Securing Kapiti Coast's Water Supply for 100 Years

Water supply on the Kāpiti Coast has been contentious for many years, with a number of setbacks since Kāpiti Coast District Council’s application to augment the supply from the Otaki River was declined in 2001. As a result the Council developed a groundwater supply in the Waikanae area for augmentation, but the water quality of that source was disliked by the community. As the population of the community continued to grow through the 2000s, the capacity of the supply was once again under pressure, and planning commenced on a long term sustainable solution. In 2009 the Council committed to a well-resourced project that aimed to bring the community on board and deliver a 50-year water supply solution. 

The paper describes Kāpiti Coast District Council’s journey from a position where historically it was grappling with the future of its water supply, to the point where it had consents for the next 35 years, and a water supply plan for the next 100 years. That journey included optioneering, investigations, involvement of iwi/community/stakeholders, modelling, concept design, assessment of environmental effects, consenting. The paper concludes with the lessons learned during the course of the proj