s pleasing, but not surprising, that it has been enthusiastically embraced by those of us working in the water services space.

We’re all driven by similar values – ensuring safe, equitable, and affordable water services for everyone, while protecting the environment and human health.

The inclusion of Te mana o te Wai began 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 our part of the water cycle because freshwater, whether it’s under or above the ground, falling from the sky, and arriving in our oceans, is all inter-connected.

Te Mana o te Wai also acknowledges that tangata whenua carry important mātauranga Māori, or traditional knowledge, built up over generations through a deep understanding of the environment.

Over time, tangata whenua have developed tools to measure,

4 www.waternz.org.nz

protect, and improve the environment, while continuing to live sustainably within it. This deep understanding of water and land can help us plan for what success might look like in the future.

Giving effect to Te Mana o Te Wai means that we must actively engage with tangata whenua – something that most of us in water are already well aware of. It is crucial that we work with local iwi in a holistic way that recognises and taps into Māori knowledge of the natural world.

While many of us have already seen how these relationships and concepts result in a win for all of us living in Aotearoa, as well as for our environment, listening to some of the recent discussion in the wider community, it’s clear that there is some way to go before there is more widespread recognition of the benefit Māori knowledge and indigenous world views can bring to the decisionmaking table.

In these fluid times for our sector, it would be good to see greater acknowledgement of the benefits of a holistic, inclusive water sector in the form of Te Mana o te Wai in the wider community.

With that, I’m very pleased that Stormwater 2022 in Ōtautahi Christchurch will provide plenty of opportunity to enrich our knowledge of Matauranga Māori and Te Mana o te Wai. We’re pleased that Professor Te Maire Tau, who’s co-chair of Te Kura Taka Pini, Ngāi Tahu Freshwater Management, will be one of the presenters at a pre-conference workshop looking at integrating mātauranga Māori and Te Ao Māori into our work and improving capacity to respond to Te Mana o te Wai. Te Maire will also be a keynote speaker at the conference, so this will certainly be another opportunity that’s not to be missed.

I know I‘m particularly excited at the prospect of finally getting together, at both Stormwater and Part Two of our Water New Zealand Conference and Expo (2021) in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, soon after.

I look forward to seeing you all in the next few weeks.

Ka kite anō au i koutou Helen Atkins President

We look forward to welcoming you to Hamilton for Part 2 of the Water New Zealand Conference & Expo.

This two-day face to face event will bring you up to date with the Three Waters reforms, latest innovations around asset management, sustainability, Te Ao Māori and Thought Leadership as well as new products and services at our expo stands.

Highlights include an excellent line up of keynote speakers and the Downer Gala Dinner awards evening, which celebrates outstanding contributions to our sector.

Go to waternzconference.org.nz to register and find out more THANK YOU TO OUR PREMIER PARTNERS

WATER NEW ZEALAND UPFRONT

Tāwara o te Wai: Groundwater – making the invisible, visible The importance of understanding the connectedness of groundwater to the water cycle and wider environment was explored in detail as part of Water New Zealand’s first episode in its new podcast series, Tāwara o te Wai. The podcast first aired on March 22 to coincide with World Water Day 2022. The theme was Groundwater – Making the invisitble visible.

Water New Zealand chief executive Gillian Blythe spoke to three groundwater experts about the stresses this hidden taonga has been put under from human activity on the surface and how we can work to protect it in future.

“The impact of ground water on the entire water cycle and the long term, inter-generational, implications of decisions we make today have too often been overlooked, both here and internationally,” she says.

The discussion, with Louise Weaver from ESR, Geoff Williams from Wellington Water, and Koos Wieriks, chair of the governing board of UN-IGRAC, explored the implications of contaminants from agriculture and urban environments, over extraction of water as well as the cumulative impact of local decisions on the wider groundwater environment.

“Groundwater is under stress and because it’s unseen there’s a whole lot we don’t know, and that we need to know, about the proceses that occur underground, where and how the water flows and so on,” says Louise.

The difficulty of pinning down the source of things like contamination has also made managing groundwater difficult.

Another challenge, as Geoff Williams pointed out, is that

Tāwara o te wai Water Talk

6 www.waternz.org.nz

while many of the above ground activities, such as a septic tanks for instance, may not in themselves be signficant, too many poorly performing ones added together will lead to groundwater contamination.

He says this results in a “death by a thousand cuts” scenario.

He stresses the need for professionals in the water sector to think of the wider environmental impacts of their decisions and practices. This means treating compliance as not simply a tick box exercise.

“The challenge is to get source protection balanced against community growth balance in proportion. It’s a big professional judgement challenge.”

Globally, groundwater provides almost half of all drinking water worldwide, about 40 percent of water for irrigated agriculture, and about a third of the of water required for industry.

As Koos Wierks pointed out, a massive 99 percent of all the planet’s fresh water that isn’t frozen, is groundwater.

Yet while we know that it is over-used and is suffering pollution effects, we also know that we don’t know much about what really happens underground.

He describes the global situation as “alarming” because once a problem such as pollution has been identified, it is a big problem and is very difficult to turn the process around.

Underground processes are slow, and he says depending on technical solutions isn’t an ideal option. It's important to prevent pollution before it happens.

In the Netherlands, as in other parts of the world, a big challenge is to ensure that people are aware of the impact their activities have on the water cycle, including groundwater.

All experts agreed that concepts such as Te Mana o te Wai – putting the health of the water first – into policy and legislation is a key basis on which to go forward. This means also acknowledging and supporting the baseline of the water cycle: groundwater.

Koos Wieriks is chair of the governing board of UN-IGRAC based in the Netherlands, Louis Weaver is science leader, environmental microbiology, at ESR, and Geoff Williams is a senior strategy advisor at Wellington Water.

Listen to the recording of this podcast on the Water New Zealand website, or on spotify Tāwara o te Wai – Water Talk | Episode 1: World Water Day 2022.

The second Tāwara o te Wai podcast's focus was on Te Mana o te Wai. Water New Zealand president Helen Atkins, and board member and pou ārahi Māori – Māori advisory lead (principal) at Pattle Delamore Partners Troy Brockbank spoke on Te Mana o te Wai. Both have spent considerable time in recent years delving into the concept and what it means, as a water professional, to give effect to it.

Modelling symposium interesting and informative

By Vicki Koopal, Modelling Group chair Water New Zealand’s Modelling Group held its annual symposium on March 16-17. Due to the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation, the 2022 symposium was a fully virtual event.

Peter Jackson, chair of the Wellington Tenths Trust, began the event with a mihi to welcome more than 50 attendees.

The first keynote speaker was Dr Judy Lawrence, climate change commissioner. She is currently focusing on climate change adaptation as a senior research fellow at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and gave a very engaging presentation on the cascading impacts of climate change on infrastructure.

This year the Water New Zealand Modelling Group is celebrating its 22nd anniversary and so the second keynote speaker was David Ward, who was key to the Modelling Group’s integration into Water New Zealand when he was chair of the SIG and a board member of Water New Zealand.

David shared some of the history of the Modelling Group and his thoughts on how it needs to move into the future.

On the first afternoon there was a virtual site visit to the MetService. The presenters showed attendees where the weather forecasting is carried out and some of the processes followed to generate weather forecasts and warnings.

Day two opened with the Modelling Group AGM, before the third keynote speaker, Michael Howden, who is the data and insights manager at Taumata Arowai.

Michael shared his thoughts on the data requirements for Taumata Arowai going forward.

The final keynote speaker was Rob Blakemore from Wellington Water, who talked about capturing information about water supply sources before it is too late, and the information is lost.

The papers presented at the conference covered a wide range of topics across three waters modelling, ranging from model calibration and communicating model results to communities, through to flood forecasting and assessing flood impacts.

This year an award was given for best paper, which was ably judged by Gillian Blythe, Water New Zealand chief executive.

The winning paper was Rainwater Tank Calculator Tool to optimise rainwater tank size, presented by Wui-Shen Tay from Auckland Council. The presentation was interesting and informative and got people thinking, provoking plenty of questions at the conclusion.

For many symposium attendees, one of the main appeals of the event is the chance to network with other modelling practitioners. Unfortunately, the virtual format of the symposium and the Covid settings meant that evening drinks were not held this year. However, members are looking forward to having some regional events later in the year, where they can catch up in person.

The event was supported by Modelling Group sponsors: HAL, Jeff Booth Consulting Ltd, Mott MacDonald, and Tonkin & Taylor.

Further information on the Modelling Group can be found on the Water New Zealand website: waternz.org.nz/Modelling.

Taumata Arowai regulatory consultation Water New Zealand has made two submissions on the proposed documents Taumata Arowai released relating to its role under the Water Services Act 2021.

The submissions related to Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules and Drinking Water Network Environmental Performance Measures.

Water New Zealand also submitted on the National Environmental Standards for Sources of Human Drinking Water (NES-DW) and Transforming Aotearoa New Zealand’s Resource Management System: Our Future Resource Management System – Materials for Discussion.

You can read the full submissions on the Water New Zealand website: waternz.org.nz.

Looking to recruit?

Job vacancies can be advertised on the Water New Zealand website and in its fortnightly e-newsletter, Pipeline.

Advertising on the website and in Water New Zealand’s publications is a great way to get in front of a targeted audience of water sector professionals.

For more information, contact debbie.laing@waternz.org.nz.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND UPFRONT

Tomorrow’s water leaders discuss key challenges Young professionals from around the world will be meeting in Sydney in June to explore how they can leave their mark on our water future. The conference is being run by the Australian Water Association and International Water Association Young Water Professionals. Water New Zealand YWP Auckland chair, Olivia Philpott is on the conference organising committee.

The 2020 AWA/IWA Young Water Professionals Conference was incredibly inspiring and connecting. Set in mid-March, it was our last in-person event pre-lockdown. This gave us a new-found appreciation for being able to socialise in such a way.

I was impressed with the community that the Aussie YWP’s have built, and the content at that conference, including the ‘Pride in Water’ themed gala dinner and the field trip to the urban utilities innovation center.

From a personal standpoint, the 2020 conference gave me the opportunity to speak internationally for the first time in my career. I was filled with optimism when ‘sustainability’ was among the most popular answers to the question, ‘where should we as young water professionals be directing our focus to effect change?’.

These positive experiences left me feeling more motivated than ever to create change, so when I was approached to represent New Zealand on the 2022 conference organising committee, I was excited to join the team.

8 www.waternz.org.nz

Our first step was determining a theme. To carry on the legacy of the 2020 conference’s ‘What’s your Water Story?’ which had a personal theme, we landed on, ‘Leave your mark on our water future’.

This theme focuses on the idea that the future of the industry is in YWP’s hands and that each person has an opportunity to make impact.

This reflected an idea that president of the Institute of Civil Engineering Rachel Skinner had shared. In her two-year term as chair, she is aiming to highlight one key issue that she feels needs more support and action. For her, that is climate action in the infrastructure space.

This inspired me to take a similar approach in my role as the chair of the Auckland YWP branch and as vice-chair of the YWP conference organising committee. It’s an opportunity to push for all things sustainability, both in the topics we feature in the presentations and in the way we run the events such as a low-carbon focus.

The conference will reflect our values as a YWP community. Some

of the actions we have taken to achieve this include: • Commitment to 50/50 gender diversity in speakers across the conference.

• Uplifting of indigenous and cultural knowledge to educate YWP’s in how these concepts can be integrated into our work going forward.

• Running the conference with a sustainability lens (looking at how we can minimise the impact of our event).

One of the most surprising challenges was compiling the conference programme.

After the abstracts underwent a vigorous scoring process, we ran a four-hour workshop, balancing a number of different factors.

Not only did we need to group the top scored presentations by theme to form our streams, but also ensure enough variety in each stream, stick to our gender balance commitments, and ensure the topics would be of interest to a wide audience (we’re not all engineers after all!).

I’m incredibly proud of the programme we have developed with the variety of topics across the water sector, and some of the unexpected sessions around mental health and defining personal values which reflect the unique nature and open-mindedness of the YWP mindset.

This conference is one of the best uses of New Zealand YWP’s training budgets and we encourage organisations to recognise the value in connecting their staff with colleagues in Australia and learning from them.

Between our two countries, we have a lot to learn from each other. For example, they are advanced in wastewater re-use, however our understanding of the related cultural perspectives are perhaps more developed as a result of close and meaningful engagement with mana whenua.

We have prioritised ensuring New Zealand is represented throughout the conference, not only with Kiwi speakers but also integrating a Te Reo Maori presence to the conference and ensuring Water New Zealand members receive the discounted registration price.

We are committed to producing an engaging conference that offers widespread content while giving YWPs a platform to present at a major national/international conference.

Some interesting topics we will be hearing about include a keynote on mental health in the workplace, a panel on the biggest challenge facing the future of the water industry (hint: it’s climate change), and a workshop with an indigenous owned civil-construction business.

We are also thrilled to have Troy Brockbank as a keynote speaker to discuss the Te Ao Maori world view to a totally new audience (Aussie YWP’s).

We are also excited to have confirmed our two field trips, one to the Manly Hydraulics lab and a tour of the Four Pines brewery, and the other a tour of the water treatment plant and coral protection lab at the Taronga Zoo. For more information about the conference, see the events section on the Water New Zealand website. www.waternz.org.nz.

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MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND UPFRONT

New digital badge launched Backflow 101 is the latest to join Water New Zealand’s suite of digital badge learning opportunities.

It was launched in late April and joins three other popular accessible online courses for people to get an overview of the sector.

Already more than 700 people have been through Drinking Water 101, Wastewater 101 and Stormwater 101, and the next digital badge in development is Small Waters 101.

Water New Zealand training development manager Mumtaz Parker says the backflow digital badge came about following prompting from members.

“It occurred to us that there was a need for a wider understanding of this very important aspect of drinking water safety, especially around reducing risks of cross contamination.”

She says as well as Backflow 101, work is underway on 201 badges, so those who have completed 101 badges should keep an eye out for further opportunities.

To learn more about the Digital Badges, go to the Water New Zealand website to find out more.

Here is some of the feedback received on the digital badge courses: “Has been a very informative course, even though I have been in the industry 20 years, thank you.”

“I learned quite a bit about wastewater treatment. This course is very informative, and I found this is a great resource for my personal development.”

“The level of detail and explanation available for me to grasp the different concepts.”

“The recapping of knowledge learnt many years ago, and still being able to remember it. This was really helpful in regaining confidence.”

“Was good that the module included videos as well as text. Makes it easier for different learning styles. Was also good to hear about the different people that are involved in the process and how they got involved/what they enjoy.”

“Of all the in-depth courses at a governance and leadership level

over the last few years – this has to be one of my most favourite of late. Hands down – it brought me back to my early beginnings as a field scientist and made me inspired again and proud to be part of such a critical industry with passionate people – thanks all you are doing a superb job for us every day.”

“The abundance of information presented. I learnt so much about drinking water throughout the country from the history of water to how it is treated today. The inclusion of Te Ao Māori concepts and how it shows the significance of water in Aotearoa.”

Thank you to mentors

Water New Zealand’s mentoring programme could not exist without the generosity of members who have volunteered their time to provide mentorship. The mentees really appreciated the time dedicated to them. Mentoring is a valuable and rewarding contribution to the water community and Water New Zealand would love to talk to other senior water sector members who would like to share experiences and help support newer members.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor please email training@waternz.org.nz.

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No surprise in drinking water quality findings The Ministry of Health’s Annual Report on Drinking Water Quality 2020-21, released in April, again showed that at least 20 percent of New Zealanders received drinking water that was not knowingly safe to drink.

These findings are consistent with results in previous years.

Water New Zealand chief executive Gillian Blythe says this reflects a legacy of underinvestment in water infrastructure and the water workforce.

“These latest findings are no surprise.

People working in the water [sector] have

10 www.waternz.org.nz

been voicing our concerns for years and that’s why we welcomed the establishment of the new drinking water regulator, Taumata Arowai.”

She says the Ministry of Health findings are an inevitable consequence of a long term failure to adequately invest in our water infrastructure and our workforce.

“That’s why it has been estimated we will need to invest $120-185 billion over the next 30 years to address the infrastructure deficit, provide safe drinking water for everyone and ensure that healthy water is put back into the environment.”

She says as well as the infrastructure deficit, another 6000-9000 people will be required throughout the country over the next three decades.

“We need many more skilled workers – from treatment plant operators through to engineers, planners, scientists and so on.

“Our latest National Performance Review shows there is already a 10 percent vacancy rate across the sector, so we need to address this through increasing awareness and ensuring that we can provide a good career pathway.”

BROUGHT TO YOU BY WATER NEW ZEALAND

You can still register to come to Stormwater 2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Hon Nanaia Mahuta – Minister of Local Government Professor Te Maire Tau – Co-Chair, Te Kura Taka Pini, Ngāi Tahu Freshwater Management Blair Turnbull – Tower Insurance Chief Executive Helen Beaumount – Head of Three Waters, Christchurch City Council Martin Knuijt – Netherlands-based landscape architect and founding partner of OKRA Bill Bayfield – Chief Executive Officer at Taumata Arowai Discuss leading issues (including sector reform), connect with industry leaders and stakeholders, and inspire positive change across all forms of stormwater management.

Take a look at the programme at stormwaterconference.org.nz BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PREMIER SPONSOR

WATER NEW ZEALAND COMMENT

An exciting journey in water Heather Shotter has taken up the role of executive director of the National Transition Unit for the Three Waters reform programme. Recently chief executive of the Palmerston North City Council, her career also includes senior roles in the private sector. In this column, Heather outlines her plans for working with the water sector to achieve an effective transition to the new Water Service Entities in 2024.

Every New Zealander now and into the future deserves to be able to turn on a tap and get clean drinking water; know that waste is not flushing into rivers or the ocean; that our stormwater systems can cope with a downpour.

That’s the objective of the Three Waters reforms, and I am acutely aware that the water sector is under extraordinary pressure as it works with the National Transition Unit (NTU) to achieve it.

After four and a half years as a council CE, I also know how challenging it has been for councils to deliver safe, clean water in an affordable way, for all our communities. That’s why over the past two years I’ve been involved in the Three Waters Steering Committee, which has actively worked to find a solution to that challenge.

Now I am privileged to have been given the opportunity to bring my experience in local government and commercial acumen to the leadership of the Three Waters National Transition Unit.

Three Waters is a huge project – one of the biggest reforms in New Zealand’s recent history. And while the policy and legislation are still being refined, the scale of the programme means some practical work needs to get going in the meantime. That’s the transition unit’s job to coordinate, but it requires collaboration with the wider water sector to be successful.

For councils, I recognise this collaboration means more work and this is a challenge: I know all too well the heavy workload councils are currently managing and the need for certainty in the wider water sector.

Councils have business-as-usual to manage; they’re having to make significant infrastructure decisions; they’re doing this while also managing staff shortages; and they’re facing requests for information from the NTU which has the potential to add to the pressure.

Our requests reflect that the NTU cannot do this alone.

The wider sector has a crucial role to play and possesses the knowledge, information and operational background that is vital to a successful transition.

While I’ve only been in the job for a few weeks, I’m keen to hear how we can best operate in a way that supports councils and the water sector while generating the critical information the NTU needs to do its job.

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The partnership I want to develop with the broader sector requires sensitivity to pressures and requirements on both sides.

For our part, I will ensure the NTU is forwardsignalling our work as much as possible so councils and those working in the water sector can plan for the data we’ll be asking of it. I want you to know that while we have need of the data we are requesting, we do have room – within reason – to be flexible.

Heather Shotter I am moving to build on the structures and people we have in place in the NTU to support the successful implementation of the reforms. I have had some discussions with parts of the sector, and more are planned.

I have taken some confidence from those discussions that there is willingness to work closely with the NTU. That willingness is something I want to foster as we build a brighter future not just for water customers and users, but for the water sector as well.

These reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to level-up the capacity, capability, and sophistications of the water sector in a way that hasn’t been possible under the status quo arrangements.

Watercare has given us a glimpse of the possibilities when you stand up entities of scale that have the financial capacity to make far reaching investments in technology, plant, and network.

That has created training and development opportunities for all Watercare’s staff, who have also benefited from the significant focus on the health, safety and well-being over the past 12-years.

This is not an isolated example. We’ve seen similar results in other regions. The reforms will effectively mean that the same results can be reproduced wherever you live in our country.

Given the once in a generation opportunity there has never been a better time to be working in the water sector.

The real upside of this levelling-up process is that our communities are the ones who reap the benefits, be it providing safer water, protecting our environment, unlocking housing developments, or simply connecting people to town supply.

That’s an outcome I’m confident every one of us can get behind, and I look forward to travelling on this exciting journey with you.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND COMMENT

Filling industry’s cup –

Phase three of Ko Wai Tātau

By Mike Grumball, general manager assurance, Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council Following the successful launch of Ko Wai Tātau Three Waters Workforce Development Strategy, funded by the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) Covid-19 Response Projects Fund, our project is now moving to Phase Three.

As we seek to effect sustainable and transformative change for the Three Waters sector, the road ahead is filled with interesting challenges and great opportunities.

