Media release: 16 August 2007

Bad-tasting bore water not acceptable for Kapiti, says Mayoral candidate Rowan

Kapiti Mayoral candidate Jenny Rowan says she will ensure the building of dams to provide a permanent and adequate supply of fresh water during summer droughts is given a new and serious consideration. She says, “bad-tasting water and strict rationing during summer has to stop.”

“I’m convinced one or more dams in the huge Waikanae catchments is the best chance of solving what is becoming an increasingly serious water problem for a rapidly increasing population,” she said during a campaign media launch in Paraparaumu earlier this week.

Rowan is the first Mayoral candidate to offer what could be a viable solution to an increasingly serious water supply problem for residents of Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Raumati.

“The present ‘solution’ of using foul-tasting bore water from below the Otaki River is not acceptable, not even sustainable,” Rowan says. “Not only does the high-mineral content corrode water jugs, cause dangerous electrical shorts, and burn plants, but the eventual damage to the aquifer from excessive over-use is still unknown. I’m not even sure the present Resource Consent permits us to use the bore water as we do without a more stringent water control policy.”

Later, Ms Rowan explained that less than ten years ago a number of dam sites in the Waikanae catchments were visited by engineers and hydrologists on behalf of Kapiti Coast District Council. “The results were amazing,” she says. “Reports suggest the amount of water available during the winter months is absolutely huge. The problem, and solution, is to catch and hold that water until we need it.”

She said the earlier reports received favourable comment from local engineers, the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Forest and Bird and local iwi.

“While I can appreciate the Council’s earlier desperate concern to provide water quickly – any water – to a drought-ridden district, their original decision to grab Otaki River water was all but illegal, and the second choice to go for bores was not much better.

“We have the time, now, to do the job properly. That’s what I intend to do,” says Jenny Rowan.

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