Divided we fail

Much-needed reform of our water infrastructure is being stymied by mistrust and racist fearmongering

- Anna Curnow

When it became clear, a couple of years ago, that the government was serious about reforming the way council-run water services are managed and governed, I was concerned. This meant big things for the role of local government and our communities. What would local government do, or even be, without “big infrastructure”?

Then we had the report from the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), suggesting there could be significant benefits to a new way of structuring the “three waters” – drinking water, wastewater and stormwater – in New Zealand. I have been involved in local government for more than a decade, but I certainly don’t count myself as an expert in big infrastructure. We have engineers and other specialists for that, and they were keen on investigating the WICS proposal further. So, I decided to learn as much as I could about the problem, the solution being proposed and what other options existed.