With an estimated additional 6000-9000 skilled workers needed over the next 30 years, we know change cannot wait another day.

The collaboration that gave rise to this initiative – a partnership between Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council, Water New Zealand, Department of Internal Affairs, Taumata Arowai, Connexis, and industry – will still be at the heart of this mahi as we move forward.

Together we will be pioneering a national strategy that can tell us exactly what our workforce needs are for the next five to 10 years and how we can develop long-term career pathways to attract and retain workers.

Our Mahere whakatinanatanga – Implementation Plan to realise our vision encompasses both our Three Waters work and also the mahi that falls under our Re-Energise – Ngā Mahi A Māui, Workforce Development Strategy for the electricity supply industry.

There are common strategic goals that have shaped both workforce development strategies, which are also directing our ongoing work, so it made sense to consider both workstreams at the same time.

Through our project plan we are: • Increasing visibility to attract the right people to the industry

• Designing for intuitive career pathways • Building a resilient workforce • Partnering with Māori.

The ongoing success of our project will mean that the Three Waters sector can take ownership of the persistent workforce development challenges it is facing and collaboratively invest in the solutions required.

Outputs from our next phase of work will ensure that the Three Waters sector: • Is more visible and has the ability to attract people into the sector, with a focus on increasing diversity and a reduced reliance on importing skills from overseas.

• Has defined career pathways and support mechanisms to improve retention and career progression for those new to the industry, already within the industry, or retraining from a Covid-19 affected industry.

• Has aligned the qualification and competency frameworks to ensure that industry has the right skills and knowledge it needs in a post-Covid 19 environment.

• Can build partnerships with iwi, Māori businesses and communities to increase visibility and actively promote careers and opportunities for Māori in the industry.

• Has researched more advanced industries in similar countries with regard to visibility and career paths that would be useful in a New Zealand context.

To mobilise our project, we’re leveraging the already wellestablished management and governance structures put in place for the first stages of our Three Waters work. We’ll be establishing a new project steering group that will inherit members of the

Three Waters Workforce Development Strategy phase three: Activities and the intended solutions/outputs 1. Increasing visibility: The development of an across-sector tool that can be used for the promotion of a particular industry; contextualised collateral for the Three Waters sector to help the industry attract the right people.

2. Pathways: The development of an acrosssector tool that can be used for developing visible pathways across an industry; a defined pathway framework that includes both current and future qualifications,

14 www.waternz.org.nz

competency frameworks, micro-credentials, regulatory requirements; contextualised collateral for the Three Waters sector to help the industry attract and retain the right people.

3. Partnering with Māori: The development of an across-sector tool that can be used for establishing training programmes that scaffold Māori into leadership roles, provides pathways for Māori into the industry and that grows non-Māori cultural capability in the industry; contextualised collateral and partnerships

identified for the Three Waters sector to help the industry attract the right people.

4. Industry engagement: Promoting the outputs from the project to ensure industry engagement and ownership of the Workforce Development Strategy, establishing ‘champions’ and collateral that can be used to attract new entrants to the Three Waters sector. Any collateral developed will need to be in English and te reo Māori as appropriate for both sectors.

original Steering group to maintain the rich knowledge base we’ve built up.

Moving forward, the Project Steering Group will be responsible for ensuring the project meets its objectives; making effective decisions in the best interest of the initiative and to ensure the TEC’s expectations are met; removing roadblocks; keeping the mahi viable, and enabling the outcomes to be achieved on time, according to scope, and within budget.

A project advisory team will be in place to support the steering group, acting as the project’s ‘sounding board’, and to ‘sense check’ the direction of solutions and any associated feedback.

We’ll also be establishing working groups for the project activities to champion the desired outcomes.

We’ll kickstart our programme with a series of discovery workshops so we can define the mahi required to implement solutions that align with our Workforce Development Strategy recommendations.

Progress updates will be published via Waihanga Ara Rau and Water New Zealand’s websites along with the Water New Zealand’s e-newletter Pipeline, LinkedIn, and soon-to-be-launched Waihanga Ara Rau’s e-newsletter.

For a copy of the Water Workforce Development Strategy go to: www.wearewater.nz.

Three Waters Project Steering Group members: Gillian Blythe, Water New Zealand Tim Gibson, Citycare Laila Harre, Department of Internal Affairs Richard Templer, Engineering NZ Tracy Davis, Waihanga Ara Rau Council Peter Berry, Electricity Engineers’ Association Michael Whaley, Power Co Tracey Kay, Counties Energy Andrew Renton, Transpower Mike Grumball, Waihanga Ara Rau (project owner)

Three Waters Project advisory team Mike Grumball, Waihanga Ara Rau (project owner) Mumtaz Parker, Water New Zealand Sean McCready, Electricity Engineers’ Association Carol Soundy, Assurity (project lead)

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND DRINKING WATER

Drinking water safety planning Taumata Arowai, the new water services regulator, writes about the shift in thinking needed around drinking water safety planning, and the importance of source water risk management planning.

At a recent webinar hosted by Water New Zealand it was clear there’s a shift in thinking needed in the water sector about drinking water safety planning.

“It’s less about producing a plan to give to Taumata Arowai and more about ongoing risk management and planning,” says Jim Graham, principal advisor drinking water at Taumata Arowai.

Evolution of drinking water safety planning

At the webinar, Jim shared the evolution of drinking water safety planning. It began in 2001 with the introduction of the concept by the late Dr Michael Taylor, (a member of the NZ5S Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers, former Water New Zealand President and Association Medal recipient), who went on to lead the Ministry of Health’s drinking water quality programme.

The intention was to prevent an incident happening like the one that occurred in Walkerton, Canada, in 2000. The inquiry into the Walkerton incident found seven people died and more than 2300 became ill because of contaminants entering the water supply through a well. The source of contamination was manure from a farm.

In 2012 there was a water-borne illness outbreak in Darfield, and in 2016 the Havelock North incident resulted in 8320 cases of Campylobacter and four deaths.

“Water safety plans were introduced to prevent these incidents from happening, but that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t the fault of the plans but the way they were implemented.

“Many plans ended up on the shelf and forgotten about until the drinking water assessor came to visit. Plans don’t manage risk, people do,” says Jim. The inquiry into the Havelock North incident found that water safety plans were being prepared primarily to overcome a compliance hurdle and to gain approval by the drinking water assessor, rather than used as a risk management tool.

“We have to take a different approach. Ka hoki kōmuri ngā whakaaro kia anga whakamua te titiro. We have to look back to determine our way forward,” says Jim.

16 www.waternz.org.nz

A different approach to risk management

Alan Cooper, principal advisor regulatory systems at Taumata Arowai, talks about the requirements of the Water Services Act 2021 (the Act), which specifies what drinking water suppliers need to include in their drinking water safety plans.

“On the face of it, there seem to be similar requirements to the Health Act 1956. The key difference is our approach.

“We think suppliers are best placed to understand their operation and best placed to manage the risks associated with it.

Planning needs to be based on the scale, complexity and risks of their particular supply – planning for a small rural supply will look very different to a large supply.”

“We have developed guidance, but we won’t be telling suppliers what to put in their plans or prescribing a particular approach.

We will review plans but not approve them.”

Registered suppliers need to submit a drinking water safety plan to Taumata Arowai by 15 November 2022.

Unregistered suppliers who were operating their supplies before 15 November 2021 have more time. They need to register

by November 2025 and submit a drinking water safety plan by November 2028, at the latest.

Alternatively, suppliers may be able to comply with an Acceptable Solution, which are for particular supply types, and provide an easier way to comply without the need for a drinking water safety plan.

Source water risk management planning

Source water risk management plans are a new requirement of the Act and form part of the overall drinking water safety plan.

“A whole of system approach needs to be reflected in how suppliers are thinking about and actively managing their supply, right through from source water catchment to delivery of drinking water. Not just focusing on hazards but how they maintain the quality of the source from which they’re taking from,” says Alan.

Taumata Arowai and all others – including drinking water suppliers – who have functions, powers and duties under the Act need to give effect to Te Mana o te Wai to the extent it relates

to those functions, powers and duties. This is about restoring and preserving the balance between water, people and the environment, taking a whole of system approach to water.

Alan encourages suppliers to think upstream from where they are abstracting water.

“We recognise suppliers are only able to control certain things but it’s really important that they have a good understanding of what is happening in their catchment area as this provides information about what hazards could arise.

“Suppliers need to think about what they can control and who they can influence to make changes.”

Understanding your source water

India Eiloart is a senior technical advisor at Taumata Arowai and has a keen interest in source water. She wrote an insightful article ‘Source water protection: The first barrier’ published in the September/October 2021 issue of the Water journal.

“I like the big picture of drinking water safety planning. What water body does the supply get water from, what is happening at the treatment plant and how does it get to the tap?”

India encourages suppliers to look beyond their own property, operation or intake to get a really good understanding of what’s happening. Hazards within a catchment can have a devasting impact on the water source and supply, and cause illness.

“Follow the journey of the water upstream, or upgradient for groundwater. Are there forestry tracks with heavy vehicles in the catchment or roads that zig zag across it? What would happen if there was a car accident and spill of toxic material? Who else

The inquiry into the Havelock North incident found that water safety plans were being prepared primarily to overcome a compliance hurdle.

uses the catchment area? Are there proper toilet facilities for trampers and mountain bikers?”

Talking to neighbours or other users of the catchment area is a good way to understand risks and hazards. Regional councils and mana whenua often have good information about source waters.

While source water risk management planning is a new concept for some, it will be familiar to others. Some suppliers may have completed catchment risk categorisation surveys in the past, although these were more of a tick box exercise rather than risk management planning.

Jim sums up: “While many across the globe are still stuck on producing plans, we’re taking a new approach to planning here. If implemented well it will prevent incidents like Havelock North and lead to communities having access to safe drinking water every day.”

For more information

Guidance is available at taumataarowai.govt.nz/for-watersuppliers/drinking-water-safety-planning Watch the webinar on Drinking Water Safety Planning and Source Water Risk Management Planning at waternz.org.nz ‘Source water protection: The first barrier’ Water journal, September/October 2021.

This report was prepared by Taumata Arowai.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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Thank you for your submissions We were pleased with the high level of interest from across the motu in our consultation held from 17 January to 28 March 2022.

This was the first of many consultations which will help inform our regulatory regime under the Water Services Act 2021.

As the new water services regulator for Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re committed to ensuring all communities receive safe drinking water every day.

What happens next?

We’ll analyse and summarise the 2,211 submissions received, then provide advice to the Minister of Local Government on the proposed Drinking Water Standards.

At a later date, we’ll outline any changes made before finalising the remaining documents and what these will mean for drinking water suppliers and drinking water network operators.

It’s likely the new Standards, Rules, Aesthetic Values, Acceptable Solutions and some of the Network Environmental Performance Measures will be adopted on or around 1 July 2022.

For more information Visit taumataarowai.govt.nz Join us for the Water New Zealand webinars on 16 and 22 June 2022 where we will discuss the outcomes of the consultation process. Register at waternz.org.nz

Wai ora. Tangata ora.

Healthy water. Healthy people.

PROFILE WATER NEW ZEALAND

Walking the talk

From theory to practical and back again, David Allan (pictured) is forming a well-rounded base for his career in water and wastewater. By Mary Searle Bell.

It won’t have come as a surprise to David’s friends and family that he is working in water and wastewater; his mother has worked as an environmental health officer for the South Wairarapa District Council for years and it’s clear she has made an impact on his career.

It has helped that as a schoolboy David loved the sciences, particularly chemistry, biology, and microbiology. This led to him completing a master’s degree in chemistry. While he contemplated the option of continuing on to do a Ph.D, he instead decided he wanted to do something more practical.

“I wanted to do less theory, so when I saw the Palmerston North City Council wanted a wastewater apprentice, I saw my opportunity.

“Mum said, ‘go for it. You won’t find a more secure industry to work in,.”

David says he fell on his feet when it came to the people he was working with.

“While I’m good on computers and science, I’m not that practical but I was fortunate to have wonderful people to work with, David Higgins and Steve Kinane, who were willing to take on someone who was awful on tools. My supervisor Jacques Mik was brilliant too.

“They helped me out a lot as a young man in his first real job – gave me clear direction and showed me what good looks like. They taught me a really good work ethic.

“The team showed me everything step by step, then, after I’d had a go, they would check I’d done it correctly without making mistakes. As a team they were always willing to help me out – even coming in on weekends they weren’t supposed to when I needed help.”

As an apprentice, he performed operational maintenance and inspection of plant machinery, tested wastewater and digester sludge for analysis, along with undertaking on-call duties.

In addition, David says he used science-based research to write reports based on a various planned projects.

One of these was the possibility of taking additional landfill leachate and introducing food/dairy waste to anaerobic digesters to maximise methane gas production to power a generator in an effort to cut expenses.

In 2019, David presented this report to the Water Industry Operators Group (WIOG) in Christchurch.

“It was quite terrifying for me to get up and speak, but I found the audience to be a really supportive group – they were very positive, and asked good, relevant questions.”

The report was so well liked that it netted him the WIOG Best Operators Paper 2019 award at the group’s annual conference.

Best Operator Paper 2021: ‘Using What you Have, Fighting Droughts with Wastewater’ “In Mangawhai, the wastewater is treated to a very high quality then sent out to a storage lake from where it is then used to irrigate a farm – and that farm is the only green spot in Northland during summer,” says David.

“The added benefits of using wastewater for irrigation is that it contains nutrients that feed the fields. And, of course, it means the wastewater is not being discharged into rivers and other waterways.

“It is great to see a ‘negative’ being used in such a positive way. And it’s great to see a cyclic system in action.”

David’s second presentation to WIOG, given last year and titled, ‘Using what you have, fighting droughts with wastewater’, was equally well received, again winning the Best Operator Paper.

By this time, he had moved on from the Palmerston North City District Council – with his girlfriend living in Auckland, the commute up from the Manawatu to see her each weekend was “tough”, and something had to change.

That change was a move north for David and a new job with Broadspectrum (now Ventia).

“In 2019, I was offered a job as water and wastewater treatment operator based at the Mangawhai wastewater treatment plant, although I’d never seen it before.”

But once again, David was fortunate in his colleagues.

“They helped me with my studies and taught me so much about water and wastewater treatment plants including the reticulation network. I got a holistic view of the whole system, from intake to discharge.

“I was very lucky again in my supervisors, Michael Fowlie and Terry Roche, who were brilliant, along with my manager, Johan Guy, who always pushed me to do better and improve myself.

“Johan was always helping, and always positive, even when I was changing jobs last year – he didn’t want me to leave but he didn’t want to hold me back.”

By this time, David had been in Northland for two years and he and his girlfriend were ready to move in together. David also wanted to be near his family in Greytown, so the couple were looking to move to Wairarapa.

“Ian Couling, who is a senior training consultant in the environmental training centre (ETC) at WSP, had heard me speak at the WIOG conference. He called me and told me to apply for a training consultant role the company had in its Petone office.

“I’d had a bit of experience with this kind of thing while at university, where I had a job as a laboratory demonstrator, a role which involved monitoring and marking students’ work.

“The excellent on-the-job training and mentoring I got in my first two roles has also helped significantly.”

David is currently training water and wastewater operators and reticulation workers, plus more for the ETC at WSP. “While I loved being an operator myself, I am enjoying helping the industry get more operators. I also like making people realise they’re not alone, and that they’re not necessarily bad operators if their plant is flawed.

I am also giving them hands-on knowledge to make improvements.

“It’s a great industry to work in, and once you’ve done your training, you’ve got a job for life – just like my mother told me.”

Looking ahead, David says he hopes to stay in the theory/teaching side of the industry. He is currently studying engineering to better understand both sides of things, and he’s always keen to learn off his peers.

“The WIOG group is great. They’re like having a whole community behind you – we bounce ideas off each other and ask for feedback on products.

“Regardless of your role in the industry, everyone wants the same thing: safe water, and wastewater gone without damaging the environment.”

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND PROFILE

At your service Ed Dutton’s career in stormwater has gone from strength to strength after he spotted a gap in the market for a treatment device maintenance service. By Mary Searle Bell.

South African born, Ed served in the army after leaving school before heading to the UK in 1996.

There, for five years, he coached schoolboy cricket and rugby, until his wife, a maths and science teacher (and a Kiwi), was recruited to a school in the Middle East and the couple headed to Qatar.

“I got a job there as a technical advisor to the Qatar Cricket Federation, but it was a non-job – I would have a meeting every few months where I’d share a few ideas, and then head home. That was it – I was paid to do nothing.

“We had a young family, but we also had a nanny, so I had a lot of time on my hands. I took the opportunity to study and completed my MBA through the Open University.”

Ed says you can only live in the Middle East for so long, and after a few years the couple decided to move with their children to New Zealand.

Settling in Auckland, Ed got a job selling stormwater treatment devices for Hynds Environmental.

“Along with selling the devices, I arranged delivery and installation.

Then I noticed that, after about a year, the contractors would come back to me saying they hadn’t done any maintenance on the devices, and that gave me the idea to provide a maintenance service for them.”

Stormwater filters catch harmful substances, such as hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and suspended solids, preventing them from entering the environment. However, the filters get clogged over time and require regular cleaning to ensure they keep performing.

To do this involves removing the silt and contaminated sand using a vacuum pump. The filter is then replenished with clean sand.

“Hynds Environmental were dabbling in maintenance but hadn’t made a commitment to the service – as an engineering company, they were more focused on design, and maintenance didn’t fit their model.

“I thought, there could be a business in this.”

While doing his MBA, Ed had learned about the Porters Five Forces, a tool that can be used to identify the main sources of competition in an industry or sector.

“It’s a checklist for when you’re deciding to go into business – it helps identify how hard it could be – competitors and the power of suppliers and customers – and where your opportunities may be – such as a wealthy client base or having what you’re offering backed by government regulation or bylaw.

“My idea ticked a lot of boxes, so I started offering a maintenance service for stormwater treatment devices, with the support of Hynds Environmental – they were happy for me to go out and service their devices.”

After a while, the hour-or-more commute each way between his home in Devonport, on Auckland’s North Shore, and Hynds Environmental, which was based in Penrose, on the south side of the city, became “too much” for Ed.

20 www.waternz.org.nz

“In 2009, I decided to set up on my own, establishing Dutton Stormwater – just me and a van.

I signed an exclusive supplier agreement with Hynds Environmental to provide maintenance for their devices, and while that was a great start, it wasn’t enough work. I needed to find more.”

A pivotal moment came just two years later following the earthquakes in Christchurch.

“Hynds had a few devices in Christchurch and asked me to price the work to sort them out. I got a quote to hire a sucker truck and it was sky high, so I Ed Dutton decided to buy my own.

“That was the defining point. I was forced to take the next step with my business.”

Ed bought the truck in Christchurch and after completing the job there, drove it back to Auckland.

The next big step came in 2015, when Ed was asked to do the cleaning of all treatment devices on the North Shore for Downer, and the job required him to buy a second vacuum truck.

“Next came an agreement with Foodstuffs for all Pak’n’Save and New World supermarkets, then another agreement with Number 8 Caltex for service stations all around the North Island. That contract meant another truck was needed, and I was up to four staff.

“I was still on the tools and doing all the invoicing at this stage.”

Things changed in 2015 when Ed hired Tracy Hill to run the office.

She’s now general manager overseeing the staff of 23, as the company has gone from strength to strength.

“When I step back, it’s all a large and significant responsibility – all those people, their salaries paying their mortgages and raising their families. But it is hugely rewarding.”

Ed likes to ensure his staff feel rewarded too, with ‘gift days’ (a day off every two or three months), ‘wellness Wednesdays’ every second week, where employees are divided into groups to play tennis or go to the gym or take a bush walk, and yoga on Friday mornings (which can be subbed with a walk or a sleep-in if preferred).

Ed says his company is still growing, and serves 1000s of clients throughout the country, from big corporates through to homeowners.

The company achieved its biggest coup to date in mid-2020 when it was named as official contractor to the Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department for all its treatment devices across the region.

“We’re no longer a subcontractor – we deal directly with the council, which means better communication.

“It’s obvious now, that there was a real need for stormwater drainage to be maintained regularly. Having a specialist service to do this takes the difficulties away for asset owners.

“When I started, I didn’t know it would turn out this way, or this well.

“I’m very happy with how it’s played out.”

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER WISDOM

Walking in Two Worlds

22 www.waternz.org.nz

Meet the international researchers who draw on both academic training and cultural experience to help indigenous communities protect water, restore ecosystems, and sustain traditional resources. By Jane Palmer.

Every year, one day in October, generations of the Washoe Tribe gather on the shores of Lake Tahoe for a day of fishing using handmade spears, harpoons, and nets made from willow, dogbane, and other traditional materials.

The Washoe have centred their lives around Lake Tahoe for thousands of years, catching and drying fish in the summers to sustain them through the winters. But now, only once a year, through a partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washoe tribe of roughly 1400 members hold a ceremonial day of fishing where they use traditional techniques to reduce overpopulation of nonnative kokanee salmon.

