Dear Editor, Regarding proposed water tariffs: the subject of Ruta Mave’s article (15 July); and the subsequent response from the Cook Islands Tourism Industry Council (Letters, 19 July).

The June 2024 Tariff Report includes financial statements, tables, charts, and spreadsheets. It requires patience to decipher the information.
Critically, the water volume and revenue projection appear to be incorrect. There are holes in the Tariff Report.

The income that the water authority expects from growers, farmers, and floriculture must be downgraded.

Since year 2000, land-use has shifted: from agriculture to in-fill housing and tourist accommodation.

The 2014 AECOM report projected 921 users. To Tatou Vai (TTV) estimate 375 agricultural accounts. Data from the most recent Agricultural Census is yet to be published.
The Tariff Report has Agriculture paying $1.52 million toward the upkeep of Rarotonga’s water system. Based on TTV’s figure – and setting aside the monthly meter charge – a tariff of 85 cents will only return $581,000. This results in an annual shortfall of nearly $850,000.
The TTV Board would be ill-advised to chart a course on the basis of the Tariff Report.

Natura Kuki Airani

Cook Islands organic movement