Waterupdate
–
A regular Kapiti
Coast District
Council newsletter to residents
Home and Garden
Show next weekend
Tens of thousands of visitors have
converged on the annual Sustainable
Home and Garden Show since 2005.
As well as promoting healthy
homes, the show focuses on water
conservation, with displays on
water-efficient plumbing options, rain
barrels and rain collection products,
environmentally friendly septic tanks
that recycle waste to irrigation, and
information about Council finance for
your own rainwater tank or greywater
systems.
The Show has given the Kapiti Coast
a profile far beyond its ‘borders’ and
helped Council win a ‘Green Ribbon
Award’ from the Ministry for the
Environment. Not surprisingly it
attracts visitors from far and wide,
with a colourful potpourri of offerings
from learning about beekeeping or
cheesemaking, food outlets selling
honey, fudge, preserves, delicious
locally made Kapiti coffee, and more
than 70 eco-themed stalls and displays
for the whole family (including a
locally built electric Rav 4 car and
electric bikes).
Special guest Te Radar will read “The
Lorax”, and another highlight will
be five water-efficient gardens built
by local schools. These will be full
of ideas that people can use for their
own garden.
The Home and Garden Show is on
March 24 and 25, Sat 9am-4pm; Sun
10am-4pm at the Kapiti Primary
School, Rimu Road, Paraparaumu.
More info at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz
Marking World
Water Day on
the Coast
March 22 is International World
Water Day, a day organised by the
United Nations to focus attention
on the importance of freshwater
and sustainable management of
freshwater resources.
Local schools are marking World
Water Day in a number of ways. Four
senior classes from Raumati South
School are taking water samples at
Hemimatenga Track and Weka Park
as part of their Take Action For Water
term programme.
Students at St Peter Chanel School
in Otaki will be walking along the
Otaki River, with kaumatua and other
people with an interest in the health of
the river and the safety of people who
use the river.
And students from five local schools,
colleges and early childhood centres
will be adding the finishing touches
to their water-wise gardens that will a
feature at the Sustainable Home and
Garden Show on March 24 and 25.
Council is also marking the occasion;
firstly, by releasing their “Our Safe
Drinking Water” video on the internet,
and secondly by launching a new
competition for secondary students.
The video, which explains how we
manage the quality and supply of
water from the Waikanae River to the
taps in our homes, can be viewed on
the Council website
www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/watered
“Our water is precious – he taonga
te wai”, meanwhile, is a multi-media
art competition open to all secondary
students who live on the Coast.
Students can present a photograph,
painting, print, sculpture or graphic
design that demonstrates that water is
precious.
Scenes from previous shows
Prizes include a high quality digital
camera and art supply vouchers.
The competition closes on 11 May
with winners announced on 19 May
2012. Competition entry forms are
available through the local college’s
art departments or by emailing
[email protected]
Cost sharing major benefit of water supply solution
Anxious to prevent future water
shortages and endless debates
about water supply, Council has
been pushing for a long-term
solution that will secure supply
for more than 100 years.
One of the problems is that when
you build a solution that lasts 100
years, the cost can be enormous.
That is why Council is backing a
solution where costs can be staged.
In other words, costs are carried not
just by current ratepayers but are
also shared with future generations.
One of the main reasons the
Waikanae River Recharge with
Groundwater (RRwG) scheme was
chosen as the preferred water supply
solution for Waikanae, Paraparaumu
and Raumati residents was because
it met the community’s desire for a
secure supply of fresh, high quality
river water that was affordable now.
RRwG meets this desire by being
developed in stages.
Maungakotukutuku Dam that is
likely to be required at some point
in the future. This may be 50 years
away and depends on by how much
we reduce our consumption.
It also allows for an even longerterm solution of a water supply
option favoured by some; a
dam. Council is well down the
track to buy land for a Lower
This means the Kapiti Coast will get
the best of both worlds. A solution
that will last for more than one
hundred years, with costs spread
reasonably over several decades.