Mike Hosking criticizes Raveen Jaduram, outgoing CEO of Watercare

Outgoing Watercare CEO Raveen Jaduram has championed the company’s grant to absorb an additional 100 million liters of water a day from the Waikato River.

It comes amid fears of severe water shortages following Auckland’s worst drought and the prospect of looming water restrictions this summer.

With the river currently above average flow, Watercare already has the consent to take 175 million liters per day (MLD) from the river, which is the maximum that its Waikato Water Treatment Plant in Tūākau can currently treat and deliver.

The Waikato Regional Council has granted a Watercare application submitted in May for an additional 100 MLD. It allows Watercare to take in the additional water between May and September (inclusive) and at other times of the year when the river is above average flow.

The Waikato Regional Council has also given its consent for Watercare to use the 25 MLDs shared by the Hamilton City Council.

When asked by Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking who was going to fund the additional water, Jaduram said it was the government’s position that Watercare didn’t have to.

“We don’t pay for water at all. We have never paid for water.

“Another 100 million liters of water is a substantial volume of water. We are currently consuming 175 million liters per day and the demand in Auckland right now is just under 400 million per day.

“Since we’ve been in a drought, and we don’t know how long it will last, these 100 million liters per day will help us get through if we had another drought similar to the one we will have next year.”

Hosking called Jaduram and Watercare’s efforts to minimize the risk of drought “futile” and asked why Auckland still does not have a drought-proof water system.

“That is a very good question, and that is a question we would like to answer now, given that the standard that we are using was set by the council after the 1993 to 1994 drought and we have had no restrictions since then,” said Jaduram. .

“We have been building the infrastructure in Auckland to meet the demand. You and many, many other Auckland residents want higher reliability than we have right now.

“We have not been useless and we have not mishandled the situation. There will always be an earthquake that will cause a building to collapse, or if you put in stormwater systems, there will always be a flood that will cause flooding.

“This drought is potentially worse than the drought that our standard can handle.

“We need a higher level of security for Auckland and that is a decision that we need the Auckland Council to make for us. We have not been banging on anyone’s desk, and that is something we needed in hindsight.”

“We are not in the blame game.”

Jaduram leaves Watercare on October 31, after having been with the company since 2014. He has had to endure criticism for the water crisis, triggered by the worst drought in the city’s history.

This led to an emergency spending of $ 224 million to reinforce the city’s water supply, restrictions on the use of hoses and water jets outdoors, and a four-minute limit on showers.