Issue #920

by Paul Taylor

What a week that was. If bad luck comes in threes, it might be time to make sure your disaster kit is up to date. We started with a boil water notice and ended it in a state of emergency after a biblical deluge. Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

Both the crypto bug and the Bob’s Peak landslips were arguably avoidable, depending on what comes out in the wash, but to have them both happen at the same time has been a decent test of our emergency preparedness and resilience.

First up, the crypto bug. We are not at a festival. There has not been an earthquake. We are not at war. And yet, this week in Queenstown, the diamond in the tourist crown of a modern, developed nation, residents and businesses are going cup in hand to water tankers to access clean water. That’s a clear sign for local and central government that you’ve properly stuffed up somewhere along the line. The proverbial has hit the fan and toilet bowls. People are sick, businesses are dealing with the logistical nightmare of boiling water, and everyone west of the Shotover Bridge is muttering angrily about the council as they put another pot on the stove.

Of course, we don’t even know that it is the water. Health officials say it might not be, but the fact that the water regulator has seen fit to sanction QLDC over its Two Mile water treatment plant is damning in itself. Two Mile does not have a protozoa barrier which filters out the parasite cryptosporidium, which is causing our Delhi belly. Queenstown has an 80km long, 300m deep LAKE. Obviously that water needs filtration, pumping and pipes, but it shouldn’t be that difficult to make it cleaner and deliver it to homes and businesses.

Successive councils must bear some of the blame, putting off this $30m project while spending money on beautifying downtown streets and the rest. It wasn’t so long ago QLDC wanted permission to discharge into the lake and rivers, you’d have thought they’d have the filtration systems sorted out. But Central Government is as much to blame. We’ve been shouting for years that we can’t afford the infrastructure for millions of tourists. Instead of concrete solutions, we got match-funded Shovel Ready, we got yes-no-maybe on a visitor levy, and yes-no-maybe on Three Waters.

As for the slips, I’m no geo-tech engineer, but it seems many people thought the chop for the Skyline gondola and fire break was an accident waiting to happen, especially with wood left on the hill. The positive is that no one was injured but it cost businesses and the council dearly, not to mention the damage to Queenstown Cemetery.

Both incidents could damage Queenstown’s reputation too, and provide a priceless warning that risk should be the first concern.