Water New Zealand

For many New Zealanders, flooding has shifted from a distant risk to a lived reality. In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland the severe floods of 2023 helped spark a transformation around the understanding of flood risk. In our latest podcast, hosts Jon Reed and Emily Afoa talk to Auckland Council flood risk leaders Nancy Baines and Nick Brown, about how communities now understand a lot more about flood risk...

As we ramp up investment in much needed water infrastructure, it’s vital that we get good return and that the investment prioritises economic opportunity, environmental impact and social wellbeing. In this episode of Tawara o te Wai, Jon and Emily speak with Jeff Whitty from the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission – Te Waihanga about what is needed to ensure an effective, efficient and resilient...

New water entities are being set up across the country. Faced with challenges around affordability and the need to address the long term infrastructure deficit, it’s been said that the success of the Local Water Done Well reforms will largely hinge on the experience, calibre and courage of new Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) board members. In this episode of Water New Zealand’s Tawara o te W...

Information disclosure will play a central role in improving the performance, accountability and long-term sustainability of Aotearoa New Zealand’s water services. In this edition of Water New Zealand's Tāwara o te Wai podcast series, hosts Jon Reed and Emily Afoa put the spotlight on the Commerce Commission to unravel what the information disclosure aspect of economic regulation means for cou...

Attracting people to the water industry is becoming a key challenge - with thousands of extra skilled staff needed to fill job vacancies over the next 30 years. In this Water New Zealand Tāwara o te Wai podcast, hosts Jon Reed and Emily Afoa spoke to two recent Water New Zealand award winners, Roanna Purcaru, who is the 2025 Young Water Professional of the Year and Jared Esaiah, who won the Traine...

How do you grapple with issues facing a community that will be below sea level by the turn of the century? It’s clear that something has to change. Jonathan Rowe, from the South Dunedin Future programme says the community is now looking at six possible solutions – from fight to flight and a range of options in between. He spoke to Tāwara o te Wai hosts Jon Reed and Emily Afoa about how the initiat...

Indigenous values and knowledge are increasingly embedded in our relationship with water both in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the Tasman. Ahead of Māori Language Week and the 10th IWA-ASPIRE and Water New Zealand Conference & Expo 2025 at Ōtautahi Christchurch, our hosts Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond are joined by Principal Aboriginal Cultural Advisor at Beca Hunter H20, Phil Duncan.  Phil’s a...

Councils have been under pressure to meet the September deadline for Water Services Delivery Plans and as part of that, finalise decisions about their future organisations – whether to form new Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) either on their own or across regional boundaries, or go it alone and continue to provide services in house. But whatever the decision, there won’t be a business as u...

Engineers working in flood management are well-versed in the technical aspects of flooding.  But what happens when you talk to distressed people who have just lived through deeply traumatic experiences? In this episode of Tāwara o te Wai , flood assessor Tom Nikkel and Auckland Council flood risk manager Fiona Macdonald,  working in the aftermath of the 2023 Auckland anniversary, reflect on the te...

As our plastic addiction continues to impact all corners of the globe, microplastics – tiny particles of plastic – that escape wastewater treatment plants have been found along our coastlines, throughout our water environment and in biosolids spread on land in Aotearoa New Zealand. Yet little is known about the long term impact on our environment - oceans, crops, soil and air and consequent health...

The water sector is facing global challenges – from climatechange to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity and resilience. Finding solutions to these problems is bigger than one organisation or even one country.  That’s why it’sbecoming increasingly important to share ideas and collaborate across the world. But the big challenge is how to do this on a practicallevel, and how to ensure...

Don’t be your organisation’s weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity, says audit manager, lawyer, director and cybersecurity enthusiast, Jennie Vickers. In our latest Water New Zealand Tawara o te Wai podcast, Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond were joined by Jennie and the director of Mission Enablement at the National Cybersecurity Centre, Mike Jagusch. As the pressure is on organisations to become...

