Tāmaki Makaurau is on track to meet its targets to reduce water consumption and the water supply target for recycled water capacity. That’s according to the annual progress report for the Auckland Water Strategy.
The Auckland Water Strategy (2022 – 2050) is Auckland Council’s 30-year approach to water, guided by the vision te mauri o te wai – that the life-sustaining capacity of Auckland’s water is protected and enhanced.
The Policy and Planning Committee heard a progress report in its recent meeting. Chair of the committee, Councillor Richard Hills, welcomed this report and acknowledged our complex relationship with water.
“We’ve seen the extremes of our relationship with water in recent years, from severe flooding to drought and water restrictions. The Auckland Water Strategy provides us with a guiding vision while ensuring that strategic direction is being progressed through efforts across the organisation to enhance our resilience to water-related natural hazards, improve our partnership with mana whenua, and improve our planning framework,” says Cr Hills.
“There have been some notable milestones achieved in the last year, especially around enhancing our resilience to water-related natural hazards and updating our planning framework. Through the Storm Response Fund and Making Space for Water programme, there’s been some great mahi to empower communities to prepare for a changing water future and enhance the uptake of resilient infrastructure.
“There’s more work to be done and it’s great to have a guiding vision as we continue to protect and enhance our relationship with, and management of, water in Tāmaki Makaurau.”
Highlights from the report
Highlights from the report included that Tāmaki Makaurau is still on track to achieve the strategy’s water consumption targets to reduce consumption below 253 litres per person per day by June 2025. This is despite a slight increase in per capita consumption in the 2023/2024 financial year.
Additionally, Tāmaki Makaurau has already exceeded its supply target of having at least 20M litres per day of recycled water capacity (that can be used in a productive way) by 2030. This is due to re-using purified wastewater in Watercare’s wastewater treatment plants as well as some major construction projects.
The report also noted that, of the 34 actions outlined by the strategy indicatively scoped for delivery by the end of June 2025, 15 are on track or complete, 16 are at risk of not being delivered within the envisioned timeframe, and three are behind schedule at the time of reporting.
“Strategic direction is being progressed through efforts across the organisation to enhance our resilience to water-related natural hazards, improve our partnership with mana whenua, and improve our planning framework,” says Dave Allen, Auckland Council’s Manager Natural Environment Strategy.
“However, resource constraints mean that delivering all 34 actions identified for delivery by 30 June 2025 will be a challenge. To support implementation, we’ve prioritised actions in the strategy to better support resource allocation over the next year and will be working closely with the leadership and staff in key departments across the organisation to enhance commitment to achieving delivery of the strategy’s actions.”
About the Water Strategy
The Auckland Water Strategy ensures that the protection and enhancement of water is a priority in our decision making. The strategy helps us ensure that all our future decision making, and investments will contribute to improving the health of our waters.
The Water Strategy framework centres around eight strategic shifts:
- Te Tiriti Partnership
- Empowered Aucklanders
- Sustainable Allocation and Equitable Access
- Regenerative Water Infrastructure
- Water Security
- Integrated Land-Use and Water Planning
- Restoring and Enhancing Water Ecosystems
- Pooling Knowledge.