“Everybody looks forward to this day because they are not only revitalising our traditional practices, but they are also doing something that’s important for our homelands,” says Washoe Tribal Council member Helen Fillmore.

Helen is also a researcher at the University of Nevada where she is investigating the climate resiliency of water resources on reservation lands of the Great Basin and southwestern United States, and is interning with the aquatics research team at the University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

One of just a handful of remaining speakers of the Washoe language, in 2017 she published on how the language can help inform hydrologic and environmental models.

“I wanted to study hydrology because I knew that it was going to be so important for my community as a whole, my family, and the ecosystems that we’re a part of,” Fillmore says. Fillmore’s commitment to give back to her community and work with other Indigenous communities is one shared by many Indigenous scientists and students across the world.

Likewise, the commitment is a dual one for Troy Brockbank of Te Rarawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi (Māori), a stormwater engineer and a board member of Taumata Arowai and Water New Zealand.

Brockbank grew up next to Tāngonge, his tribe’s ancestral wetland in the far north of New Zealand, and developed a keen desire to protect waterways and the environment.

The mission to give more than you take is ingrained in Māori culture, Troy says, and his work involves empowering the water industry to incorporate and normalise Māori values and perspectives for the protection of water.

“As people we see ourselves as not only part of the environment, but one in the same: Ko ahau te awa, ko te awa ko ahau – I am the river, the river is me.

“We’ve got an obligation to give back and look after what we have now; otherwise, it’s lost forever.”

saw lakes as sentient beings, says Tero Mustonen of the Snowchange Cooperative in Finland.

Tero, an adjunct professor at the University of Eastern Finland and an ethnic Karelian, is the head of the small Finnish village of Selkie, and in 2016, he won an Emerging River Professional Award for his work incorporating traditional ecological knowledge to monitor and restore watersheds in North Karelia, where Selkie is located.

In addition to his multiple other roles – he is also a lead author for Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – Mustonen is a winter seiner, a professional fisherman who uses seine nets to catch fish under ice.

In Karelia, the lakes and rivers are traditionally seen as providers, even as mothers, and the fish catches are seen as gifts, he says.

“Traditionally, you don’t just go to a lake or river to use the resources, you ask for a fish.”

Like the Māori, the word for water in the language of the Indigenous People of the Hawaiian Islands is wai. For these people, the Kānaka Maoli, the compound word waiwai means wealth.

“Traditionally, many of us viewed wealth as being integrated with ecology,” says Kaleohano Kahahawai Farrant, a Kānaka Maoli who is studying for a master’s degree in natural resources management at the University of Hawai'i.

Water is life

The Māori view water as a taonga, a gift, that has been passed down from the higher powers, and consequently, Māori people treasure and respect it, Troy says.

Māori communities are among many indigenous communities around the world that view water as sacred and life-sustaining, and their own health is directly related to water quality.

In Finland, a land of 188,000 lakes, the traditional perspective

Troy Brockbank and his son Aneurin setting up a water workshop for taitamariki (high school students) attending Noho Taiao Te Rarawa at Motukaraka marae in 2020.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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Save the Date

18–20 October 2022, Te Pae Ōtautahi Christchurch

18 –20 October, Te Pae Convention Centre, Ōtautahi, Christchurch.

Earlybird registrations open in June.

Join us at the biggest Three Waters event of the year.

Come and find out about latest developments in the Three Water sector – new ideas and innovative solutions, listen to keynote and thought leadership speakers, share experiences, knowledge and build new relationships.

We look forward to seeing you.

Find out more at waternzconference.org.nz

THANK YOU TO OUR PREMIER PARTNERS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

WATER WISDOM WATER NEW ZEALAND

In Finland, a land of 188,000 lakes, the traditional perspective saw lakes as sentient beings, says Tero Mustonen of the Snowchange Cooperative in Finland.

For the Washoe, water is quite simply seen as life – not only does it sustain life, but it is also a life force itself. Honouring that perspective is essential to building a more sustainable relationship with freshwater resources, according to Rhiana Jones, an environmental specialist with the Washoe Tribe.

Rhiana, a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community who grew up on a Washoe reservation, is currently involved in the Mayala Wata Restoration project, which seeks to restore hydrological and ecological function to 300 acres of montane meadow, which was originally a summer campsite for the Washoe people.

The meadow is currently filled with invasive conifers, which crowd out native plants that have medicinal and cultural value.

The first stage of the project involves thinning densely packed lodgepole pines. The Washoe environmental team has been collecting groundwater information before the conifer removal and will continue to do so post-thinning, with the goal of quantifying how much water the invasive trees “suck up like a straw”.

“Just growing up and seeing how things could be done differently from an environmental aspect, it was always important for me to come back and work for Indigenous communities,” Rhiana says.

The short-term goal of the project is to increase the availability of water for plants that are used for medicine and food, and a long-term objective is to rehabilitate the creek that runs through it, allowing for the native Lahontan cutthroat trout to spawn there once more.

If all goes as planned, water will breathe life into the meadow again, she says.

Protecting water quality

The Oglala Sioux Tribe, whose home is now the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, similarly see water as life-giving and sacred, according to tribal member Otakuye Conroy-Ben, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University.

“So any type of pollution or activity that can impact water is very concerning,” she says.

Given her strong connection to the land, Otakuye pursued a Ph.D. in environmental engineering and went on to specialise in studying wastewater pollution. Her work has involved working with tribes to assess the environmental impacts of wastewater on their water supply, and she has also used wastewater to assess levels of the coronavirus and general population health.

“If you’ve been exposed to a pesticide or herbicide through your fruit consumption or if there are water contaminants, we can detect that through wastewater.”

Otakuye believes her own perspective is a bit more Western than traditional, but she stresses that learning from tribes how they’ve managed their natural resources is very important, especially in the light of climate change, water scarcity, and increased pollution.

“I grew up with this idea you have to come back and help the community with technical expertise. And now I am really excited to see how these technical fields can be merged with traditional knowledge.”

Farming using minimal water

In the United States, agriculture is a major user of ground and surface water, with the industry accounting for approximately 80 percent of the nation’s water use.

But the Native American Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona has MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER WISDOM

learned how to grow a diverse array of crops without irrigation and less than 25 centimetres of rain a year.

Michael Kotutwa Johnson, a Hopi tribal member, learnt how to farm from his grandfather. He studied conventional agriculture and earned a Ph.D. in natural resource management at the University of Arizona.

He is now living back on the Hopi Reservation, farming, working on his traditional stone home, and conducting indigenous agriculture conservation–related research. His mission is to promote the sustainability and viability of Native American agriculture and, as a 128th-generation Hopi farmer, to bring more Hopi back to farming.

“To be a Hopi farmer, you have to almost be what they call an agronomist, a hydrologist and an engineer.”

All the techniques that the Hopi use are designed to conserve soil moisture, and over time, tribal farmers have developed droughttolerant varieties of lima beans, tepary beans, string beans, and more than 21 varieties of corn.

“We raised corn to fit the environment and didn’t manipulate the environment to fit the corn. It is really our intimate relationship that we’ve had with our environment that has allowed us to survive.”

Michael sees his value as bringing recognition to indigenous techniques and conservation agriculture, and in July 2021 he published a paper in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation on how to enhance the integration of Indigenous agricultural

26 www.waternz.org.nz

knowledge into natural resource conservation.

He feels blessed to have an education, and he credits his Ph.D. with getting him a place at the table where policy decisions are made.

He feels even more blessed to have grown up learning traditional farming techniques.

“Indigenous agriculture uses the environment to its full potential, and it gives us all these gifts back. My position is to show that we can still practice this way.”

Bridging the divide

Giving voice to indigenous knowledge is also a focus of Bradley Moggridge, a hydrogeologist and associate professor in indigenous water science at the University of Canberra, Australia.

Bradley, a Murri from the Kamilaroi Nation 800 kilometres northwest of Sydney, is working directly with indigenous knowledge holders, and his long-term mission is to promote Aboriginal traditional ecological knowledge to the point that it can inform water management policy decisions in Australia.

“As I progressed, career-wise, I could see that there was a huge gap where science and knowledge were not connecting with each other.”

Aboriginal knowledge is perceived as inferior to western science, and yet there are thousands of generations of wisdom and experience encoded in traditional ecological knowledge, he says. In particular, this knowledge might provide vital insights into building resilience in the face of climate change.

“Aboriginal people have adapted and mitigated and evolved to the driest inhabited continent on Earth, and without that evolution, they would have died out thousands of years ago.”

One approach Bradley has taken to bridge the divide between western science and indigenous knowledge has been to try to influence the academies to change.

He is on the editorial team for the Australasian Journal of Water Resources, and in June 2021, the journal ran a special issue for which Bradley prepared an editorial and a paper: “Indigenous Water Knowledge and Values in an Australasian Context.”

The special issue had the goal of raising the profile of indigenous water science and highlighting the successes in water research by or with indigenous peoples.

Indigenous authors led or co-authored all the papers for the special issue, and the lead author of one paper was not a scientist, but the Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Coauthor Poelina, a Nyikina woman who is Yimardoowarra (of the river), proposed the river for lead authorship in recognition of its relational being and its role as “the holder of knowledge”.

The paper illustrates that many indigenous communities don’t view individuals as owning knowledge but consider knowledge a resource for everyone concerned.

Given the value of indigenous knowledge, one of Bradley’s missions is to encourage western scientists to recognise, accept, and consider such knowledge.

“Hopefully, special editions like this one will make a difference.”

Creating community

Being an indigenous scientist can be lonely in Australia as it is a big continent, Bradley says. Consequently, another of his missions is to create an indigenous science network.

“So we can talk, share, mentor, value each other’s endeavours, and celebrate our domains.”

Building a community was one of the key goals of an indigenous symposium on water research, education, and engagement held in the United States in August 2018. The symposium brought together 36 indigenous scientists, community activists, elders, and allies to discuss strategies for improving Indigenous participation in hydrology and how to address water-related challenges in Indigenous communities.

“We thought it was a good idea to convene as a group, to share our ideas, to support upcoming hydrologists and really get a grasp on the state of the future as it affects tribal nations,” says Otakuye, a co-lead of the project, which was led by Karletta Chief of the University of Arizona.

Since the symposium, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, Otakuye believes there has been more collaboration and support between researchers.

“Without these spaces, and without the funding, we don’t have the luxury to ever sit down together in a venue and talk in a focused

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER WISDOM

28 www.waternz.org.nz

and deliberate way about these issues,” says Ryan Emanuel, an ecohydrologist at North Carolina State University who was one of the four Indigenous co-leads of the symposium.

Ryan, an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, says that in recent years, professional societies in the United States have been very supportive in giving indigenous scientists sandboxes or incubation areas to discuss water issues.

“These are places where we feel comfortable exploring what it means to walk in two worlds.”

From science to policy

Growing up, Ryan spent a lot of time on traditional Lumbee territory – lush, green lands of forests and row crops, full of swamps and wetland, which run alongside the Lumbee River. It took time for him to settle on a career as a hydrologist, and it was unclear how doing so would help him give back to his community.

“In my community, you were urged to get an education, so that you can help your people. But I didn’t know what it would look like for a scientist to bend that expertise back to the community.”

Ryan originally focused on being a good hydrologist, role model, and mentor for indigenous students, but in the past few years, “Without these spaces, and without the funding, we don’t have the luxury to ever sit down together in a venue and talk in a focused and deliberate way about these issues,” says Ryan Emanuel, an ecohydrologist at North Carolina State University who was one of the four Indigenous co-leads of the symposium.

he found his way to “bend back” by using his science skills to collaborate with Native American tribes and solve problems related to justice and equity.

Using geospatial analysis, he was able to demonstrate that the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would disproportionally affect Native Americans in North Carolina, despite claims to the contrary.

Eventually, plans for the pipeline were cancelled, but Ryan’s environmental justice work had just started.

In June 2021, Ryan was the lead author of a paper demonstrating that the 320,000 miles (514,990 kilometres) of major natural gas pipelines crisscrossing the country are disproportionately concentrated in vulnerable counties, those considered more likely to be impacted by hazards and disasters.

Previously, regional case studies had shown that the oil and gas industries had disproportionate impacts on socially vulnerable populations who live where the resources are extracted and where they are refined or consumed.

“Individual studies seemed to point to this infrastructure regularly affecting poor or minoritised populations. We wanted to see if this was a national trend.”

It was, they found.

The scientific quantification of such environmental injustices has to move beyond publishing pure science and into the realm of policy, supporters say.

In 2020, Ryan co-authored a paper on how to address the barriers to indigenous participation in water governance.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND WATER WISDOM

“If you’re an Indigenous scholar working with your community, you may be a hydrologist, but sometimes you may be called on to write a policy paper. And if nobody else is going to do it, sometimes you have to do it.”

Playing the long game

Being an indigenous scientist who works with indigenous communities is more than a full-time job, according to Ryan and Bradley. Ryan admits that the added dimension of balancing obligations to his community with those to his institute can be tricky because the expectations of each don’t align perfectly.

“People in my community are suffering from pollution and from the impacts of climate change, and that weighs on me—I have a commitment to respond to those needs.

“But because a I’m one person and not a clone, that means that I have to figure out how to judiciously divide my limited time between these different things I love doing.”

Bradley highlights that being indigenous is a 24/7 commitment, unlike an academic position that has defined (albeit long) hours.

For him, it is important to protect indigenous researchers from ‘cultural loading’, whereby every indigenous inquiry, request, project, or complaint automatically gets forwarded to the only indigenous staff member in an organisation.

“But our other challenge is saying no. If we say no, it is left to nonindigenous people to tell our science story.”

(Ryan too prefers the term ‘cultural loading’ over ‘added labour’ or

30 www.waternz.org.nz

‘cultural taxation’. He stresses that he chooses, and is honoured, to serve through his various commitments but also recognises that sometimes the toll on his time and energy can feel unsustainable.)

The answer to more effective time management may lie in encouraging more indigenous students to enter careers in Earth sciences, Ryan says.

“That is the long game – building capacity in the next generation of scholars.”

Ryan, like many indigenous academics, acts as an adviser and mentor for indigenous students who might want to pursue a career in the geosciences.

When Jocelyn Painter, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, first met Ryan, she was an undergraduate engineering student. Inspired by the type of work he does, she is now a graduate student in his group at North Carolina State University.

As part of her graduate work, Jocelyn works with tribal communities to gain an understanding of their connection to nearby water resources and the concerns they have about climate change.

She also searches through tribal-led climate adaptation plans and the science literature and has compiled her collected data into reports that will be given to the state government, with the goal of bringing the voices of Native American tribes to the policymaking table in North Carolina.

“Long term, my dream would be working with tribal communities and doing the research that they are interested in me doing – the research that is important to them.”

Other students have found their own path to working with their communities.

Vance wrote his senior thesis for his Earth science degree at Stanford University on his work on wetland taro patches with a Native Hawaiian organisation, Ho'okua'āina. He is also involved in the restoration of a wetland in Waiale'e, a place on Oʻahu near where he grew up.

Vance's interests in traditional ecological knowledge were sparked at high school, where indigenous students and teachers discussed culturally informed ecological practices and principles.

“The cultural aspect is pretty key in my interest in the Earth sciences and helps influence how I think about my connection to the land and ocean.”

Ryan is encouraged that more indigenous students are entering the Earth sciences and integrating collaborations with communities at an earlier stage in their careers.

He hopes that his is the last generation of indigenous scientists who have gone through the Western science education process only to have to figure out how to give back to their communities on their own.

Bradley concurs. Traditionally, indigenous people in Australia have trained in education, law, or health care so that they can contribute to their communities, he says.

“I want to show indigenous people that they can enjoy, and do, science. And if you have an interest in caring for your country and having a say in how it’s managed, you can do that by taking this career pathway.”

Reprinted with the permission of EOS. To read the original article, see eos.org/features/water-wisdom-the-indigenousscientists-walking-in-two-worlds

When the landscape is changing → we’re committed to solving the big problems together ghd.com

WATER NEW ZEALAND CLIMATE CHANGE

Himalayan glaciers melting at ‘exceptional rate’

32 www.waternz.org.nz

The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns The study, led by the University of Leeds, concludes that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice 10 times more quickly over the past few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the Little Ice Age. The study also reveals that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world – a rate of loss the researchers describe as “exceptional”.

The paper made a reconstruction of the size and ice surfaces of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers during the Little Ice Age. The researchers calculate that the glaciers have lost around 40 percent of their area – shrinking from a peak of 28,000 square kilometres to around 19,600 square kilometres today.

During that period they have also lost between 390 and 586 cubic kilometres of ice – the equivalent of all the ice contained today in the central European Alps, the Caucasus, and Scandinavia combined. The water released through that melting has raised sea levels across the world by between 0.92 mm and 1.38 mm, the team calculates.

Dr Jonathan Carrivick, corresponding author and deputy head of the University of Leeds School of Geography, says: “Our findings clearly show that ice is now being lost from Himalayan glaciers at a rate that is at least 10 times higher than the average rate over past centuries.

“This acceleration in the rate of loss has only emerged within the past few decades, and coincides with human-induced climate change.”

The Himalayan mountain range is home to the world’s third-largest amount of glacier ice, after Antarctica and the Arctic and is often referred to as ‘the Third Pole’.

Meltwater released by Himalayan glaciers forms the headwaters of the major river systems in Asia. The acceleration of melting of Himalayan glaciers has significant implications for hundreds of millions of people who depend on Asia’s major river systems for food and energy. These rivers include the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus.

Ongoing recession and thinning of Himalayan glaciers raises concerns about the sustainability of water supply in the region.

The team used satellite images and digital elevation models to produce outlines of the glaciers’ extent 400-700 years ago and to ‘reconstruct’ the ice surface. The satellite images revealed ridges that mark the former glacier boundaries and the researchers used the geometry of these ridges to estimate the former glacier extent and ice surface elevation.

Comparing the glacier reconstruction to the glacier now, determined the volume and hence mass loss between the Little Ice Age and now.

The Himalayan glaciers are generally losing mass faster in the eastern regions – taking in east Nepal and Bhutan north of the main divide.

The study suggests this variation is probably due to differences in geographical features on the two sides of the mountain range and their interaction with the atmosphere – resulting in different weather patterns.

Khumbu Glacier pond chain.

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IMAGES: DUNCAN QUINCEY, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

Threat to Asia’s river systems

Lobuche is a Nepalese mountain located near the famous Khumbu Glacier.

Himalayan glaciers are also declining faster where they end in lakes, which have several warming effects, rather than where they end on land.

The number and size of these lakes are increasing so continued acceleration in mass loss can be expected.

Similarly, glaciers which have significant amounts of natural debris upon their surfaces are also losing mass more quickly: they contributed around 46.5 percent of total volume loss despite making up only around 7.5 percent of the total number of glaciers.

“While we must act urgently to reduce and mitigate the impact of human-made climate change on the glaciers and meltwater-fed rivers, the modelling of that impact on glaciers must also take account of the

25 YEARS

34 www.waternz.org.nz

role of factors such as lakes and debris,” Jonathan says.

Co-author Dr Simon Cook, senior lecturer in geography and environmental science at the University of Dundee, says people in the region are already seeing changes that are beyond anything witnessed for centuries.

“This research is just the latest confirmation that those changes are accelerating and that they will have a significant impact on entire nations and regions.”

This article was supplied by the University of Leeds.

The paper Accelerated mass loss of Himalayan glaciers since the Little Ice Age is published in Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-02103805-8)

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WATER NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTICA

Studying a fragile and icy world Antarctica feels like an alien planet. It’s a truly extraordinary place, holding more world records than an Olympic athlete – it is our southernmost, highest, driest, windiest, coldest, and iciest continent. Antarctica is a dream place to work for those fascinated by the frosty wilderness.

36 www.waternz.org.nz

complemented with a range of other sampling devices and instruments so that scientists can observe and quantify a wide range of characteristics, including those of the ocean, platelet ice, sea ice, snow cover and atmosphere, plus any associated biology, so that we can identify links between them.

“I am over the Moon with how our expedition went”, says Natalie.

“The new technique worked even better than we hoped, producing great samples.

It means that we can now study this ecosystem in a way that we haven’t been able to before.”

Time is of the essence for exploring and investigating platelet ice in Antarctica. The continent is warming, fast – in February 2020, the highest ever temperature was recorded there – a balmy 18.3°C. “This research is so important, given how climate change is impacting the region. The platelet ice habitat exists on a knife edge, needing quite specific conditions to form.

“Any small shifts in the environment could change where, when, and even if platelet ice forms. Such impacts on the ice could be disastrous for the animals that need it to survive, with knock on-effects for the wider Ross Sea marine ecosystem.

“The more we can learn about it, the more we know about what we stand to lose, and the more we can do to help protect it.”

This article was supplied by NIWA.

1. Attaching the sampling unit to the core barrel.

2. Platelet crystals. 3. Brett Grant inspects the recovered sample, containing ice crystals suspended in water. 4. Final line-up of sea ice plug samples. Total of 8 successful drills.

1.

2.

3.

4.

IMAGES: BRETT GRANT, STEVE PARKER, NATALIE ROBINSON.