Understanding the common ground between Mātauranga Māori and western engineering science is key to unlocking great partnerships between mana whenua and councils. Hastings District Council has developed a successful co-design approach enabling mana whenua partnership around water projects. This approach has led to the award-winning Waiaroha Discovery Centre combining hi-tech water treatment and com...

Ensuring that water utilities have good understanding and management of their assets will be a key performance indicator that the Commerce Commission will focus on when it takes up its role as the new economic water regulator. In this edition of Tāwara o te Wai Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond discuss economic regulation with Commerce Commission, general manager, infrastructure regulation, Andy Burgess....

More than eighteen months after Cyclone Gabrielle caused unprecedented mayhem in Hawkes Bay, we look at the lessons learnt and how we can better plan for resilience. In our latest Tāwara o te Wai podcast, hosts Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond look back at the events of February 2023 with Hastings District Council, Group Manager – Asset Manager, Craig Thew and Darren de Klerk, Business Director from Bec...

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Turkey’s Istanbul is, believe it or not, a water reservoir from the 6th century.  The Basilica Cistern is a moody beautiful place with Byzantine pillars and modern Turkish sculptures. In this Water New Zealand Tawara o te Wai podcast, we go back nearly 2,000 years – to the Byzantine world and a time when Rome moved its capital to Constantinople, now Istanb...

Could we ever reach the point of zero leakage from pipes? Losing water due to leaking pipes is becoming increasingly unacceptable as climate change and water scarcity start to impact not only in Aotearoa New Zealand but also around the world. The UK is facing a predicted water shortfall of almost 5,000 megalitres a day by 2050.  This has dramatically changed the economics and social licence around...

The Government and Auckland Council recently announced that Watercare will be the first water service provider to become a new council-owned utility under the Local Water Done Well policy.  Under the new arrangement, the council retains ownership and control over Watercare, but Watercare is provided with financial independence to access increased borrowing for investment in water services. So what...

Tāwara o te Wai - Water New Zealand's podcast series In this episode Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond, is joined by Melbourne based, Dinesh Kumareswaran (Frontier Economics) to discuss the highly relevant topic of affordability and what water asset owners need to do to support funding applications.

Tawara o te Wai – Water New Zealand’s podcast series  Drought – what happens when water demand exceeds the ability of suppliers to meet the needs of communities?  How do we ensure people get access to safe drinking water while  not depleting water from our rivers and the wider environment? Wellington’s real risk of water shortages this summer has brought home the need to prepare for more extreme w...

Ensuring a sustainable and affordable water future and the need to attract new young people to the water sector are two key challenges the industry faces on both sides of the Tasman.  In the first Tāwara o te Wai podcast for 2024, Water New Zealand members Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond discuss these issues with Water New Zealand President Lorraine Kendrick and Australian Water Association President P...

Don't under-estimate COP28 progress despite the failure to agree to a fossil fuel phase out and the rapidly closing timeframe to avert a climate crisis. This was the view of two Aotearoa New Zealand water sector leaders who attended the summit. In our latest Tāwara o te Wai podcast, Water New Zealand climate change group members, Jon Reed and Hannah Edmond talk to Beca chief executive Amelia L...

Water will be one of the key discussions at the COP28 meeting currently underway Dubai. Around 200 countries will be meeting at the UN climate meeting in the hope of limiting global warming. This year, in recognition of the impact of climate change on water, there will be a water pavilion which is being seen as particularly relevant to us here in Aotearoa New Zealand as we navigate the changes nee...

Navigating to net zero –Episode 4. Yarra Valley Water plans to generate all its own energy and be carbon neutral by 2025. But it’s not stopping there.  With the support of its customers, the large Melbourne-based water retailer has ambitions to become a fully regenerative business aimed at leaving the environment in a better state. Water New Zealand Climate Change Group members Jon Reed and Hannah...

Climate Change is arguably the biggest challenge facing the water sector here and internationally. That's why there was a huge emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation at the recent Water New Zealand Conference and Expo 2023. Water New Zealand Climate Change Group members Jon Reed and Andrew Springer spoke to three young water professionals who attended the conference and asked the...