Regional Council Workshop
Date: Monday 18 August 2025
Time: 1.00pm
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Venue: |
Council Chamber Hawke's Bay Regional Council 159 Dalton Street NAPIER |
Agenda
Item Title Page
1. Welcome/Karakia/Apologies/Notices
2. Conflict of Interest Declarations
Information or Performance Monitoring
3. Water Security 3
Council - Workshop
Monday 18 August 2025
Subject: Water Security
Reason for report
1. This report is in response to a direction to the Chief Executive to prepare a time-bound action plan for prioritising and implementing water supply and demand initiatives, alongside water storage, for Council consideration at the 27 August 2025 meeting.
Executive summary
2. Water Security focuses on the supply of, and demands on, the region’s freshwater resource. The Regional Water Security Project (RWSP) is aligned with and forms a part of Council’s much larger and wider functions in respect to freshwater policy and implementation.
3. The Regional Water Assessment (2023) made clear that Hawke’s Bay faces a material water shortfall of approximately 25 million m³ per annum by 2040, widening to 33 million m³ by 2060. Crucially, this projection assumes incremental improvements in water use efficiency across all sectors. The RWA deliberately adopted an environmental water accounting framework so that Council can evaluate and prioritise the most effective and efficient water security interventions.
4. Water Security is one of the Councils strategic priorities, and there are several council work programmes across the areas including demand, regulation, water information services, engagement with and support of water user groups, water use efficiency and conservation, managed aquifer recharge and nature-based solutions.
5. The workshop presents a range of water security options, including potential research options for evaluation and prioritisation.
6. The workshop will present an opportunity for Council to discuss how the water security programme is appropriately resourced, fiscal and leadership.
Discussion
The workshop will review the attached template, and Council will be invited to contribute to an evaluation process by allocating a score (1, being low, 2 as medium, and 3 as high) against a series of evaluation components.
· Volume – relates to volume of water potentially available for use (demand) or contribution (supply).
· Timing – how long would this intervention take to be available
· Benefits – direct result of the contribution (e.g. water adding to …)
· Barriers – what needs to be enabled for this to happen
· Risks – known risks to the intervention
· Effectiveness – known level of contribution
· Ease of Implementation – connects to “Barriers” and degree of investment/effort for barriers to be overcome
· Co-Benefits – links to environmental, social and community benefits
When setting the scope for a Water Security action plan, officers are recommending an approach which considers a dynamic operating model. There may be multiple interconnected interventions needed to achieve long term water security, or at least additive in nature.
Following the workshop, Council officers will prepare papers for the 27 August 2025 Regional Council meeting that presents the findings from the workshop for appropriate governance consideration, discussion and decision making.
The evaluation process considers.
Supply
· Aquifer Recharge
· Braided Rivers
· Deep Drilling
· Nature Based Solutions (Room for Rivers)
· Industrial recycling/reuse
· Municipal recycling/reuse
· Storage
Demand
· Regulatory
· Data/Systems
· Science
· Efficiency education and guidance
· Municipal
· Land Use Interventions
· Industrial Water Use
· Water recycling/reuse
· Education
These are the interventions identified for this evaluation process, however as noted earlier, the dynamic nature of this project considers that there will be projects added to, or discontinued as the effectiveness and suitability is evaluated.
Decision-making considerations
7. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.
Attachments – list following
1 Water Security options and evaluation
Authored by:
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Richard Wakelin Group Manager Integrated Catchment Management |
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Approved by:
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Richard Wakelin Group Manager Integrated Catchment Management |
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1⇨ |
Water Security Action Plan |
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Under Separate Cover |