Dr Natalie Robinson is one of those people; she’s part of the lucky few who have experienced this vast, freezing, and dazzling landscape. She’s a marine physicist whose work focuses on the Ross Sea. In the space where solid ice meets liquid water, a phenomenon called ‘platelet ice’ occurs.

Platelet ice is a several-metre-thick layer of thin and delicate ice crystals that grow and lock together to construct a dense but fragile maze, creating an environment unlike any other on Earth.

Platelet ice forms a protective habitat for algae and bacteria – the organisms that underpin the entire food chain – to flourish.

For decades, this mysterious platelet ice ecosystem has been theorised as being incredibly important to the marine food web. But it’s fragility and rarity make it notoriously difficult to study.

It is an unknown entity. Or it was, until now.

Natalie returned late last year from a six-week deployment in Antarctica with a team of physicists and biologists, testing out an innovative sampling technique.

The new drill system, designed by NIWA colleague Dr Craig Stewart, is the first of its kind to be used.

It works a bit like an apple corer, plunging into the ice without any spin, allowing platelet ice layers to be captured along with the water that fills the gaps between the ice crystals.

This prevents the structure from collapsing and maintains the platelet layers, so that the algae, bacteria, and animals that are living between the platelets can be collected along with their habitat.

Ultimately the drill system will be

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WATER NEW ZEALAND OUT OF THIS WORLD

Liquid water confirmed beneath Martian south polar cap 38 www.waternz.org.nz

A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientist measured the properties of ice-brine mixtures as cold as -145 degrees Fahrenheit (-75˚C) to help confirm that salty water likely exists between grains of ice or sediment under the ice cap at Mars’ south pole.

David has over a decade of experience measuring the properties of materials at cold temperatures to detect and characterise subsurface ice, unfrozen water and the potential for life throughout the solar system.

For this project, he measured the properties of perchlorate brines in an SwRI environmental chamber that produces near-liquid-nitrogen temperatures at Marslike pressures.

“My Italian colleagues reached out to see if my laboratory experiment data would support the presence of liquid water beneath the Martian ice cap.

“The research showed that we don’t have to have lakes of perchlorate and chloride brines, but that these brines could exist between the grains of ice or sediments and are enough to exhibit a strong dielectric response. This is similar to how seawater saturates grains of sand at the shoreline or how flavoring permeates a slushie, but at -103 degrees Fahrenheit below a mile of ice near the South Pole of Mars.”

The search for water in the cosmos is rooted in searching for potential habitability, because all known life requires water.

“In this case ‘following the water’ has led us to a place so cold that life as we know it couldn’t flourish.

“But it’s still interesting, and who knows what evolutionary paths extra-terrestrial life may have taken?”

The lead authors for an Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters paper describing this research are from Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy. The paper can be accessed online at ScienceDirect www.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117370

IMAGE: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

Laboratory measurements conducted by geophysicist Dr David Stillman support oddly bright reflections detected by the MARSIS subsurface sounding radar aboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter.

With a 40 metre antenna, MARSIS flies over the planet, bouncing radio waves over a selected area and then receiving and analysing the echoes or reflections. Any near-surface liquid water should send a strong bright signal, whereas the radar signal for ice and rock would be much smaller.

Because conventional models assume the Mars south polar cap experiences temperatures much lower than the melting point of water, many scientists have questioned the presence of liquid water. Clay, hydrated salts and saline ices have been proposed as potential explanations for the source of the bright basal reflections.

The Italian-led team investigating the proposed phenomena used previously published data, simulations and new laboratory measurements.

“Lakes of liquid water actually exist beneath glaciers in Arctic and Antarctic regions, so we have Earth analogues for finding liquid water below ice,” says David, a specialist in detecting water in any format – liquid, ice or absorbed – on planetary bodies and co-author of a paper describing these findings.

“The exotic salts that we know exist on Mars have amazing ‘antifreeze’ properties allowing brines to remain liquid down to -103 degrees Fahrenheit (-16˚C). We studied these salts in our lab to understand how they would respond to radar.”

Opposite: A mosaic composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. It shows the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The centre of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 2000 kilometres long and up to eight kilometres deep. Many huge ancient river channels begin from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometres high, are visible to the west. Above: This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows a network of dried-up valleys on Mars, and comprises data gathered on 19 November 2018 during Mars Express orbit 18831.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER

Improving river water quality

40 www.waternz.org.nz

Nick Moody outlines how reducing the contamination of stormwater by industry and the construction of wetlands is improving the health of one of the most industrially polluted streams in Canterbury.

The Paparoa-Haytons Stream had been selected as a priority catchment in need of improvement by the Christchurch-West Melton Water Zone Committee. It drains an industrial part of Christchurch and flows into the headwaters of the Ōpāwaho-Heathcote River past many homes, parks and schools.

In 2016 Environment Canterbury and the Christchurch City Council began a project on the stream. As a newly warranted pollution prevention advisor, I was tasked with improving its water quality.

The aim was to improve the quality of the water that entered the Heathcote River through reducing both non-point source and point source discharges, in conjunction with constructing wetlands to remove contaminants.

In order to do this, we sampled water quality at multiple sites along the stream to track pollution back to source. This meant that we successfully identified the factories with the most contaminated stormwater and got that either cleaned up or diverted out of the river and into the sewer network.

Treatment wetlands were also constructed to reduce contaminants such as copper, zinc, total ammoniacal nitrogen and dissolved reactive phosphorous.

Catchment scale methods

I began with a literature review. We had good data on the pollution in the waterway, which was a combination of heavy metals and nutrients, but didn’t know exactly where it was coming from.

The heavy metals were mostly zinc and copper. Both accumulate in the bottom of the stream and are toxic to life.

It is challenging to stop this pollution at source, as it is not just coming from one factory, but rather from many roads and roofs at once.

Copper comes from the brake pads of vehicles such as trucks, forklifts and cars. Zinc comes from galvanised zinc roofs and the tyres of vehicles.

Copper is noted for affecting the health of fish, including trout and salmon even at very low concentrations. Although copper free brake pads are available they are not yet widely used despite being a similar price.

Next we produced large maps of the stream’s catchment – big enough to cover a whole wall in the office. This bird’s eye view of the catchment, businesses and stormwater pipes helped to identify the big point source polluters, and the big opportunities for treatment facilities and upgrades.

You can see a lot on satellite images, as I learnt from my colleague the eagle-eyed Paul Murney – ex private investigator – and we were able to identify things like illegal washdown areas behind buildings by looking for water staining on their asphalt.

Filming Fabio Silveira at Wigram Retention Basin for a wetlands film.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER

Figure 1

Then we undertook focused water quality sampling. ECan technicians installed auto-samplers to capture pollution events and also undertook manual monthly sampling runs.

We funded two Masters projects on the stream, and UC researchers including Lewis Black and Fabio Silveira waited for rainfall events and became practiced in ‘storm chasing’ in order to capture fresh stormwater in stream.

As many of these discharges sneak down the underground stormwater pipes unseen, UC also installed autosamplers inside stormwater pipes downstream of sites of interest. These methods refined our understanding of where the pollution was coming from.

Catchment Action Plan

I met with Ngai Tūāhuriri Runanga and held workshops with ECan and council staff to develop an Action Plan for the catchment.

This was not a full-scale Integrated Catchment Management Plan which might have been 70 pages long, but rather an eight-page document summarising the key issues and presenting a table of proposed actions, which organisation and person was responsible for the delivery of each one, and due dates for these actions.

42 www.waternz.org.nz

Figure 2

An Action Plan was more appropriate for the smaller size of this stream, which had sadly become an industrial stormwater drain.

The Pareto principle

In 1896, the Italian academic Vilfredo Pareto observed the principle of factor sparsity. The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes roughly 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of the causes.

In this context Pareto’s principle suggests that 20 percent of the factories cause 80 percent of the point source pollution, and this proved to be accurate in this catchment.

Therefore I visited the top 10 most polluting factories, and conducted industrial stormwater quality audits there, rather than trying to visit all of the factories, which had already been done in the past.

That approach had resulted in the elimination of significant pollution accidents, as we had been able to identify ‘accidents waiting to happen’.

However, the dispersal of resource over the 327 sites in the catchment had not allowed the time investment in the most significant sites required to drive the changes and investments in these sites required to deliver an improvement in the everyday water quality of the stream.

Figure 3

Figure 1: Dissolved reactive phosphorus concentrations in Haytons Stream at sampling sites upstream and downstream of stormwater inflow from the industrial site where an abatement notice was issued and site upgrades were completed in June 2020.

Figure 2: Wigram Retention Basin sampling sites (white numbers) and water path (blue arrow).

Between sites 1 and 2 is the old wet pond cell and between Sites 2 and 5 are the newly constructed wetland cells (shown prior to plant establishment).

Image courtesy of Fabio Silveira, University of Canterbury.

Figure 3: Total and dissolved copper concentrations at sites through the combined basin/wetland treatment system at Wigram Retention Basin.

Site numbers as shown in Figure 2.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND STORMWATER

The Paparoa-Haytons Stream had been selected as a priority catchment in need of improvement by the Christchurch-West Melton Water Zone Committee.

Education and enforcement

The process was that I went to the site to conduct a thorough on the ground assessment of risks and discharges to the stormwater sumps. I wrote reports identifying these and listed clear prioritised recommendations for actions to ensure that only clean water ran off the site when it rained.

We agreed to timeframes that the business felt that they could meet, and if the business did not make improvements within these timeframes, then they risked enforcement action.

There were some significant investments required by businesses.

If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together I knew that forging a strong relationship with council would be key.

The city council has the power to require a business to cease discharging to the stormwater network under their global consent. The business would then have to apply to ECan for their own resource consent, and this is a powerful incentive to take the appropriate actions to remain under the global consent.

We worked together to stop a major point source discharge of nutrients, which took several years and required ECan to issue a ground-breaking new kind of Abatement Notice.

This enforcement process and the resulting site upgrade took several years and resulted in a significant reduction in ammoniacal-nitrogen and dissolved reactive phosphorus at our upper Haytons Stream sampling sites as a result of the business diverting the bulk of its site stormwater runoff to trade waste (see Figure 1).

Industrial stormwater audits

Council has been working directly with individual industrial sites in the area to reduce point source discharges through its stormwater audit programme. Since 2017, they have conducted 27 audits at sites discharging into Haytons Stream and Paparua Steam (upstream of Haytons Stream).

Through the audit programme, sites have implemented actions such as improving management practices, training staff, establishing trade waste areas, and installing stormwater treatment systems to mitigate their risks to those waterways.

Council’s trade waste team also carried out a programme to find and remove diversion valves from washpads since they were often faulty and consequently sending wastewater to the stormwater network. Nine of these devices were removed or disabled in those catchments which is a significant mitigation of contaminants.

44 www.waternz.org.nz

Wigram retention basin wetlands project

Wigram Retention Basin is a wet pond constructed in 1993 as a dual flood retention basin and treatment pond that the stream flows through just before it enters the upper Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River.

Following flooding in 2017, the council decided to upgrade the basin and the design was informed by years of valuable research by postgraduate students from UC, which was sponsored by Ecan.

Council retrofitted 3.4 hectares of wetland treatment within the extended ponding area, providing further treatment following the wet pond as well as habitat for a number of threatened bird species.

(See Figure 2.)

Results

Initial results of dissolved metal removals have been very positive.

Testing of multiple samples throughout one event by the University of Canterbury showed a 10-fold reduction in dissolved zinc through the combined basin/wetland system. There was also a three-fold reduction in dissolved copper (see Figure 3).

For both contaminants the guideline level from ANZECC (2000) for 90 percent species protection was generally met in the discharge for dissolved concentrations. The initial test results have shown the benefit of adding the wetlands, and monitoring is being continued to assess whether these trends continue.

It is pleasing to see that the long-term council monitoring (2008-2021) of Haytons Stream just before it enters the Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River is showing a decreasing trend in both total ammoniacal-nitrogen and dissolved reactive phosphorous.

We have good news for a change.

There is still work needed to improve water quality in the catchment, and ongoing source control work and water quality monitoring is planned to address this.

With a major point source discharge removed from the stream, and a number of other major sites in the catchment having been similarly required to improve in order to get consents or excluded from the stormwater network, the contaminant load coming down the stream is reduced.

This combined with the treatment wetlands at the bottom of the stream means that we have good reasons to hope for a sustained improvement in the quality of the water entering the Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River.

Nick Moody was a pollution prevention advisor at Environment Canterbury (he is now working at DOC).

WATER NEW ZEALAND HEALTH

How tea impacted waterborne diseases

Taken from the paper, ‘For Want of a Cup: The Rise of Tea in England and the Impact of Water Quality on Mortality’, by Francisca M. Antmany, Department of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder, we look at the relationship between drinking tea and good health.

The importance of access to clean water for economic development has recently received considerable attention among researchers and policy makers alike.

Evaluating the importance of clean water to the development of the now-rich world can help illuminate the impacts of clean water on mortality, and thus long-run economic development.

This paper exploits a natural experiment into the effects of water quality on mortality that occurred prior to the understanding

46 www.waternz.org.nz

that water contamination could compromise health, namely, the widespread adoption of tea drinking which began in 18th century England.

Since brewing tea would have required boiling water, and boiling water is now recognised as a method of water purification, the rise of tea consumption in 18th century England would have resulted in an accidental improvement in the relatively poor quality of water available during the Industrial Revolution.

To what extent can this explain the drop in mortality rates seen over this important period in economic development?

While there are now several historical studies of the relationship between water quality and mortality, they have largely focused on the US experience, and in particular, the impacts of public health interventions aimed at improving drinking water sources and sewage systems in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In contrast, the entirety of the period examined in this paper occurs prior to the widespread acceptance of the germ theory of disease and before major public health interventions.

Although the link between increased tea consumption, population, and growth has been hypothesised by some historians, to my knowledge this is the first paper to provide quantitative evidence on this relationship.

The rise of tea

Tea was first imported to England from China in 1689 and, at the outset, was regarded as a luxury good enjoyed by the elite.

By the end of the 18th century, the Tea and Windows Act of 1784 reduced the tea tax from 119 to 12.5 percent at one stroke, and, by the end of the century, historical evidence indicates that even the humblest peasant drank tea twice a day.

The rapid and widespread acceptance of tea throughout the population was likely due to the distinct properties of tea that made it accessible to all social classes. In particular, only a few leaves are necessary to make a decent pot and tea leaves can be reused, thus decoupling the link between income and tea consumption.

The relative cost of tea, was also an important feature in establishing tea’s dominance over alternative beverages.

For instance, the consumption of alcoholic beverages, such as ale and beer, had a long history in England prior to the introduction of tea.

Although these beverages would also have represented improvements over plain water, they were costly in comparison.

The decline of beer in the late 17th century owing to the high malt tax would certainly have meant a decline in nutritional quality of beverages, as tea is less nutritionally useful than beer.

Thus the paradox of why England experienced a decline in mortality rates over this period without an increase in wages, living standards, or nutrition can be explained in part by the widespread adoption of tea as the national beverage and the commensurate increased consumption of boiled water.

The impact of poor sanitation

At the time that tea was sweeping across England, the methods for disposing human waste in England were still very primitive. Far too few privies existed and householders were known to accumulate their excrement and dispose of them in streets and rivers.

This made cities, with rising population densities, MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND HEALTH

particularly dangerous. At this time, the critical importance of properly separating human excrement from drinking water sources was not understood and thus typhoid and later cholera outbreaks were common.

Data on English tea imports from China matches data on the English crude death rate over the 1761-1834 period, distinguished by the 1785 drop in the tea tariff. It sees dramatic increase in tea imports per person from around one pound per person at the beginning of this period to almost three pounds per person by the end.

Over the same period, the English crude death rate fell from around 28 to 23 deaths per 1000 people, a decline that appears to have accelerated after 1785.

Thus, the national picture over this critical period in the development of England, prior to the documented link between water and disease, is marked by a dramatic rise in tea consumption and drop in mortality rates.

To further bolster the evidence that the mechanism behind these relationships was the improvement in water quality brought about by water boiled for tea, I use cause-specific death data over this time period available to show that higher tea imports curbed deaths from water-borne diseases such as dysentery, commonly described as flux or bloody flux.

At the same time, falsification tests show that shocks to tea imports did not significantly affect contemporaneous deaths from air-borne diseases such as tuberculosis (consumption).

Tea was first imported to England from China in 1689 and, at the outset, was regarded as a luxury good enjoyed by the elite.

Lessons going forward

Another important distinction that sets this paper apart is that it concerns a change in culture and custom that occurred without any concerted policy efforts and associated expense.

As such, this paper has unique lessons for current public health policymakers who might choose to focus on infrastructure that might be cost-effective in the long-run, but which may face numerous barriers to implementation along the way.

Simple, less-costly technologies may be readily available and lessons on expanding the adoption of important health practices today may be drawn from this episode in history.

To read the full paper, go to spot.colorado.edu/~antmanf/ AntmanTea&WaterQuality.pdf

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Recruiting staff in a tight labour market A successful case study in Three Waters

This article is based on a paper by Greg Steele, Downer BOP water contract manager, that he presented to Part 1 of the Water New Zealand Conference 2021.

Downer has held the Three Waters Maintenance Contract for Tauranga City Council for over eight years after starting the contract in 2013 for the maintenance and fault response for the region’s three waters services.

Greg Steele, Downer BOP water contract manager, outlined the five key steps Downer implemented to successfully recruit staff in a tight labour market in the Tauranga 3 Waters Maintenance Contract, and build a dedicated and growing team without competing in the market for the same resources, or paying higher wages.

Greg says these steps are transferable to any growing civil construction team, and demonstrate the importance of a strong culture and a people-focused approach.

Programme background

When Greg joined the Downer Tauranga 3 Waters team in 2018 staff retention rates were low, and the company division struggled to deliver the quantity of maintenance work as staff were fatigued and nearing breaking point, he says.

“The total contract had 38 staff and the water services team had eight. The client (Tauranga City Council) invited me to a crisis meeting regarding the water team in my first week. I was informed that our wages were too low and we were about to lose more staff in the coming weeks. Downer had posted numerous job ads in the previous 12 months and the preceding five years.

“There had been little to no interest and a lack of suitably qualified applicants. The retention rate dropping to 70 percent further compounded this, which means that 30 percent of the staff left the contract per year.”

This was made worse by a construction boom in the Bay of Plenty putting pressure on the local labour market.

“This pressure made competing for staff to recruit into our maintenance contract difficult. With construction projects delivered over a shorter time when compared to a maintenance contract, they can raise their wage rates to better meet labour market increases.

Maintenance services are traditionally delivered over a longer-term, have tighter margins, lower labour rates and less favourable working conditions.

50 www.waternz.org.nz

“The current labour market is becoming even tighter with the post-Covid Government’s ‘shovel ready projects’, further extenuating the situation where more work is available than labour to deliver it.

The five steps

By implementing the following five key steps, Greg says the three waters team was increased from eight to 21 staff, while revenue improved by 30 percent from the Greg Steele previous contract high.

“The increase in work volume and team size required additional supervision, training, plant, equipment, and vehicles. We decreased overtime and on-call requirements, maintained the previous margin and improved the service level KPI performance.”

1. Setting a vision

At my first monthly toolbox meeting as the water contract manager, I was asked to introduce myself to the Downer Tauranga Depot.

I took the opportunity to outline my vision for the Tauranga Water Contract team and the wider Downer Tauranga staff. The principle behind our vision was not to try to complete 100 percent of the contract and be happy with 90 percent. We want to aim for 120 percent and smash past 100 percent. This inspired a positive direction for team buy-in towards our vision and provided us a criterion to apply when addressing problems or assessing opportunities against.

2. Recruit good people

Rather than hire those already qualified from within the water industry, Downer targeted those who were hardworking, honest, and looking for a career, says Greg.

“This allowed us to fill the team with people keen to learn. They were paired up with the senior servicemen and were trained on the job to work at a high level of quality, safety and efficiency. This approach allowed us to fill the team with people who wanted to work hard to build a career.

“We also tried to recruit from different labour markets rather than the traditional advertisement on recruitment sites. We engaged with our staff and interviewed their children, friends, and friends of

friends. Because of our common vision for the path forward, we trusted that our team understood the personalities and work ethic that we were looking for.”

Downer also had a recruitment drive in 2018 in the Philippines, which secured three workers with construction plumbing experience for the new team, which was also beneficial in maintaining skilled to unskilled ratios in the field.

“We contacted the three largest labour-hire companies that worked in our area – AWF, Onestaff and Adecco – sharing our vision with them and asking them to put forward candidates that best fit our new approach. This was successful as it reached a wide range of the career market and complemented the other vacant roles advertised on our behalf.”

Downer also made good use of its own and other training and recruitment programmes: Downer Basic Civils helps Work and Income clients find employment opportunities in their local communities. As a five-day course participants can gain training, skills and qualifications in areas such as Level 1 Basic Traffic Control, Construct Safe certificate, light vehicle training, enrolment in the National Certificate in Water or Infrastructure works, plus communication and personal skills.

