Association Updates as of 23 November

Land and Water Forum Update

Attached is a letter from the Chair of the Forum to the incoming Government. For anyone interested it gives you an update on Forum thinking.


Pipeline Workshops Completed

The last of 4 regional workshops on the various work streams being undertaken by the association around pipeline resilience were completed last week in Queenstown and Christchurch. In total 140 Association members attended these. Our thanks to the 6 industry presenters who gave freely of their time to make the presentations.


Conference Papers Online

The papers from the September Water New Zealand conference are now available online here.


Growing Up in NZ

CEO John Pfahlert met recently with staff at Auckland University to discuss their interest in conducting research to examine whether there are is an association between children who grow up drinking treated water versus non treated water and their general health status. The Growing Up in NZ program follows 6000 children born in the upper North Island DHB’s throughout their lives to examine their health and wellbeing.


Young Water Professional Group Expanding

The Association has called for expressions of interest to see if there is interest in establishing a YWP group in the the Central North Island, based in Tauranga.

The Young Water Professionals groups are for young water industry professionals with an interest in the water space. Membership is free if you are in the early stage of your career or if you are in full-time tertiary study. The primary objective of the groups is to provide regionally based interaction between young water professionals and encourage younger water professionals and students to become more involved in the water industry.

We will meet on a regular basis and discuss all things water and have some fun activities. YWP groups are well established in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and we will be able to share ideas with them and others around the country. It will be a great opportunity for you to gain connections in the water industry and learn from your peers.

At this stage our aim is to gauge how many young professionals we have in the Bay and to better understand interest in attendance at events. If we have enough interest we will kick off in the New Year with a catch-up to discuss the formation of the new YWP group with some drinks and nibbles.

Register your interest with Coral-Lee Ertel at Western Bay of Plenty District Council via email at coral-lee.ertel@westernbay.govt.nz by Christmas.

Feel free to forward this email on to anyone who may be interested in joining.

For more information on the Young Water Professionals groups, see the Water New Zealand website.


IANZ

CEO John Pfahlert met with Geoff Hallam at IANZ in Auckland recently to better understand the process for accreditation of laboratories involved in testing water samples for compliance with the drinking water standards.


Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

CEO John Pfahlert met with Simon Upton (the new PCE) this week to brief him on Association activities and the likely implications of the Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry.


Science NZ Conference

CEO John Pfahlert attended the 25th anniversary conference of the establishment of the Crown Research Institutes in NZ. There were a number of presentations on current work being undertaken at CRI’s and some forward looking talks about where the CRI’s are headed in research.


Waterways Centre Conference

Every year the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Research (a JV between Lincoln and University of Canterbury) holds a one day conference where the results of Masters and Doctoral students research is presented. Water NZ was a sponsor of this year’s event and CEO John Pfahlert attended. There is some great research being done, and companies looking to recruit bright young graduates should consider sending people to recruit students. Many are doing work directly relevant to 3 waters operations. Attendance is free. www.waterways.ac.nz


Association Updates Water New Zealand