Tasman District Council to bore into water contamination risk at Motueka
Tasman District Council to bore into water contamination risk at Motueka.
Up to 2000 private bores in Motueka are likely to be inspected in the wake of the 2016 campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North.
The Havelock North water supply sources water from the Te Mata aquifer, which was thought to be confined.
Stage one of a Government inquiry into the incident found that the aquifer was not fully confined, as assumed, and that surface/shallow groundwater was percolating into the lower aquifer.
One of those recommendations was to undertake a risk assessment of the private water bores in Motueka.
Included in the risk assessment resolution was a statement that it should have "recommendations to ensure a secure urban water supply for Motueka".
"This is going to cause a lot of concern among the residents of Motueka who are on private bores," Ogilvie said.
"I can see no real reason for what is implied here, for the whole town to be reticulated because of a potential contamination."
"We do have an aquifer there, there’s a whole lot of bores intersecting that aquifer – potential points of contamination – and we’re raising that with you," Kirby said.
After the meeting, Schruer said there was no budget for the work and he would aim to get the project into the Long Term Plan 2018-28, which meant the funding could be in place after July 2018.