Downer’s Apprenticeship Programme for water services revolves around the NZ Certificate in Pipeline Construction and Maintenance Level 4 and there was a good uptake of this opportunity within our local Three Waters team, says Greg.

This established programme is 70 percent workplace learning, 20 percent coaching and mentoring, and 10 percent structured learning programmes and courses, all supported by industry training organisations.

In Work Success is based on understanding the numerous challenges that can cause barriers to ongoing employment.

These include literacy and numeracy, financial issues, health (including mental health), family/friends, drugs, and alcohol.

Through this initiative, a programme coordinator connects employees with outside support and help and provides ongoing monitoring for the employee.

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Graphic showing the steps followed, the vision in the middle being the core principals, the rest lead on from each other and addressing challenges that the previous slice created. Finally, once Downer had completed the circle, it had qualified external candidates wanting to join the crew, completing a circle of transformation.

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51

WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

The Tauranga City Council Three Waters network and assets.

Shows the increase in construction labour workers from 2013 to 2020, corresponding with the start of the TCC Three Waters maintenance contract for Downer.

The retention rate across all our water contracts for the past five years and includes retention rates of the current Tauranga Three Waters contracts as a comparison.

52 www.waternz.org.nz

transition, the programme provides participants with personal development through ongoing In-Work Success support for the first 12 months.

Te Ara Whanake – Maori Leadership Programme is a wellestablished company programme that supports to upskill and empower New Zealanders of Maori descent into leadership roles at any level of Downer’s business.

Downer says it has an 86 percent retention rate of the completed Maori Leadership programme employees, which is higher than the overall company retention rate. The company has won three awards for this programme: The 2016 Diversity New Zealand Emerging Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Award; 2018, HRINZ Corporate Social Responsibility Award; and, in 2019, Downer won the Deloitte Top 200 Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Award.

works without impacting the reactive delivery.

“This type of work also allowed for a better learning environment for the new starters to learn how to work in Downer’s health and safety system and the time for them to try out the tasks themselves.

The trainee needs the opportunity to do the work themselves and not have the pressure of the water or power supply being off to customers.”

Greg adds that Downer also invested heavily in the required tools and equipment.

“This helped the trainees by teaching them how to use the right tool for the task, ensured each tradesmen vehicle was set up consistently, and created efficiencies for all staff to complete the work safely and quickly.”

4. Create career pathways

3. Support the team

“Due to recruiting a higher number of unskilled staff, we had to ensure that necessary support resources were available. Our new team members were paired up with senior servicemen and mentored and trained on the job to work at a high level of quality, safety and efficiency.

“To assist our Tauranga team with the maintenance backlog and support training of the new staff, we had four qualified water servicemen from our Auckland water team assist for six weeks. This demonstrated an extensive help and support network to the team, providing a light at the end of the tunnel. We could also permanently recruit two of these members into our team.”

Greg says they found that the time pressure of maintenance work to complete the jobs quickly and move on to the next was not an effective training environment for new starters.

“To help with this, we split the planned and reactive water team to allow new staff a better learning environment. The planned works team completed backflow testing and maintenance, hydrant painting, CBD and citywide flushing programmes, and a valve surveying programme. This gave us the ability to take on planned

“When hiring career-minded people, you also need to provide them with formal training and career progression opportunities.”

The Downer National Water Collective Agreement set out a clear apprenticeship pathway from G1 through to G4. The pay aligned to this grading structure, with the living wage as a grade 1 and clear pay minimums per subsequent grade.

Each grade outlined key competencies that allowed the employee to know what they were in for, how long it could take and what they needed to do to progress, says Greg.

“This coincided with formal training opportunities. The water industry was hampered by the delays and changes to the Pipeline Construction Training from Cert 3 to Civil Trade Cert 4. This was a challenge as we promised staff to get them on this programme and subsequently start their careers.

“However, we did not let that stop the training progression of our team. We focused on the core competency training and the Downer internal health and safety training to keep the team moving forward.

For example, concrete saw, confined space, working at heights, STMS, Class 2 licences, and backflow Downer critical risk and Permit to Work training.”

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Setting the vision At Greg’s first monthly toolbox meeting as the water contract manager he was asked to introduce himself to the Downer Tauranga Depot.

“I took the opportunity to outline my vision for the Tauranga Water Contract team and the wider Downer Tauranga staff.”

That vision included three main goals for the three waters contract: Goal one, double revenue in three years by increasing resources and maximise the client’s available works by aiming to deliver more than the contract requirements, and develop new teams to deliver services for the new revenue streams.

5. Family Culture

Greg says Downer continually promoted a team culture to ensure members looked out for themselves and their teammates.

“To do this, we complemented our technical support by also helping our people outside of their work environment. For example, we assisted our Philippines recruits in finding rental homes, and we arranged social events outside of work to help the team gel.”

Within the work environment successes were also recognised and rewarded.

“On my first day as contract manager, I asked a few field staff what they thought would help the team. They said we used to do pizza in the park now and then. We brought this back and used it to discuss recent achievements and hand out awards and certificates.

“We also shared contract successes with the team during toolbox meetings. This was achieved by presenting our contract KPI results for the month, our health and safety performance, and the customer feedback statistics. When we received a customer compliment, we made them into certificates and handed them out at the toolbox meetings or park lunches.”

Greg adds that a strong team culture also created an “enthusiastic response” when additional help from the team was needed at the weekend or late at night.

54 www.waternz.org.nz

Goal two, produce employees proud to work for Downer. “I felt that our team were working hard for the council and the community but did not feel valued by their employer. To change this, we planned to increase the training and development of existing staff, provide a clear career pathway and reward and recognise high performance and good work.”

Goal three, become industry leaders. “Our contract was in a state where we were under-delivering in all areas. Rather than settling for the status quo, we wanted to challenge how we were operating. This required us to trial new processes and improvements, learn from our mistakes and empower our workforce to work smarter.”

Conclusions

By implementing these five key steps, Downer’s contract water team increased from eight to 21 staff and the Tauranga-based water division from 32 to 56 between July 2018 to July 2021.

“Subsequently, we have taken on our past learnings and experience into the new Tauranga City, and Western Bay combined contract to grow our team to 91 staff in our Tauranga water division.”

Also, staff retention lifted from 70 percent in 2018 to 90 percent in 2021, the year the Tauranga City Council maintenance contract was re-awarded and expanded to include three waters services for the Western Bay District Council. The new contract term is for another 10 years, until 2031 and is 50 percent larger than the previous 20132020 contract.

“The innovation of these five steps is that we embraced our difference in the labour market as a maintenance contract; rather than trying to compete with the rising labour rates for a small pool of resources, we provided an opportunity for new people to join our industry.”

“The industry in Tauranga now has greater workforce resilience and a positive future to sustain the growth of Tauranga City and the Western Bay of Plenty Districts.”

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Innovation for solutions and savings An award-winning and innovative approach to wastewater treatment saw the Paihia WWTP significantly reduce its ammonia levels at a fraction of the cost of historical solutions. Andrew Springer of WSP presented his paper on the project at the recent Water New Zealand conference.

Paihia Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in the Bay of Islands serves approximately 5000 residents in the communities of Paihia, Waitangi, Opua, and Haruru. In summer, the population in the area can swell to over 11,000.

The WWTP was originally built in the 1980s in a remote location in the Waitangi Forest and has seen considerable growth in the catchment.

The site is bounded by natural wetlands and forestry, with two drainage streams running the length of the site, limiting the footprint of the site available for expansion. The discharge from the site is to a wetland area, part of the Waitangi Wetland system, and home to the threatened Northland Mudfish, which is only found in a few localised lowland wetlands.

56 www.waternz.org.nz

This nocturnal fish of up to 130mm in length, is considered a Māori taonga and an indicator of the health of these wetlands.

As part of the protection of the habitat for the mudfish, it has been necessary to upgrade the plant to meet a 2 mg/l ammonia consent, and to meet a total nitrogen median standard of 40 mg/l.

Like many wastewater treatment pond systems installed historically, the Paihia WWTP’s approach was a two stage pond designed to remove organic material and, by long retention time, reduce bacterial numbers.

Although the second pond in series may reduce ammonia, the primary mechanism for this has been by assimilation through the bacteria and algae growing in the pond. Linked to the accumulation of sludge and seasonal fluctuations from sludge decomposition, and

seasonal population changes and the relative growth rates of the biota, the removal of ammonia has never been consistent and unable to get close to the tight standards required by the consented conditions.

Project approach

Several project constraints were identified.

• Quality: To achieve a median of 2 mg/l NH3-N would require substantial and consistent improvement from the previous median of 37 mg/l NH3-N and be sufficiently robust to meet peak load events.

• Space: Only 10x40 metres was available for expansion. No additional land was available due to land ownership • Power: Being over three kilometres from the nearest mains power, a permanent supply had been quoted as over $700,000, so unaffordable.

Local generation was preferred.

• Suitable technology: Several options had been considered and trials had been undertaken but none had met the constraints of space and performance.

Faced with these issues Far North District Council worked with WSP to deliver a project to meet compliance.

A review of historically considered options was undertaken but all Left: Like many wastewater treatment pond systems installed historically, the Paihia Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) approach was a two stage pond designed to remove organic material and, by long retention time, reduce bacterial numbers.

Right: Paihia Wastewater Treatment Plant's Bio-shells were installed in late 2020. Performance monitoring since then has demonstrated that ammonia concentrations have been reduced from typically 50 mg/l to less than 2 mg/l.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Bio-Dome: Wastewater Compliance Solutions (WCS) ‘poogloo’ has been developed and applied for enhancing pond performance in Utah and Montana where winter conditions prevent ammonia removal in the pond. Bio-shells is based on the ‘Poogloo’ concept but is an adaptation for shallower ponds. A series of plastic shells retain random plastic media. By providing an air supply to the base of the units, there is enough oxygen to enable a population of nitrifying bacteria to establish on the surfaces.

The ammonia levels in the effluent have dropped significantly since the installation of the Bio-shells.

58 www.waternz.org.nz

proved to be unsuitable or too expensive. Consequently, innovation was applied to the tender specification.

One solution came through contractor Marshall Projects of Invercargill that proposed the use of an American solution from Wastewater Compliance Solutions (WCS).

WCS’s ‘poogloo’ has been developed and applied for enhancing pond performance in Utah and Montana where winter conditions prevent ammonia removal in the pond. Bio-shells is based on the ‘Poogloo’ concept but is an adaptation for shallower ponds.

A series of plastic shells retain random plastic media. By providing an air supply to the base of the units, there is enough oxygen to enable a population of nitrifying bacteria to establish on the surfaces.

A retaining mesh on the bottom is necessary to hold the media in place, and the whole assembly is fixed to a concrete subframe. This prevents buoyancy.

To each assembly a stainless-steel lifting cable is provided for installation, or removal for maintenance. Each Bio-shell unit is supplied with a dedicated air hose from a common air manifold.

The innovative technology of Bio-shells has been adopted to provide an in pond treatment system within the existing assets, making the Paihia WWTP the first New Zealand nitrifying plant and the largest of its kind outside of the USA. To meet the peak summer loading condition of 120 kg NH3-N/d, 553 Bio-shells were installed, with air supplied by duty standby Roots Z Series screw blowers.

WCS advised that algal competition could occur on the media, so a floating cover system was installed. This was the first use of Hexacovers in New Zealand, which provide an interlocking flexible cover across the Bio-shells zone.

Bio-shells were commissioned with air from October 2020, with significant nitrification achieved by December 2020.

Performance monitoring over more than one year of operation has demonstrated that ammonia concentrations have been reduced from typically 50 mg/l to less than 2 mg/l (see graph).

Total nitrogen has been reduced by 40 percent and additional benefits to BOD, TSS and E. coli concentrations have been recorded.

Alkalinity has been identified as a major issue within pond treatment, resulting in the need for chemical addition to ensure full ammonia removal occurs and to maintain acceptable discharge ph.

By adopting this innovative approach on a space restricted site, Far North District Councils has achieved all required performance outputs at an affordable cost to the community in a tight capital programme. A capital saving of over $18 million against a conventional solution has been realised.

This cost saving has been achieved by applying several innovations in contract management, choice of technologies, fabrication processes and installation resulting in a reliable system achieving very low ammonia quality in the pond effluent.

The Bio-shells system can be applied successfully to existing ponds to meet challenging ammonia standards, making the technology an affordable choice where tighter effluent standards are required to meet increasing water quality standards.

The media system provides a suitable habitat for nitrifying bacteria that normally cannot be established in pond systems, and a suitable habitat for filter feeding protozoa that contribute to solids and bacterial reduction.

The project recently won the Excellence in Project Innovation Award at the 2021 IPWEA NZ Asset Management Excellence Awards.

Commenting on the wastewater treatment team’s work, IPWEA noted the original approach taken to the project’s procurement and project delivery which used innovative ‘Bio-shell’ technology and “[demonstrated] a sustainable and affordable approach to upgrading wastewater treatment plants across Aotearoa New Zealand.”

This article has been taken from the paper, “Paihia WWTP, Innovative in Pond Removal of Ammonia using Bioshells” by Andrew Springer, WSP, and William Down, Far North District Council. You can read the full paper here: waternz.org.nz/ Article?Action=View&Article_id=2135

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Modelling for development A rapidly-developing subdivision required a comprehensive solution to manage stormwater and floodwater now and in the future. Robert Kelly of Aurecon and Josh Hodson of Tonkin+Taylor presented their paper at the recent Water New Zealand conference.

Pyes Pa West (commonly referred to as ‘The Lakes’) has been one of the fastest growing and most popular residential subdivisions in the Tauranga area.

It is located close to the city centre, Tauriko Business Estate, and Tauranga Crossing shopping precinct, and has easy access to State Highway 36 (to Rotorua) and State Highway 29 (to Hamilton/Auckland).

Additionally, the diversity of housing choice and affordability has proved it to be exceptionally popular and an attractive place to live and work.

The planning rules for the development of this area include the need to ensure that there are no adverse downstream stormwater effects from development.

The Kennedy Road site covers approximately 70 hectares and is one of the last greenfield areas to be developed in this growth area. It is located on the lower Nanako Stream catchment, which feeds into the Kopurererua Stream which then discharges into the Tauranga Harbour near Judea.

The Kopurererua Stream (approximately 29 kilometres in length) and the Tautau Stream (approximately 18.5 kilometres long) are the two major watercourses in the catchment, with their confluence located near Gasson Lane in Pyes Pa.

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The Kennedy Road site is located about halfway up the Nanako Stream subcatchment, which is the next largest watercourse in the catchment (7.5 kilometres long and 450 hectares in area).

The Nanako stream passes via a 1200mm culvert under the State highway 29A embankment and soon after joins the main Kopurererua Stream branch.

The lower urban half of the Nanako catchment has several large ponding areas in series as a result of new and previously developed city infrastructure.

As with many urban catchments in New Zealand, this catchment has a number of flooding issues. Two particular areas of concern are Pengary Lane in the Nanako catchment and the Judea industrial estate at the bottom end of the Kopurererua catchment.

Prior to development of the site, which started around 2015, the land use was generally horticultural on the flatter areas to the east and west of the site and pasture and scrubland in the stream gully that runs through the middle of the site.

Stormwater Pond 25 – Kennedy Rd was constructed to cater for the storage and treatment of the Nanako catchment.

At that time, the only significant stormwater infrastructure was the existing Kennedy Road embankment and culvert.

Managing stormwater and flooding within this catchment has been very complicated due to several factors that have made reaching a suitable and appropriate solution difficult to achieve, these include: • Several historical inappropriate development areas along and adjacent to the floodplain, including residential developments along Pengary Lane along the Nanako Stream and Judea Industrial area at the confluence of the Kopurererua Stream and Tauranga Harbour estuary; • Historical and ongoing infilling of floodplain areas, both consented and non-consented, which has reduced the capacity of the floodplain to accept flood events; • Steep escarpments either side of the stream with roading and residential developments either side subject to geotechnical risk and potential failure during flood events; and • Several flood management and flow control devices (dams, ponds, culverts, treatment devices, etc) throughout the catchment creating flooding risks (e.g. due to dam break scenarios).

Tauranga City Council (TCC) has been developing a comprehensive stormwater solution to effectively and sustainably manage stormwater and flooding in the catchment of the Nanako Stream.

In order to understand the flood attenuation and stormwater treatment needs of the catchment, hydraulic modelling has been undertaken to determine the volume of water that needs to be

TEMPERATURE

attenuated so as to protect downstream properties from flooding effects, as well as the ecological values of the stream.

Through the evolution of this work, a proposed solution has been developed. With these works in place, there is predicted to be no increase in peak flood levels or an increase in maximum flow rates.

Stormwater management

The proposed approach to mitigate the potential water quality and stream erosion effects for development of the Kennedy Road area was to use stormwater treatment ponds/wetlands that provide both a water quality function as well as extended detention of the 90th percentile storm (to mitigate adverse effects on stream stability).

Based on site topography and development staging it was proposed that a total of three engineered stormwater treatment wetland/ponds were used to meet stormwater management objectives. These are as follows: • Pond 7, previously constructed as part of development since 2015, which will manage stormwater from Zone A (13.8 hectares zoned as suburban residential, including the 4.4 hectare Lakes Primary School site); • Wetland 5, proposed as part of the current project, which will manage stormwater from Zone B (20.7 hectares, zoned large lot residential and 4.5 hectares, zoned suburban residential); and • Wetland 25, previously constructed as part of development since 2015, which will manage stormwater from Zone C (17.7 hectares, zoned suburban residential).

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61

WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Flood mitigation

The selected approach to mitigating the potential flood effects for development of the Kennedy Road area was to provide online flood storage within the Nanako Stream gully using flood detention dams.

Two flood detention dams are proposed which will throttle flows and provide flood storage in events up to the 100-year ARI event: • Kennedy Road – existing road embankment earth dam which will be upgraded to provide more flood storage and to meet dam safety guidelines; and • Dam 5 – proposed earth dam within Zone B, which will also act as the road crossing to service the proposed residential lots on the eastern side of the Nanako Stream.

The detailed flood modelling was used to test various mitigation options, and ultimately demonstrate no material increase in

Aerial shot of site 8.

predicted peak water level for a two-year, 10-year or 100-year ARI event on any parcels of land that are not currently owned

by TCC or which TCC have, or are in the process of establishing, stormwater designations over (post-mitigation).

Therefore, the flood modelling demonstrated that the land use and terrain changes associated with the proposed development of the Kennedy Road area can be sufficiently mitigated with the proposed flood detention dams.

Additionally, the works will improve the stability and resilience of existing embankments, increasing safety for downstream properties and the public.

All existing and new dams will be designed and constructed in accordance with the New Zealand Dam Safety Guidelines.

This article is taken from the paper: ‘Nanako Stream: Developing a Comprehensive Stormwater Solution” by Robert Kelly (Aurecon), Josh Hodson (Tonkin + Taylor), Richard Mocke (Tauranga City Council/CAPE Consultants). To read the full paper, see waternz.org.nz/Article?Action=View&Article_id=2154

62 www.waternz.org.nz

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63

WATER NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE PAPER

Staying ahead of the curve This is the abstract from the paper, “Staying Ahead of the Curve – CostEffective and Environmentally Conscious Innovation” by Courtney Pratt of Fulton Hogan, which she presented at the Water New Zealand conference.

With increased focus on environmental and social outcomes in the construction industry, finding a solution that safeguards our waterways and brings value to the client, ratepayers, and local community is a story worth sharing.

The Waipa District Council sought to strengthen an aging pipe bridge across the Waikato River which had minimum fall gravity pipework, fluctuating flows from multiple pump stations, and the potential for hundreds of litres of sewage per second to enter a sensitive and public waterway.

Councils’ original plan was to refurbish and extend the life of the existing structure while upgrading the size of the pipes.

The question was, how could Fulton Hogan provide a solution that kept people and our environment front of mind?

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over its life cycle than its aging counterpart.

The design of the new pipe bridge eliminated piling and concrete works along the unstable banks of the environmentally and culturally significant Waikato River, reduced vegetation clearing, prevented the need to access high-risk erosion zones, and lowered the output of dust from sandblasting and piling works and eliminated vibration to surrounding buildings.

This change in scope also resulted in a reduction of construction safety risk, as there was less requirement to work at height, over water and on steep riverbanks.

A community waterway rehabilitation project was also implemented to bring the locals together in service of their environment.

Through careful construction and considered design, the Cambridge Pipe Bridge project improved public perception and engagement, protected its people and environment from construction related harm, and saved the client a significant amount of money while adding value over all.

We hope to provide evidence that innovation and collaboration hold the key to future improvements in the water and construction industries.

To read the full paper, go to waternz.org.nz/Article?Action=View&Article_id=2131

64 www.waternz.org.nz

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MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

65

WATER NEW ZEALAND LEGAL

Wetland cases and lessons Tom Gray from Atkins Holm Majurey looks at two case notes on recent decisions which discuss the implications of the National Environmental Standard for Freshwater (NESFW) and National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM) on managing natural wetlands.

