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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

Water New Zealand welcomes Government’s 30 year infrastructure plan

Water New Zealand welcomes the Government’s initiatives for better developing and maintaining New Zealand’s 3 waters infrastructure announced today as part of the 30 Year Infrastructure Plan 2015.

Water New Zealand is a strategic partner of the Treasury’s National Infrastructure Unit which produced the report*.

“New Zealand’s urban centres are rapidly growing and it is very encouraging to see that Central Government is facing the infrastructure challenges head on with an increased focus on developing a better understanding of water related infrastructure assets,” said John Pfahlert, CEO of Water New Zealand.

“Standardising and centralising the management of some of our 3 water infrastructure assets is essential if New Zealand wants to ensure it maximises existing assets and that new water infrastructure is built effectively and for the benefit of all users.

“As part of this, Water New Zealand’s recommendation to establish shared metadata standards for the country’s $45 billion of existing 3 waters pipelines has been recognised.

“This will ensure we have a consistent information base across the councils for assessing the condition of pipes and will ensure greater consistency in the collection and reporting of the condition of these pipes. This is important for calculating the level of expenditure by councils and allowing comparisons between councils,” said Mr Pfahlert.

The plan also signals a positive response to Water New Zealand’s proposal for the development of a set of National Rainfall and Runoff Standards to improve hydraulic modelling by councils.

“The Standards we put forward are designed to be used by council staff and engineers in the private sector and will ultimately improve the resilience of both urban and rural infrastructure, reduce insurance claims and reduce the risks from flood damage,” said Mr Pfahlert.

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