The petition opposing the planned water tariffs in Rarotonga is gaining momentum with over 1500 signatures so far including support from the Pa Enua and Cook Islanders residing overseas.

The “Keep Our Water Free” petition was launched last month after water agency, To Tatou Vai, announced its intention to introduce water tariffs to cover its annual operating budget.

The petition organising committee began collecting petitions this Monday.

At the last count a week ago, they had collected around 1500 signatures.  This includes 112 signatures from Mangaia. There are also postal petitions being circulated by the New Zealand Cook Islands community and the deadline was last week.

According to the petition organising committee, once they have completed an initial signature count, they will then meet with the Clerk of Parliament Tangata Vainerere “who is required by Standing Orders to review and endorse the petition before it is presented to Parliament in September”.

“The public response has been overwhelming. Our businesses and community have taken ownership, volunteering to display the petition boards and collect signatures in person,” the organising committee said.

“The goal of keeping Rarotonga’s water free is one we can all help our MPs to achieve.”

To Tatou Vai plans to implement water usage charges from January 1, 2025. In its Statement of Corporate Intent 2024-2028, TTV said it needed at least an operating budget of $4.262 million in the 2024/25 year, increasing, due to inflation, by 2 per cent per year during the subsequent four years. The water authority submitted a budget request of $3.9 million for the 2024/25 year to the Crown but was granted only $2.5m.

TTV anticipates completing the metering of all non-residential customers including growers by the end of this year before imposing a tariff on their water usage. Non-residential customers will pay a monthly availability fee of $17 and a charge per cubic metre (1000 litres) of water used.

Domestic users in Rarotonga won’t be charged for water until July 2026, when water meter installation is complete. Residential (domestic) customers will only pay a charge per cubic metre above a “reasonable” allocation of free water.

The government is exploring a water allocation policy offering households a free water allowance of up to several hundred litres per person per day, based on a household of three. In the Cook Islands, the average person uses about 200 litres of water a day.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Albert Nicholas said the government was looking at a free water allocation of up to 400 litres (two drums) per person.

When asked about the government’s free water allocation proposal for residential users, the petition organising committee said: “The free allocation pledge is a great start, but our people want certainty.”

“Our identity as Cook Islanders is about connection to the land, the ability to grow our own food, and supporting one another. Our people also understand that the operation of the water utility needs to be paid for. A law change is required to shift To Tatou Vai: from a user-pays funding model back to public allocation.”

Meanwhile the committee met with the House of Ariki on Monday to present concerns regarding proposed water tariffs.

Along with 10 members of the petition committee, attending the presentation were Kaumaiti Iti Tinomana Ariki, Kaumaiti Nui Tou Ariki, Itiao Mataiapo, Arorangi Orometua Mata Tumu Makara, and Arorangi Tauturu Orometua John Andrews.

In a statement, the petition organising committee said three speakers presented on how user-pays will impact the people.

Mechatronics engineer Joyana Finch last year returned to the island with a young family to find a state-owned enterprise operating the public water supply.

The statement said landowners who have provided stream access and allowed for pipes to be laid over their lands, to take water to the villages, are now to be charged as customers.
Finch said: “My gut tells me it is dangerous to hand over the control of our water to a business. TTV says that tariffs are to reduce waste, but it does so by making people fear using water.”

“Tariffs will drive a wedge between our people, and their connection to the land. This will discourage our planters from growing. There are better solutions, cheaper solutions that encourage communities to work together.”

Ngamau Tou has been collecting signatures in Puaikura.
“In Rua’au there are homes on the backroad, within the 30-metre service zone, that do not receive water. There are many households that will miss out on the free allocation. There are families paying to have water carted to their homes,” Tou said.

She provided a history of the water supply system, and said previous attempts to impose a water tariff have been overturned, most recently in 1972 by the Cook Islands Party under Albert Henry.
Grower Andy Kirkwood presented a summary of the water authority’s financial statements.

The key cost is upper management, Kirkwood said, adding nearly half of the $4.5 million annual budget goes to payroll.

“Less than a million is spent on the intakes and water treatment,” the statement said. “The Tariff Report shows $1.5 million in revenue coming from the island’s growers, farmers, and floriculture. Census data shows that the majority of Rarotonga’s households engage in agriculture, but only 1 per cent of this activity is for sale or commercial purposes.”

Kirkwood has used figures from the report and the vaka consultations to model the future monthly water bill. Along with a monthly availability fee, agricultural customers will pay 85 cents per cubic meter of water (1000 litres). This rate is the same as for a residential connection.
“You can’t compare the amount of water that is used to wash the dishes with the volume needed to irrigate crops,” said Kirkwood.

He also points to the Cook Islands MetService climate data which shows a net water loss last month of 50 millimetres.
“In these dry conditions, a field the size of Nukupure Park will need 200 cubic meters of water just to maintain soil moisture levels. Add in the meter charge, and VAT – that’s a bill of $200 a month, $2400 a year.”

The petition organisers have pointed to the cost of water being added to the price of all goods and services, adding that businesses have no choice but to pass the water fee on to customers, and this will increase the cost of living.
Te Kaumaiti Nui, Tou Travel Ariki, who is leading a House of Ariki delegation to meet with Cook Islands community in New Zealand this week, is keen to hear the voice of the people on the water tariffs.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, Tou Travel Ariki said the House of Ariki had been involved in the Te Mato Vai water project from its inception to its completion, including the handover of the intakes to the landowners.

He said the promise of better supply and clean water was the reason they supported the project.

“There is talks now that we have to pay … water is free from the Lord,” Tou Travel Ariki said.

“There have been some concerns raised by our people and our job is to listen to their concerns whether they are good or bad. We will then have our own consultation before we finalise our viewpoint on this issue.

“We also said to them (petition organising committee) that we don’t want to hear only the complaints but tell us their solutions and they highlighted some of the solutions which was good.”

The petition committee members tabled departure and alcohol taxes as ways that visitors to the island can help cover infrastructure costs.

“Re-negotiating the terms of offshore fisheries licenses could net the needed revenue; increasing in the price-per-kilo will also conserve fish stocks,” they suggested.