Kopu Marine Precinct, Thames

This is a decision of the expert consenting panel (panel) appointed under the Covid-19 Recover (Fast Track Consenting) Act 2020 (FTA) on resource consent applications made by the Thames-Coromandel District Council (council) for the Kopu Marine Precinct in Thames.

Consents applied for under the FTA are decided by an expert consenting panel, have shorter statutory timeframes for consideration of the consent application, and provide limited consultation requirements. Decisions made by the expert consenting panel can only be appealed to the High Court on points of law.

The council applied for two alternate consents, an option 1 and option 2, with the first including a commercial wharf and pontoon, a commercial slipway, a commercial haulage access area, a wider road over the stopbank at the southern end of Quay St, and a new access road. Option 2 included all of Option 1 as well as a public recreational boat ramp.

The panel focused on Option 2 as it was a more extensive proposal, additionally including the removal of approximately 4000 square metres of mangrove wetland to allow for construction. This was not part of Option 1 and the removal of mangroves/wetland triggered a potential issue of whether Option 2 could be considered due to the prohibited activity status of earthworks in a natural wetland under the NESFW. The panel sought clarification on whether the mangroves/wetland was all landward of mean high water springs (MHWS). The applicant confirmed that approximately 90 percent of the mangroves/wetland to be removed was landward of MHWS, making that part of it “natural inland wetland” as it’s defined in the NPSFM. The NESFW prohibits earthworks within a natural wetland if it results or is likely to result in the complete or partial drainage of all or part of the natural wetland. However, earthworks or land disturbance for the purpose of constructing specified infrastructure may be a discretionary activity in some circumstances under the NESFW. Therefore, the panel had to consider whether the project is “specified infrastructure” as defined in the NPSFM. The panel sought legal advice which determined that the commercial aspects of Option 2 were regionally significant infrastructure, and

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therefore fell within the definition of significant infrastructure under the NESFW such that they could be considered a discretionary activity under the NESFW. However, the panel sought more evidence from the applicant to establish whether the recreational boat ramp and associated parking would also fall under the definition of regionally significant, and as such be “specified infrastructure”. While the Waikato Regional Policy Statement (RPS) does not specify the project it was submitted that this was of no consequence given the project pre-dates both the NESFW and the NPSFM. The panel ultimately agreed with the legal advice that the “identification of regionally significant infrastructure in the RPS is not conclusive as it only provides a non-exhaustive list with no criteria against which to assess infrastructure which is not listed.

“This means that, there is an evidential element to consideration of whether infrastructure is regionally significant, which involves both full consideration of the RPS and/or regional plans, together with the evidence in support of the infrastructure which is contended to be regionally significant.”

The panel considered that for the full project under Option 2 both commercial and recreational aspects would need to qualify as regionally significant in order to be considered as specified infrastructure, and therefore a discretionary activity under the NESFW. The panel concluded that Option 2 qualified as regionally significant infrastructure due to its full consideration of the RPS and regional plans, and the lens in through which is considered the values and benefits of regionally significant infrastructure, and its consideration of the additional evidence provided to the panel by the applicant.

Overall, the panel decided that Option 1 was a non-complying activity and Option 2 was a discretionary activity as it was considered to be significant infrastructure. Option 2 was granted consent.

Greater Wellington Regional Council v Adams [2022] NZEnvC 25 This Environment Court decision dismisses enforcement orders sought by the Greater Wellington Regional Council regarding natural

wetlands on a 12-lot rural-residential development that had been approved for subdivision by Upper Hutt City Council.

Concerns were raised by the regional council during a site visit where experts were convinced they saw wetlands. The regional council proceeded to seek enforcement orders, claiming there were natural wetlands on the site, and that the city council had granted subdivision consent based on inaccurate information regarding the extent of the wetlands.

The regional council’s order would protect a more extensive natural wetland area which would have meant that no house could be constructed on some lots, and some lots would have restrictions imposed including restricted construction areas.

The Court noted its displeasure with the regional council seeking to impose controls and restrictions retrospectively given subdivided lots had already been sold.

The terms ‘natural wetland’ and ‘improved pasture’ are both defined under the NPSFM: “Natural wetland means a wetland (as defined in the Act) that is not... (c) any area of improved pasture that, at the commencement date, is dominated by (that is more than 50% of) exotic pasture species and is subject to temporary rain-derived water pooling.

Improved pasture means an area of land where exotic pasture species have been deliberately sown or maintained for the purpose of pasture production, and species composition and growth has been modified and is being managed for livestock grazing.”

The Court considered that the 50 percent of exotic pasture species element ought to be a ‘bright line’ test for when the ‘improved

pasture exclusion’ applies and concluded that the definition of natural wetlands in the NPSFM was never intended to include areas that had been heavily modified for pasture grazing, for example by historical drainage.

In terms of the ‘temporary rain-derived water pooling’ aspect of the test, the Court found that this requires “that any area under consideration is subject to only temporary pooling from water derived from rain as compared to a situation where the area is permanently under water derived from rain or any other source such as underlying ground water.”

Agreeing that the site did have more than 50 percent exotic pasture and that the ‘improved pasture exclusion’ applied, the Court went on to consider whether the area would have constituted a natural wetland under the NPSFM even if not subject to the ‘improved pasture exclusion’. Using the ‘Clarkson Method’,1 the Court found that the area was not a natural wetland under the NPSFM. The Court subsequently dismissed the application by the Regional Council, upholding the granting of consent by the City Council.

The Court’s decision therefore clarifies that the ‘improved pasture exclusion’ in the NPSFM applies to “any area of improved pasture that, at the commencement date, is dominated by (that is more than 50 percent of) exotic pasture species and is subject to temporary rain derived water pooling”.

1. The Clarkson method states that if illegal clearance has occurred, soils and hydrology should be used to determine if the site was wetland.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

67

WATER NEW ZEALAND COMMENT

The role of climate change in Three Waters reform

By Simon Pilkinton, partner, and Patrick Senior, senior associate, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources, Russell McVeagh.

Three Waters reform provides an opportunity to achieve lasting benefits for the local government sector, our communities, and environment but do those benefits include climate change – in particular, do they include reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

With the climate crisis looming large and the planet set to exceed 1.5°C in warming above pre-industrial levels by 2050, water is predicted to be a main global risk. This is reflected in New Zealand’s first National Risk Assessment identifying potable water as the number one climate change risk to this country.

To have safe, reliable and available drinking water, the Three Waters sector will need to respond to the risks of climate change.

We will need more drinking water storage and better protection from contaminants that get worse in warmer temperatures and more stormwater capacity for extreme rainfall events. Mitigating higher inflow and infiltration from intense rain events, salt-water intrusion, reduced flow in drought conditions, and relocation of low-lying facilities will also be needed.

These types of costs are on top of the estimated $120-$150 billion that is already required to upgrade three waters infrastructure.

It’s a two-way street because the Three Waters sector is a net emitter of both capital and operational emissions, particularly when it comes to emissions from essential wastewater treatment processes, with some in the sector believing that reforms don’t do enough to address greenhouse gas and emissions reductions goals.

In late 2021, Gillian Blythe, chief executive of Water New Zealand, criticised the Three Waters reform for not tackling climate change head on. She describes the Three Waters Reform as a “missed opportunity”.

So, what are the tools and opportunities in the Three Waters reform package to reduce emissions? We consider this and look further afield to options to reduce future emissions.

Taumata Arowai’s role and the proposed water services entities Three Waters reform is well progressed: • Taumata Arowai (the new regulator) is up and running and the Water Services Act 2021 (establishing a framework to guide the performance of three waters infrastructure) was enacted in October 2021; • An exposure draft of the legislation establishing the four new water services entities that will take over the responsibilities for Three Waters services delivery, the Water Services Entities Bill, has been published and informally consulted on; • Cabinet decisions relating to the water services entities (the operators that will own, operate, maintain and upgrade three waters infrastructure) have been agreed; and • The working group of stakeholders recently reported back to local government Minister Nanaia Mahuta on the governance and

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accountability mechanisms of the exposure draft of the Water Services Entities Bill.

Climate change isn’t a central pillar to Taumata Arowai’s role, the Water Services Act, or the exposure draft of the Water Services Entities Bill, which is unsurprising.

The policy rationale for Three Waters reforms is the provision of safe and reliable Three Waters services at reasonable cost for all New Zealanders, following the 2016 incidents in Havelock North where contaminated drinking water led to several deaths and large-scale illness.

High-quality services that prioritise human health and safety, while being able to afford this level of service in each city and district in the country are, by necessity, paramount.

However, as climate change risks are better understood it could play a role as part of Taumata Arowai’s general regulatory duties to ensure: • Three Waters infrastructure is safe; • that network operators meet environmental performance measures, manage risk effectively and give effect to Te Mana o te Wai; • required standards are set under Wastewater Environmental Performance Standards, Wastewater Risk Management Plans and Environmental Performance Measures and Targets for Networks (under sections 138, 139 and 145 of the Water Services Act).

Water services entities’ objectives will include delivering water services in a sustainable and resilient manner that seeks to mitigate the effects of climate change and natural hazards (although this prioritises adaptation and doesn’t specifically recognise the need to reduce emissions).

The Water Services Entities will therefore be required to address the effects or risks of climate change (especially natural hazards) on their own existing and future infrastructure.

However, they’ll need to look further afield for direction on reducing emissions. To date, there has been little guidance or support for the new entities to reduce emissions, which may create challenges down the track.

Other key opportunities and drivers for emissions reductions from Three Waters infrastructure RMA system reform

There are increasing obligations due to bite under the Resource Management Act (RMA).

The consenting process under the RMA will soon (at the end of November 2022) require the consideration of effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has proposed national direction in the form of a combined national policy statement and national environmental standard governing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial heat activities.

For everything else, MfE will be releasing non-binding guidance with the content of that guidance not yet known.

Three Waters infrastructure produces operational and capital carbon and the sector will need to be fully across the changes to the RMA and how they will affect future planning and consenting decisions. The upcoming changes can also be seen as an opportunity for infrastructure providers to “lock in” appropriate greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

There is a strong argument that only direct emissions of greenhouse gases should be regulated by the RMA and its proposed successor, the Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA).

This would mean that embedded or infrastructure carbon need not be considered as part of the planning and consenting processes under our environmental legislation. This makes for a much clearer assessment of emissions-related activities and prevents applicants and decisionmakers chasing emissions endlessly up and down supply chains.

In terms of direct emissions, we also consider the RMA (and future NBA) needs to recognise that some essential activities will inevitably produce emissions, for instance, wastewater treatment plants.

Even using the best available technology, greenhouse gases continue to be a by-product of treating wastewater to the standards required to protect human health and the receiving environments for wastewater discharges.

A possible way forward is for applicants to show the best practicable option has been adopted when a discharge is being consented, taking into account viability and best available technology.

We see this as essential as New Zealand’s environmental legislation must not unduly compromise Water Services Entities’ ability to provide safe and affordable infrastructure at the significant scale required.

Construction process

We are expecting new opportunities to reduce emissions through the Building and Construction sector’s Building for Climate Change programme.

This programme proposes mandatory measuring and reporting requirements for whole-of-life embodied carbon emissions: from construction materials, the construction process, construction waste, and demolition waste.

Existing operators

From an operational point of view, the Three Waters sector itself is making significant steps forward with some existing operators, like Watercare, having made ambitious goals to reduce emissions already.

These entities are working in concert with Water New Zealand, which has produced the industry-leading Navigating to Net Zero. This helpful guide is designed to facilitate carbon mitigation in the sector.

Risk of climate change litigation

Three Waters entities will need to remain mindful of the increase in climate change litigation in New Zealand coming off the back of significant victories overseas.

Litigation has already been used to successfully challenge public decision-making here (the overturning of Thames-Coromandel District Council’s decision not to sign a Local Government New Zealand Declaration on Climate Change) and to challenge private decisionmaking (although in Smith v Fonterra the Supreme Court found that the

private company defendants did not owe a duty of care to Mr Smith and others in respect of greenhouse gas emissions).

Litigation through judicial review has also been used to discourage specific public projects including All Aboard Aotearoa filing a judicial review application against Waka Kotahi’s Mill Road project in Auckland. The project was eventually abandoned.

The Climate Change Response Act

This Act includes a new permissive consideration for public decisionmakers, which states they may (when making public decisions) take into account the 2050 emissions target, an emissions budget or an emissions reduction plan.

This confers a broad discretion on public decision-makers to consider climate change in decision-making. We anticipate there will be substantial stakeholder and community expectations for the Water Services Entities to take into account in future investment decisions.

ETS and emissions reporting requirements

Wastewater treatment facilities are exempt from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and there aren’t currently any proposals to bring plants within the ambit of the ETS. Reporting requirements for wastewater entities have also changed over recent years and may be a way to encourage future reductions.

The Zero Carbon Act introduced reporting requirements for lifeline utilities (including all Three Waters providers) on how those entities are adapting to climate change, but doesn’t include information on mitigation.

Last year, Gillian Blythe stated: “The Three Waters Reforms could provide an opportunity to embed the drivers and structure to drive real action.

“Mandatory climate-related disclosures are being seen by many as a catalyst for climate action in the finance industry.

“In the same way bringing transparency to water sector greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks lays the foundation for targets and processes to drive down emissions and adapt to change.”

It is increasingly likely that tensions will continue to emerge between taking all steps to reduce emissions, technology to do this, safety considerations, balance statements, and above all the need for the Water Services Entities to deliver the transformational reform expected.

Conclusion

The reforms are first and foremost about public health and safety, and providing safe, high-quality services to everyone at a cost communities can afford.

While the proposed regulatory environment enables and encourages water services entities and Taumata Arowai to respond to the risks of climate change, the regime does not explicitly provide direction on or encourage decarbonisation.

However, the Three Waters sector is responsible for significant emissions and, like all sectors, will need to take steps to reduce these.

One of New Zealand’s key climate risks is to drinking-water supply.

The sector will need to look outside the primary governing legislation for direction on decarbonisation while delivering the reform’s primary goal: high-quality, safe services at an affordable cost.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

69

WATER NEW ZEALAND LEGAL

The value of Overseer

By Nicole Buxeda and Louise Ford, solicitors, Atkins Holm Majurey

Overseer has been used as a regulatory tool in regional council plans since the mid to late 2000s. However, the efficacy and accuracy of OverseerFM (Overseer) as a regulatory tool has been consistently questioned and its limitations noted. This article discusses how Overseer has been considered in case law, considers the reviews into the efficacy of Overseer as a regulatory tool, and then analyses where we anticipate the use of Overseer might lie in the future.

Overseer in case law

In the Environment Court appeal of Waikato Regional Plan Variation 5 (Variation 5) in Carter Holt Harvey v Waikato Regional Council [2011] NZEnvC 163, all parties accepted that Overseer should be used to determine the nitrogen leaching rates for farming activities.

However, it was also found that at the time there was no accredited Overseer contractors or accredited body, and a high level of Regional Council involvement was required for the construction, implementation, and compliance monitoring of Variation 5.

Lack of capacity in councils to audit and check nutrient management plans and the Overseer values included in those remains an issue today.

In Horticulture New Zealand v Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council [2013] NZHC 2492, the Court found that it was open to council to use a generic reference to Overseer in its One Plan, as there was no requirement that Overseer be used in producing a nutrient management plan.

However, the Court acknowledged the reservations of the horticultural industry over the workability of past and current versions of Overseer for horticulture.

In Wellington Fish and Game Council v Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council [2017] NZEnvC 37, a declaration was sought regarding the legality of the advice note which enabled newer versions of Overseer to be used, rather than Overseer version 5.4 as stipulated in the One Plan, without any changes being formally made to the One Plan through plan change processes.

The advice note functioned as a ‘work around’ for council, which sought to informally deal with discrepancies and difficulties in meeting Overseer numbers caused by changes in versions.

The Environment Court declaration prevented the use of this informal ‘work around’ and emphasised that a formal plan change was required to alter the Overseer version in use.

This decision resulted in the preparation of Plan Change 2 to the One Plan (PC2) seeking more flexibility in Overseer version references and consenting pathways. PC2 is currently under appeal to the Environment Court.

The Environment Court in Federated Farmers of New Zealand Incorporated v Bay of Plenty Regional Council [2019] NZEnvC 136

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Left: Nicole Buxeda and Louise Ford.

The problems with Overseer as a regulatory tool are evident and have attracted widespread criticism and calls for review.

(PC10 Decision) noted limitations in the accuracy of the nitrogen loss predictions created using Overseer due to the differences in the versions used, and the calibration to the specific catchment conditions which could result in an uncertainty in the nitrogen loss predictions of up to ±30 percent. The Court also noted that the uncertainty regarding Overseer as a regulatory tool is reflected in its own experiences, gained from cases which have been presented to it over several years.

While the Court recognised that at that time there was no evidence of a realistic alternative to Overseer’s use as a regulatory tool, it established eight requirements which should be incorporated into PC10 by council to ensure that Overseer is acceptable to be used in a regulatory context.

These requirements reflected the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in 2018.

Reviews into overseer

The problems with Overseer as a regulatory tool are evident and have attracted widespread criticism and calls for review.

In 2018 the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Simon Upton, provided a comprehensive review of Overseer and its success as a regulatory tool. He concluded that Overseer provides farmers with valuable information in making decisions about farm management, however Overseer does not meet the levels of documentation and transparency that are desirable in a regulatory setting.

He considered there are currently important gaps and

shortcomings in Overseer that undermine confidence in its use as a regulatory tool, including the inherent failings of the tool to model cropping and the limited calibration of crop calculations, and the proprietary nature of the intellectual property which is a barrier to the transparency of the Overseer model.

Amongst other things, Upton strongly recommended greater transparency in the model, making the source code publicly available, and that the Government undertake further investigations into the nutrient modelling and regulatory system.

In July 2021 the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries released a report entitled ‘Overseer wholemodel review – assessment of the model approach’ (Panel Report).

The Panel Report was commissioned in response to the 2018 Parliamentary Commissioner report and concluded there were fundamental issues in the use of Overseer as a regulatory tool which resulted in the Panel stating that they did “not have confidence that Overseer’s modelled outputs tell us whether changes in farm management reduce or increase the losses of nutrients, or what the magnitude or error of these losses might be.”

In August 2021 the New Zealand Government responded to the Panel Report (Government Response) and found that Overseer is not fit for purpose in a regulatory sense.

The Government Response proposed a number of options which would address the issues with Overseer, including developing a next generation of Overseer to make it fit for a regulatory setting, or to develop a completely new approach to understanding and managing diffuse nutrient loss.

The options suggested in the Government Response recognise that Overseer currently plays many roles, and a wider suite of tools are necessary to adequately fulfil future needs.

Recent council approaches to overseer

Despite Overseer not being fit for regulatory purpose, it is still being used in the regulatory space, mostly due to the absence of another viable alternative or strong central government support for change. Having said this, there are examples of councils moving away from the use of Overseer figures in their plans as consent requirements or pre-requisites.

In 2016 Waikato Regional Council notified Plan Change 1 to the Waikato Regional Plan (PC1), which took a grandparenting approach to nutrient management.

PC1 received strong opposition due to the view of the perverse incentives arising from it which rewarded those with previously high discharges and penalising those who had already achieved low nutrient loss levels.

Opposition was also stated from iwi who received Treaty Settlement land which was then grandparented into low nutrient leaching levels, significantly limiting any future development options for productive use outside previous uses.

PC1 appeals have been progressed to the Environment Court but are currently on hold and PC1 is being reassessed in light of the government response.

PC2 to the Horizons One Plan recognises the inherent limitations of Overseer while at the same time providing

alternative pathways and good/best management practice requirements to enable existing intensive land use activities to continue operating.

PC2 not only attempted to mitigate the inflexibility and inaccuracy of Overseer for regulatory use, but also introduced additional measures for decreasing nitrogen leaching.

The Environment Court decision on Plan Change 7 (PC7) to the Environment Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan was delayed in its release due to the Government Response.

Environment Canterbury has since announced an interim solution which will enable consents and farm plan processing to continue while not relying on Overseer.

The interim approach is described as enabling tracking and monitoring of activities with an Overseer number being one of several tools being used by council. While appeals on PC7 have been lodged, no appeal directly relates to the use of Overseer.

We consider PC7 represents the most sophisticated response from a Council to date, and it will be interesting to see if other councils copy the approach that Overseer is just one of the tools available to be used by councils.

Where to from here?

Under the latest National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 (NPSFM2020), new freshwater regional plans are required to be notified by December 2024.

With the Government forecasting the availability of a tool in 2024 to help manage nutrient losses, the question stands as to what the interim two years (at a minimum) will look like.

Despite this promise of future governmental support (notably yet to materialise) the timeframes in the NPSFM2020 are fast approaching, and bringing with them challenges that Councils arguably do not have the tools to address.

As has already been seen, the Government response has resulted in Councils taking a very cautious approach to Overseer in their consideration of water take and discharge consents.

The uncertainty created by the Government response is compounded by on-the-ground frustration from farmers and growers.

Discontent has long been voiced by growers and farmers about the use of Overseer as a regulatory tool. Allegations that it is unworkable, inaccurate, open to manipulation, gives erroneous calculations, and does not work to represent nutrient losses from crop rotation operations, have all sullied the reputation of Overseer as a regulatory tool.

Operators’ lack faith in Overseer, and the deadlines and future requirements in the NPSFM2020, make it clear that an accountable regulatory tool must gain user support and buy-in if the NPSFM2020 aims are to be achieved.

With such a sensitive political and economic topic such as freshwater, it is imperative that the matter is given priority urgently. Our freshwater water bodies can ill afford that the Government loses the support of the communities that are relied upon to play their part in our freshwater clean-up challenges.

Leadership is needed, and quickly, to enable not only progress, but also confidence from stakeholders, in the freshwater sphere.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND DIVERSITY

Developing engineering as a career pathway for Māori

By Jodie Hurley, Bay of Plenty/Waikato client leader, and Waldo Posthumus, civil engineer, Aurecon Realising the benefits of the Three Waters programme will require a strong pool of engineering, science, and environmental talent.

The reforms are an opportunity to deliver better outcomes, but they also create challenges for the sector around attracting and retaining talent. Water solutions developed must reflect the nation’s diversity, particularly integrating Māori and Pacific perspectives.

Engineering, design, and advisory company Aurecon is working on a range of initiatives with the Diversity Agenda, universities, and iwi to increase the pipeline of talent in engineering, particularly for Māori and Pasifika and other groups traditionally underrepresented in the sector.

One such example is a partnership with Tauranga-based tikanga Māori education provider Te Wharekura o Mauao, to provide tutoring and mentoring to year nine to 13 students.

Beginning in 2021, the pathway programme is about promoting engineering as a career.

Engineering has a real visibility problem – many young people just don’t know anything about it and therefore don’t consider it as an option. You can’t be what you can’t see, so this programme is about showing students what’s available in engineering and how they can be involved.

Many of the students and teachers at Te Wharekura o Mauao weren’t previously aware of the career pathways available in engineering.

The other aspect is challenging perceptions around the kinds of attributes needed to become an engineer.

There are many pathways into engineering through universities, polytechnics, and cadetships, and many other roles that people can take aside from design engineering, such as plant operator or

computer-aided design (CAD) operator.

We don’t want young people not to take this career opportunity because of perceived blockages around the need for certain grades or attributes.

In water this extends even further, as there are many other disciplines needed in the sector in addition to engineering (science, ecology, planning and environmental), so it’s important to showcase those opportunities too.

The decision to focus on all secondary years was strategic, as by years 12 or 13, where most programmes focus, most students have decided in what direction they are going.

That’s why we need to capture students’ interest early so that they stick with maths and science.

That’s where the tutoring element becomes so important to help them maintain their grades and keeping them engaged in those subjects.

Bringing the programme to life

The pathway programme encompasses four elements: • Tutoring students in maths and science and mentoring students into a career in engineering; • Presentations on career pathways into engineering; • Visits to real life engineering projects; • Activities to bring engineering to life (bridge building, catapult making, rollercoaster making).

One real life engineering project enjoyed by students was a site visit to the Cameron Road Multi-Modal Upgrade. That included a virtual reality experience of how Cameron Road will look once the project is complete.

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Meet opportunity, at Aurecon. aurecongroup.com/careers

72 www.waternz.org.nz

A true partnership

This programme is special as it is a true partnership. Rangatahi (young people) gain from tutoring and the exposure to different career pathways, while Aurecon gains from the opportunity to deepen its understanding of Te Ao Māori and Te Reo Māori.

Aurecon is really open in saying that we are on a journey, and we have more to learn. So, we help the students with engineering, but they help us as well by sharing their culture and language.

Unlocking new possibilities for rangatahi

The programme has already garnered results, with a significant increase in students taking science subjects since it started. In 2021, seven students took physics, but in 2022 this has leapt to 17.

This is exciting because it unlocks more and different opportunities for these students.

Our hope is that in the future, we have a whole contingent of buddying engineers.

Diversity engenders innovation

Accessing diverse perspectives is essential to realising the benefits of the Three Waters programme. This diversity of perspective is already visible through the Te Wharekura o Mauao programme, with students drawing on their existing knowledge to complete the tasks, For instance, during the bridge building challenge, one team

chose to weave their bridge together, which just wouldn’t have happened in a different environment. It really highlights the importance of diversity of thought, and that’s what the sector needs.

Looking ahead

As Aurecon embarks on the second year of the programme, it is looking to enhance it to deliver even better outcomes: • Implement a Design Challenge focuses on real life projects the school or hapu need done. This would enable teachers to grade the work undertaken.

• Standardising activities for year groups, so that students are continually challenged. For example, year 9 students create a catapult, year 10s focus on rollercoasters.

• Showcase the different pathways into engineering careers with presentations from polytechnics, contractors, and partner organisations.

• Deliver more activities that showcase water careers.

• Strengthen relationships.

Ultimately, the aim is to develop a framework that can be adopted in other schools to extend outreach. Attracting more Māori into engineering will require a cross-industry approach, so our hope is that this programme is scalable and can be adopted by schools and consultancies across Aotearoa.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND SUSTAINABILITY

Making fertiliser from treated wastewater There’s a new, premium fertiliser in the market, with a uniquely local, Auckland point of difference. Watercare writes about its latest venture.

Emerge struvite is a sand-like, slow-release fertiliser made from phosphorus and nitrogen that crystalises during the wastewater treatment process.

It’s a natural product that’s extracted, sun dried, sieved and sorted at a resource recovery facility at Watercare’s Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Resource recovery manager Rob Tinholt says it’s odour and pathogen free, making it ideal for growing plants and grass.

“We are taking something traditionally seen as waste and harnessing the good in it.

“We have shifted our thinking of what it is we do from simply treating wastewater to realising we have one of the highest phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations right at our fingertips, so we are developing practical ways of extracting that nutrient value to return to soil.

“One of our key priorities as a company is to be fully sustainable, so it’s a natural progression to look at how we can apply circular economy principles to reimagine waste as a valuable resource.”

After conducting several trials and meeting the standards for being recognised as a normal fertiliser, according to the New Zealand Fertiliser Association Code of Practice, Watercare made its first sale of the product to a turf management company earlier this year.

It’s now being applied to support turf growth on fields and help prepare grounds for winter sports seasons.

“This sale was a watershed moment on our resource recover journey and a positive step forward as part of our long-term plan to create a range of products from treated wastewater.”

Will Bowden, manager of NZ Turf Management Solutions, who is an independent turf consultant, sees significant value in this approach and ethos. He’s been involved with initial struvite trials and found it to be so successful that he’s recommending it for clients across a range of turf applications.

He’s also looking at the fertiliser’s future potential to support pasture growth.

“When you think about some of the ethics and the carbon footprint of importing fertilisers – in particular phosphorus – from overseas, the value of using a locally-produced product like struvite is a no-brainer.

“The added bonus is that struvite is also mitigating waste generation here.

“Regional governments and community stakeholders are more engaged than ever in the work we do to deliver quality sports surfaces and recreational facilities within a sustainable framework.

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Watercare resource recovery manager Rob Tinholt with a bag of Emerge, a slow-release fertiliser made from treated wastewater.

“The potential of using struvite as a supplementary amendment for turf nutrition aligns well with our commitment to researching sustainable products and specifying ‘better’ alternatives to the amenity sector.”

Watercare has capacity to produce hundreds of tonnes of struvite a year and has plans to expand the product’s market reach over the next few months.

Proceeds from any sales are recovered by the resource recovery workstream in support of further investigations.

Rob is also experimenting with making an organic potting mix from treated biosolids – a major and nitrogen-rich by-product of treating wastewater.

So far, he has successfully grown more than 10,000 seedlings in potting mixes with different ratios of pasteurised biosolids and other organic material, like bark.

Once he’s perfected the mix, the next step is to find markets for the potting mix.

Currently, a few seedlings are sold, but most from the trials are given away for free to local marae, schools, and community groups.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA

Rethinking flood management plans Severe floods in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales have authorities across Australia reconsidering their flood management strategies.

But the challenges are significant. By Lachlan Haycock.

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Record-breaking floods in Lismore, in northeast New South Wales.

Households and businesses have been impacted by the floods in Lismore and elsewhere along eastern Australia. Top: Lismore Catholic Church.

Record-breaking floods in Lismore, in northeast NSW, have prompted the local council to hold off on implementing its new flood management plan, with further improvements being deemed necessary to fortify the town against future disasters.

Lismore City Council has gone back to the drawing board after the town was ravaged by unprecedented flooding from late February. Wilsons River in Lismore peaked at 14.4 metres, exceeding the previous record by two metres.

Last year, the council engaged Engeny Water Management to prepare a new flood risk management plan, including lifting the levee to better protect the central business district. But Lismore mayor Steve Krieg told media the unprecedented nature of last month’s flooding meant the plan would need revisiting.

At least 17 people have died across the affected regions,

including 11 in Queensland and six in New South Wales.

Professor Ashish Sharma, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW, noted the disaster has shone a light on the need for an evolving approach to flood management.

“Australia’s infrastructure … has been designed assuming certain flat rainfall patterns. The main thing I hope will come out of this is that engineers will recognise that the flat patterns are changing, especially at the extreme end.

“We have structures to contain water flow – levees and other stormwater drainage structures – that have been built assuming that the water that comes down from the sky will be more or less of a certain level. But that is increasing and will continue to increase in the future.”

He said that new infrastructure planning will often consider MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA

a warming climate in its design, but the management of existing infrastructure can prove more problematic.

“New infrastructure guidelines are taking into account the change global warming is bringing. The recommendations that are in place say that you have to fool-proof your designs to allow for a certain degree increase in temperatures and an extra amount of rainfall. Engineers are doing this across Australia.

“The issue is the old infrastructure – what do you do with the stormwater pipes in Sydney for example? That’s where it gets tricky.”

Too large, too few

Sharma noted the weighty financial considerations involved in adapting existing infrastructure to a warming climate.

“Redesigning or finding ways of enhancing existing infrastructure is sometimes a costly endeavour.

“The only way is to pump in more money so the infrastructure can be upgraded to account for the changes that are happening.

I don’t see any other way around that. It requires capital investment.”

Sharma noted the importance of recognising what those floods mean against a bigger picture of a changing climate.

“With all of this flood news, people seem to have forgotten that in 2019 we were running completely dry. There were bushfires all over Australia.

“The extreme floods that overwhelm our infrastructure are increasing. But I believe the bigger issue is that the very frequent floods, the ones that happen every year, that fill up our dams –

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they are actually decreasing.

“The one-in-100-years flood is probably becoming a one-in80-years flood. And you’re having the one-year flood becoming a one-and-a-half-year flood.”

Risk appetites

Households and businesses have been impacted by the floods in Lismore and elsewhere along eastern Australia, and as flood levels recede and the recovery begins, considerations around insurance come to the fore.

Data from the Insurance Council of Australia has indicated that insurers had received up to 70,000 claims as of Friday, March 4, with the value of those claims estimated to total over $1 billion.

In the longer term, changes to flooding patterns must impact insurance premiums.

“Insurers use the same models that the SES uses, or the Bureau of Meteorology uses, or the councils use.”

He noted how such models, which illustrate which properties might undergo damage during a flood event under certain rainfall conditions, dictate the setting of insurance premiums.

But developments in flood modelling might not be reflected by insurers immediately, which would need to change if progress is to be made.

“Sometimes there might be a lag in models accounting for those developments.”

First published in Water Source. Reprinted with the permission of the Australian Water Association.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONSTRUCTION

Underground upgrade Above ground, Tauranga’s exploding growth is clearly obvious for eyes to see.

What’s happening underground, however, is more complicated, as Tauranga City Council deals with upgrading its infrastructure and wastewater disposal.

By Clay Adams, technical sales manager, Blick.

80 www.waternz.org.nz

Te Maunga is a key junction within the city; a State Highway 2 interchange that connects Papamoa and Mt Maunganui with Tauranga via the Eastern Link. Currently, a massive upheaval is taking place with the construction of an overpass at the junction. However, a few hundred metres down the highway, another major project is also underway. Never to be seen – this work is all buried deep underground.

Since April 2021, consultants, contractors, and suppliers have been deeply involved in replacing the wastewater pipeline at the Te Maunga Landward Outfall.

Running from Tauranga’s wastewater treatment plant by Welcome Bay’s estuary on the western side of the Tauranga Eastern Link, the pipe route follows a line to eventual discharge at sea towards the east. A crucial segment includes ducting beneath SH2, which carries 21,000 vehicles a day, a number that is only increasing. A rail line also runs alongside, which is a main freight link to the Port of Tauranga.

With such critical infrastructure running above the pipe route, it was vital to minimise the impact on traffic and rail links. This was the biggest challenge, and involved slip-

With the outfall outdated and under capacity, the $16 million project required old pipework to be replaced along a 1700 metre section with new 1200mm high-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CONSTRUCTION

lining a segment of new pipeline 100 metres through an existing concrete duct beneath the expressway.

Te Maunga’s western side is a growing industrial area. To the east, residential growth is also exploding along the coast between Mt Maunganui and Papamoa.

With the outfall outdated and under capacity, the $16 million project required old pipework to be replaced along a 1700 metre section with new 1200mm high-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping.

A further 250 metre section will be replaced with 710 HDPE piping, together with the lining of a 450 metre section of existing pipeline with cured in place pipe (CIPP).

The first challenge was tackled by a joint effort between Tonic Consultants, main contractor HEB Construction, and Blick.

To successfully navigate a new pipeline through the existing concrete duct, first, a wheeled robotic camera was sent through the pipe to assess the situation. This revealed pipe joints that were aligned in such a way they had variable joint spacing, as well as lip heights that ranged up to 10mm.

Part way through the longest section, the concrete duct also reduced in size.

To bridge the gap between the two sizes, a concrete ramp was built, which the carrier pipe had to travel up. A solution was needed that would allow joint gaps to ride over the lips and up the concrete ramp.

The further the pipe was installed, the more the lips would be encountered. This would increase the resistance to the installation.

A total of 1880 heavy-duty casing spacers were used. These were wrapped around the pipeline at intervals as the pipeline was slipdrawn through the duct.

These particular spacers feature a special load-sharing system.

Manufactured from an engineered thermoplastic blend, this has a low coefficient of friction, high-flexural strength, high temperature and abrasion resistance.

Combined, these features allow each casing spacer to traverse an uneven casing pipeline – in this case, the concrete duct sitting below SH2.

Compounding this was the need to work alongside the existing pipeline.

Council restraints restricted shutdowns and how much time was allowed for the pipeline to be offline before reconnecting to ensure continuity of wastewater flow.

With the completion of this section, contractors are now working on the eastern side of the expressway in an open-trench construction.

The next challenge involves minimising the impact on nearby housing in what is a narrow easement and corridor leading to the termination point and manhole at the beach.

That is an above-the-ground issue – more easily mitigated, with noise barrier walls and careful monitoring.

Conquering what lies below ground says a lot about overcoming the tricky problems encountered in this project’s initial phase. Excellent planning, technical support and advice contributed to a successful outcome in a challenging situation.

As work continues on the final stage, the Te Maunga Landward Outfall upgrade remains on target for completion by the end of August this year.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CYBER SECURITY

The risk from cyber threats An insightful report into protecting industrial control systems, published by Deloitte, highlights the potential risk of cyber attacks water utilities and other critical infrastructure providers are exposed to, and the steps that should be taken to mitigate this potentially deadly threat.

The critical infrastructure that provides energy, water supply, transportation, and telecommunications – the foundations of our societies and economies – is fundamentally changing due to the digital revolution. Mission-critical assets and processes enabling these essential industries are powered by operation technology (OT) with industrial control systems (ICS) making up the key components.

Unfortunately, infrastructure operators are not always equipped to protect these environments against modern cyber security threats, which have become amplified since Covid-19.

Deloitte says the attack surface and risks to both operational technology and IT are increasing significantly. This is due to the ongoing convergence of OT and IT, and the emergence of Industry 4.0 ecosystems relying on highly connected devices, including the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

At the same time, the increasing sophistication of today’s threats leaves legacy OT and ICS – prevalent in critical infrastructure sectors – more vulnerable to attack than ever before, as seen with various incidents over the past decade.

The resilience of our essential infrastructure to cyber-attacks needs vast and overdue improvement. Yet we find ourselves at a critical juncture as the challenge of securing these infrastructures grows with the blurring of boundaries between IT and OT, and disruptive technological innovations that introduce further complexity.

To a large extent, OT has historically operated independently from corporate IT systems, with business tasks and teams on one side, and industrial processing on the other. This saw ICS based on different standards designed by vendors using proprietary languages and protocols. ICS components were used in closed loops and couldn’t communicate with devices from other vendors, let alone IT networks.

Their physical isolation and use of purpose-build technologies meant they benefitted from a natural buffer from cyber threats. Yet they were not completely immune – plant computers, left unchecked and exposed through internet modems, could easily be compromised and leveraged to create chaos.

Industrial systems became increasingly connected as they progressively adopted internet protocols and standards, eroding the natural buffer that shielded them.

This convergence of IT and OT can be observed nearly everywhere as organisations further digitise their systems and processes to be more efficient and reliable. The buffer is disappearing.

Accelerating this trend, is the transition to Industry 4.0. Also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0 refers to the marriage of physical assets and advanced digital technologies.

These technologies allow critical infrastructure operators to become more agile, improve their customer service, and better manage their assets. They also greatly add to an organisation’s digital data and connectivity requirements, making them not only

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more integrated but larger and more complex.

As a result of this integration trend, organisations face greater risks to both their OT and IT systems. Avenues for cyber attacks against critical systems are on the rise. At the same time, more sophisticated threats such as some recent ransomware and state-sponsored attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent.

The impacts of cyber attacks can go beyond operational downtime and financial hardship – an attack on OT systems could have devastating consequences.

The good news is that several standards and frameworks have been defined to help critical infrastructure operators improve the security posture of their ICS and form a resilient foundation for an OT cyber security programme.

Increasing use of internationally recognised standards is being seen in the Asia Pacific region from China to New Zealand.

However, Deloitte says it is evident that governments, organisations, and even standards are playing catch-up with evolving cyber threats to critical infrastructure. While these threats evolved over decades, OT systems were seldom overhauled and the majority still lack builtin security features. Such legacy infrastructure presents a double challenge: systems are particularly vulnerable and also difficult to protect as this requires retrofitting security controls to environments not designed with security in mind.

To address this challenge, a recent breed of cyber security solutions has been developed with inherent understanding of how even legacy OT systems communicate, function, and operate. These specialist solutions can help organisations map out their current ICS asset landscapes, and their ongoing threats and vulnerabilities.

In turn, newer ICS architectures and components are now increasingly being built with ‘security by design’ at the forefront by leveraging OT security guidelines, standards, and blueprints.

Critical infrastructure organisations need to establish integrated IT/ OT cyber security programmes to guard against risks. To do this, it falls on them to raise awareness of security concerns around OT and improve their teams’ understanding of all OT assets, from operator workstations to PLCs. Deloitte says these organisations can approach securing their systems and assets by adopting a framework that covers the three areas of people, process, and technology. By arming people with the knowledge and tools to mitigate risk, developing processes to manage and respond to threats, and using the right technology to detect and triage security breaches, organisation can effectively address challenges and combat threats.

This is taken from the Deloitte report, Building cyber security into critical infrastructure – Protecting industrial control systems in Asia Pacific. To read the full report, go to www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/ risk/articles/building-cyber-security-into-critical-infrastructure.html

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CYBER SECURITY

Protecting water infrastructure from cyber attacks

By Alex Lauder, Combined Technologies The goal of hackers is to take control of an organisation’s resources.

Depending on their motivation, they will either sell acquired credentials on the Dark Web or use them to encrypt computers and extort money, as in case of Waikato District Health Board in 2021.

Critical infrastructure organisations attract special interest from hacking groups due to the scale of the potential negative outcomes.

State-sponsored teams actively try to conduct reconnaissance attacks to gather sensitive information and use it to achieve control over a critical resource.

Causing harm to the population of a town, city, or large geographic area by poisoning the drinking water supply is a high impact example of a critical infrastructure attack.

In the case of a Florida Treatment Plant in 2021, an outdated version of Windows (operating system) and a weak cyber security network allowed access to the treatment plant’s computer system and the manipulation of chemical levels in the drinking water which if not detected would have been catastrophic for the local population.

Cyber attacks have reportedly increased across OT/ICS (Operational Technology / Industrial Control Systems) organisations by 80 percent in 2021, according to the Claroty report.

Recovery from a cyber-attack is estimated to cost between USD3.2 million and USD4 million (IBM 2020 estimates) on top of any ransomware costs paid, and the risk of national infrastructure shutdowns, economic production and risk to life and well-being.

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In the light of recent significant cyber-attacks, it’s obvious that cyber security must be addressed in any organisation.

The question is where to start?

Cyber security 101 - assessment

Cyber security risks broadly cover the areas of hardware and software, roles and resourcing, policies, processes, and physical security.

Assessing an organisational cyber security risk is based on understanding their vulnerabilities and how they can be exploited to harm the business, people, and environment.

Undertaking a cyber security assessment allows organisations to identify the vulnerabilities and specific methods of attack (vectors) relevant to them. Once identified, steps to mitigate risk and reduce organisational vulnerabilities can be put in place.

There are several standards and frameworks which can be used to facilitate the process of spotting vulnerabilities: NIST Cyber Security Framework, NIST 800-82R2 Guide to Industrial Control Systems Security, ISA/IEC 62443 Standards of security development of Industrial Automation and Control Systems, ISO 27000 series, NSCS Voluntary Cyber Security Standards for Industrial Control Systems.

All these standards provide a broad, high-level approach and require a specialist to translate specific security requirements to actions and controls specific to the organisation.

Typical vulnerabilities No cyber security policy

An organisational security programme is the set of policies, processes and procedures describing different aspects of cybersecurity governance, physical security, administrative measures, and technical controls.

Many existing practices across the industry indicate only a limited number of technical security controls are in place.

These controls have been deployed based on the existing experience and knowledge of the engineers responsible for either networks or automation systems and frequently aren’t reflective of industry best practice.

Establishing an organisational security programme starts with identifying key roles, responsibilities, and a set of important policies addressing the organisation's cybersecurity posture.

Examples of policies include an inventory management policy, patch management policy, and business continuity policy.

Firewall vulnerabilities

There is a common misconception that a firewall gives an infinite level of protection against cyber threats. Firewall design, configuration and alignment to an organisation's specific needs and vulnerabilities is critical in its ability to work against malicious intruders.

The balance between function and cost is often visible when it comes to level of firewall capability. It isn’t uncommon to find situations where a consumer-grade firewall has been deployed in an environment with much higher and more complex security needs.

Unlike consumer-grade firewalls, enterprise-level firewalls can detect complex reconnaissance activities and intrusion attempts and inform experts in real time about the suspicious anomalies.

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WATER NEW ZEALAND CYBER SECURITY

Managing the balance between budget and risk protection is constant for many organisations and while investing in enterprise-level firewalls can appear significant, the cost of downtime, lost earnings and reputational damage is much higher.

Regardless of capability, a firewall provides the first layer of what should be a multilayer approach to cybersecurity. Human error is a common cause of firewall breaches, so it is important to set up several layers of protection and constantly monitor activity.

Attacker has too many privileges in the network.

Once a hacker or a ransomware is already in the network, malicious activities should be detected and shutdown.

If it’s not possible to shut down an illegitimate action, then the attacker’s activities should be impeded as much as possible.

A simple flat network structure or close to flat structure gives an attacker an advantage in carrying out malicious actions. The implementation of security zones, and the minimisation and filtering of communications between zones via firewall rules, and monitoring of communications are recommended.

Lack of resiliency for critical production systems and services

If hackers gain access to the network and ownership of critical components, they can implement a Denial-of-Service attack disconnecting critical services and systems from the operational environment and disrupting business operations. This can include tampering with critical systems, such as safety measures or chemical dosing.

The impact of such an attack could cause harm to people both directly and through the delayed restoration of services.

Mitigating such an outcome involves duplication of both physical and logical network components and the development of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.

Lack of control over remote access

This risk is often the result of unpatched software on VPN firewalls. This vulnerability is then exploited through leakage of user’s credentials and poor configuration of the remote access system. If intruders are already in the network, then a monitoring system should be able to detect them and disconnect them from the network at the early stage.

All remote access connections should be placed in special perimeter network or Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and should be monitored and controlled. Any suspicious activity in the remote access connection should trigger an immediate disconnection from the network.

Lack of sensitive data confidentiality

If data is transmitted in unencrypted form, it can be easily intercepted by attackers, and sensitive information can be leaked. This risk can be mitigated via the encryption capability of properly configured communication devices.

Particular attention should be given to encryption in systems like remote access solutions, radio linking systems, and secure access to the network devices for configuration.

The importance of a monitoring service

Protecting the core of OT networks from cyber security risk • Delivering asset visibility, monitoring and active protection • Providing multilevel Security Operations support (SOC) and; • Assessment, training and remediation services

first-watch.co.nz

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A security assessment is a snapshot of an organisation’s security position at a point in time. The first assessment will become a benchmark, it will identify current vulnerabilities but does not resolve them.

System security misconfigurations and undetected intrusions could occur (or continue to occur) after the assessment, completely compromising the organisation’s operational environment.

Implementing a security and network monitoring service provides another layer of protection to your organisation’s network by actively monitoring logs and security events to detect malicious actions and remaining informed about potential security incidents.

Developing a multifaceted approach

Ensuring an organisation’s cybersecurity position is strong is a multifaceted approach requiring collaboration from specialists across the organisation.

Either appointing a security expert as a member of the organisation or working with a cybersecurity technology partner is essential in ensuring policies, processes and procedures are both created, implemented, and monitored across the organisation.

Critical infrastructure organisations are the attractive goal for malicious intruders. In the majority of cases these organisations are part of the national critical infrastructure.

Cyber security must be taken seriously to keep the community safe and minimise disruption to critical services.

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Five pump myths debunked Setting the record straight on system design, setup, and maintenance. By Peter Gaydon, director of technical affair, Hydraulic Institute (New Jersey, USA).

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Pump system misconceptions create missed opportunities for greater efficiency and cost savings. With pumps typically accounting for 40 percent of the energy use in industrial fluid systems, facilities cannot afford misunderstandings around the technology and its requirements.

Whether for food and beverage production, wastewater disposal, or anything in between, designing fluid systems with these five truths can make the critical difference in operational success.

Water, wastewater and water managment; pumping solutions for all your requirements.

Myth 1: Buying and installing the system is the most expensive part of pump system ownership.

Truth: Many people assume that the initial purchase and

installation costs are the most expensive aspect of a pump system’s complete life-cycle cost. In reality, energy and maintenance are responsible for the lion’s share of system expenses.

A typical pump system, for example, often boasts a lengthy lifespan of more than 20 years. Throughout this period of ownership, it is likely that 65 percent or more of costs will go toward keeping it operational (energy and maintenance). The original purchase and install make up less than 20 percent of costs.

Choosing a less expensive system or installation process can result in an even greater disparity in these percentages.

Considering this ratio, it is important to understand total life-cycle cost and how purchasing the most efficient pump that is properly selected and controlled for the system will cut costs over time versus getting hung up on the initial price tag.

At Brown Brothers Engineers we have extensive capabilities with a wide range of quality pump manufacturers including:

Myth 2: Pumps are often the source of an entire system’s operational inefficiency.

Drainage pumps

Multi-stage pumps

Truth: As with many technologies, efficiencies – and a lack

Borehole pumps

thereof – stem not only from efficient equipment design but also from proper sizing and operating methods.

Inherently, pumps offer relatively high efficiencies, however, their operational efficiency is tied to system design and operation. For example, the most efficient possible pump could be used and operated at its best efficiency point, but if the system requires less flow or pressure than the efficient pump is providing, the system is operating inefficiently.

Remember, the operational requirements that draw energy, such as flowrate and pressure, are requirements of the system. System design should precede pump selection and include careful considerations around how the setup uses energy, identifying ideal pump size and flowrates.

Understanding what level of pressure – or head – the specific system requires, and how it will vary over time, will guide optimal pump selection and control.

After these system requirements have been considered, comparing energy consumption rates for pumps and systems in the marketplace and looking at potential power savings from system upgrades and changes, will yield the greatest improvements in energy and maintenance efficiencies.

Variable speed drives & controllers

Grinders

Drum & contrainer pumps

Screens

Contact us today to find out how we can assist with all your water requirements.

Myth 3: The technology used for pump systems is dated and unsophisticated.

Truth: Today’s pumps are not your grandfather’s pumps.

Ph: 0508 4 BBENG www.brownbros.co.nz

10/21

Technology has advanced to make pumps – and their interaction with the system – increasingly agile and intelligent.

The introduction of smart pumps creates an adaptive system that knows the pump’s performance parameters,

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WATER NEW ZEALAND TECHNICAL

analyses activity and can adjust pump operations in response to demand.

Using these learnings and adjusting the control can minimise downtime and increase efficiency (i.e., automatically changing control pressure setting based on a building’s actual heating or cooling demand).

Myth 4: Pumps are typically unnecessarily oversized.

Truth: If and when pumps are ‘oversized’, meaning a safety factor is built in, it is to account for uncertainty in flow and pressure requirements, and sometimes future demands. It is important to consider this uncertainty because having a pump that is undersized for the demand will result in poor utility. In these cases, close management at commissioning can ensure that unnecessary power consumption is not occurring.

To limit the effect of an oversized pump, implement proper commissioning when the pump is installed and determine if the system can be balanced to limit flowrates, if a smaller impeller will reduce power consumption or if a control setting can be adjusted and still meet the system requirements.

In systems that have variable conditions, it is likely advantageous to purchase a pump that includes a variable frequency drive, which can also help with oversizing by reducing the maximum operating speed to meet the system’s actual requirements.

Myth 5: Variable speed drives always increase pump efficiency.

Truth: When variable conditions exist, think of throttling the pump flowrate with a control valve akin to adjusting speed in the car with the brake, but not taking a foot off the accelerator.

There is no question that variable speed pumping can boost system efficiency, but a common misconception is that simply adding a variable frequency drive is enough to improve system efficiency.

In truth, there are a few more boxes to check when implementing the functionality. Does the system require variable operation? Does the system contain instrumentation to measure the system variable (i.e., pressure, flow, power, temperature, etc) and feedback so that speed can be adjusted to meet a set point for this variable?

Adding a variable speed drive to a pump without these considerations will not result in energy savings. Instead, approach this technology with a sense of how it will fall into your complete system and plans for extracting the right information.

Abridged. This article originally appeared in the November 2021 issue of Water Environment & Technology magazine.

Reprinted with permission from the Water Environment Federation. All rights reserved.

Safeguard your environment and your costs.

Keep ahead of stricter effluent discharge consent conditions, without blowing your budget.

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Talk to us about how you can safeguard your community’s environment with one of our cost effective transportable wastewater treatment plants.

Prefabricated to your specifications at our Auckland workshop, each plant occupies a small footprint requiring only minor construction work on site.

The EffBuster® NITRO is a compact containerised biological treatment unit suitable for a broad range of municipal sewerage and industrial wastewater applications.

Lease a pilot plant to get accurate data prior to applying for resource consent.

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Building Solutions Together

Cla-Val Control Valves Since 1936, Cla-Val has produced the world’s highest quality automatic control valves for a diverse array of applications and marketplaces. The most common Cla-Valves you will find in the waterworks sector are the • 90-01 Pressure Reducing Valve • 50-01 Pressure Relief Valve • 50-90 Pressure Sustaining Valve

Cla-Val AQUA Air Valves • Allows in air when draining the pipeline • Allows air out when filling the pipeline • Allows accumulated air out of pipeline under normal operation • Anti-Slam controls air release under pump trip applications to safeguard the pipeline

Cla-Val X43H Strainer The Cla-Val Model X43H Strainer offers an effective means of removing unwanted solid particles in pipeline flow. These strainers are ideal for preventing fouling, debris and particle build up in Cla-Val Automatic Control Valves. The large flow area design, with a flat stainless-steel strainer mesh perpendicular to flow, is optimized for low pressure drop applications.

Cla-Val Smart Valve Capabilities When Cla-Val released the VC-22D Electronic Valve Controller, we knew it was a game-changer. We understood immediately that we had designed a product with immense potential.

In one small device that you can easily hold in one hand, the ability to control a multitude of waterworks valve applications exists. Pressure Control with Upstream or Downstream Feedback, Flow Control with Mag Meter or Electronic Flow Meter; Modulating Level Control; Ratio Control; Altitude and Level Control; Logging; Pump Control and Pressure Management are a few of the more common applications the VC-22D can control.

One common example of the VC-22D is paired with the Cla-Val Model 390-07 Electronically Actuated Pressure Reducing Control Valve. The 390-07 is a Pressure Reducing Control Valve with a Manual Hydraulic Bypass that combines precise control of field proven Cla-Val hydraulic pilots with simple, remote valve control.

The 390-07 Pressure Reducing Valve automatically reduces a higher inlet pressure to a steady lower downstream pressure regardless of changing flow rate and/or varying inlet pressure. This valve is an accurate, pilot-operated regulator capable of holding downstream pressure to a pre-determined limit. The valve uses a CRD34 electronically actuated control pilot, consisting of a hydraulic pilot and integral controller that accepts a remote set-point command input and makes set-point adjustments to the pilot.

Cla-Val Asia Pacific 45 Kennaway Road, Woolston, Christchurch Tel: +64 (0)3 964 4860 Email: aspacsales@cla-val.com www.cla-valpacific.com

Manage freshwater phosphate issues with Phoslock®

phoslock.com.au

Eco-friendly and effective, Phoslock removes excess phosphate from waterbodies safely and permanently.

Phoslock’s proprietary technology is the sustainable way to remediate fresh waterways and manage eutrophication issues.

Approved for drinking water supplies in the US and with hundreds of successful treatments around the world, it is the environmentally safe way to return waterways to their natural state by removing excess nutrients.

Contact your local agent to learn more.

Call Don on 027 494 9016 or don.wardle@croptech.co.nz

Targeted information

The water sector resource for access to the companies that can provide expertise and supply your needs.

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IMAGE: KHADIJA FARAH/OXFAM

DROUGHT WATER NEW ZEALAND

East Africa in crisis As many as 28 million people across East Africa are at risk of extreme hunger if rains fail again.

With the unfolding crisis in Ukraine taking their attention, there is a real danger that the international community will not respond adequately to the escalating hunger crisis in East Africa until it is too late.

Oxfam says that a massive “no regrets” mobilisation of international humanitarian aid is needed now to avert destitution and to help the 21 million people already facing severe levels of hunger in the midst of conflict, flooding, and a massive two-year drought – unprecedented in 40 years – in countries across East Africa.

Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam, says, East Africa faces a profoundly alarming hunger crisis.

“Areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and beyond are experiencing an unfolding full-scale catastrophe. Even if the rains do arrive this month, full recovery will be near impossible unless urgent action is taken today.”

She adds that the repercussions of the Ukrainian conflict on the global food system will reverberate around the globe, but it is the poorest and most vulnerable people who will be among those hit hardest and fastest.

“Rising food prices are a hammer blow to millions of people who are already suffering multiple crises, and make the huge shortfall in aid potentially lethal.”

Countries in East Africa import up to 90 percent of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia. As disruptions begin to affect the global trade in grains, oil, transport and fertiliser, food prices are beginning to skyrocket. In Somalia, the prices for staple grains were more than double those of the previous year.

Ahmed, aged 70, a pastoralist from Kenya, says that life has become much more difficult.

“Due to the droughts our donkeys have perished and the ones remaining are too weak to pull carts.

“My only tuktuk is now parked idle because I can’t afford its fuel. I no longer have my camels or goats, I think about what my family will

Asli Duqow makes black tea for her children to drink. Before the drought she was able to cook three meals a day and give them tea with milk from her livestock.

eat, where will their next meal come from, whether I will get the daily jerrycan of water.”

Nyadang Martha is from South Sudan and says in the 40 years of his life, he has never seen anything like what is happening in Akobo.

“For the past four years, it is either flood, drought, famine, violence, or Covid. This is just too much. I am tired of living.”

The world cannot again talk itself into inertia as people are pushed into extreme food insecurity, says Bucher.

“To not act now would be immoral and a dereliction of the humanitarian imperative.”

Despite alarming need, the humanitarian response is woefully underfunded. Only three percent of the total US$6 billion the UN 2022 humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan, has been funded to date. Kenya has only secured 11 percent of its UN flash appeal to date.

Oxfam, together with local partners, is redoubling its support for those impacted by the East African hunger crisis, aiming to reach over 1.5 million people most in need with lifesaving water, cash, shelter, and sanitation facilities.

“East Africa cannot wait. The hunger crisis, fuelled by changes in our climate and Covid is worsening by the day.

“And as we witness the tremors triggered by the failure in international efforts to tackle the climate crisis, we underscore the need to ramp up action on climate adaptation and mitigation.”

Are you interested in helping? Go to oxfam.org.nz to learn more.

Article supplied by Oxfam.

MAY/JUNE 2022 WATER NEW ZEALAND

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WATER NEW ZEALAND DECONTAMINATION

Dealing with phosphate residues Water bodies contaminated by phosphate present a particular challenge to those tasked with cleaning them up. By Brendon Burns.

Many water bodies have a phosphate legacy, largely derived from fertiliser run-off, dairy, and other effluent from livestock production, and stormwater discharges.

The principal effect of phosphorus in lakes and other waterbodies is it feeds nuisance algae and invasive weeds; it can choke healthy life and cause the water body to become eutrophic.

In Auckland, two of the four Chelsea Ponds, which sit near the sugar refinery and cover a few hectares in total, suffer from algal blooms and poor water quality fed by phosphorus from stormwater runoff. The Auckland council was due to treat this phosphate problem using an Australian treatment called Phoslock. Unfortunately the Covid-19 lockdown has delayed application until this coming winter.

However, Michael Doyle, head of R&D for Phoslock Environmental Technologies says there are similar challenges all over the globe.

“The Kiwis invented aerial topdressing and until the late 1990s, superphosphate dominated the applied fertiliser market.

Phosphate residues are now a global challenge.

“Phosphorus accumulates in the sediment of settled water bodies and, as the water industry knows, it helps feed cyanobacteria which produce harmful toxins.”

Australia’s national science agency CSIRO provided a solution more than 20 years ago with the development of Phoslock, which has since been applied to more than 300 water bodies around the world.

It is a formulation of bentonite (clay) and lanthanum, a naturally occurring rare-earth element which binds with phosphate to form an insoluble and biologically inert compound that does not release the phosphorus back into the water body. It

Process, Lab and Portable equipment Gas Measurement CEMS SOx/NOx Low level O2/H2S Toxic/Flammable PID and many more..

Liquid Measurement pH/Cond/ORP Turbidity/TSS DO/Nutrients Alkalinity/Hardness And many more..

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Rotterdam’s Kralingse Plas lake is visited and used by millions of people every year. Excessive nutrient levels and poor water quality led to a decision to seek remediation to deal with phosphate.

is generally applied as a slurry from the shoreline or from barges to the water’s surface.

When London was looking to host the Olympics a decade ago, Phoslock was used to treat Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake for phosphate contamination to attain water quality sufficient for Olympic and other swimmers.

Recently, a 100-hectare lake in one of the Dutch port city of Rotterdam’s most popular recreational areas has been re-opened to recreational use after treatment reduced algal blooms caused by high levels of phosphate in the sediments.

In most situations more than 90 percent of available phosphate is bound within three hours of application with no toxic effects on humans, animals, fish and aquatic plants.

CIWEM HAS A NETWORK OPERATING IN NEW ZEALAND. It is the only Royal Chartered professional body dedicated to water and the environment sector.

If you’d like to explore how to become a chartered professional in NZ go to:

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The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

Contact Dan Stevens: dan.stevens@beca.com or Peter.Brooks@greenscenenz.com

Wayne Telfer General Manager

Mobile: 027 491 4697 Office: 09 278 7109 Email: wayne@conhur.com Web: www.conhur.com 34 Oakleigh Avenue, Takanini, Auckland 2112 PO Box 204021, Highbrook Mail Centre, Manukau 2161 Dredging, Dewatering, Biosolids Cartage and Beneficial Reuse, Sludge Surveys, Wet / Dry Hire of Mechanical Dewatering Equipment Member Water NZ Member PWWA Member ANZBP Member AWA Member WIOA

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WATER NEW ZEALAND ADVERTISER'S INDEX 43South ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57 ACO Limited �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 82 Acuflo Industries Ltd (part of Deeco) ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 Agruline ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55 APD ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 75 Applied Instruments Group Ltd ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73 Arthur D Riley & Co Ltd ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 85 ASSA ABLOY �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21 Aurecon ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 72 Babbage ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48 Blick ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 83 Brown Bros ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 91 Chemfeed ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������30 Cirtex Industries ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 89 CKL ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 81 Cla-Val Pacific ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93 Combined Technologies ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 88 Deeco Services Ltd ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� IFC Eliot Sinclair ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 87 Environment Products Int Ltd ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 37,49,51 Geofabrics ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49 GHD ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Guaranteed Flow Systems ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 92 Humes ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Hynds ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 75 ifm Electronics ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61 Itron Metering Systems Singapore ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������09 Kaeser Compressors ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 63 MacEwans ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Marshall Projects ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59 Mason Engineers ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79

MTL ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34 NZ Controls ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 Phathom ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 63 Phoslock Environmental Technologies ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 94 Prime Pump ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35 Promains ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 26 Pump and Valve ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13 Reliant Solutions ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53 Rendertech ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27 Swan �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 65 Taumata Arowai ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 Teltherm Instruments ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42 Water Supply Products �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������IBC Waterco ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47 Xylem �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������OBC

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