There have been three incidents of dead possums being found in the Woodville West supply. File picture. Photo: CC BY 2.0 G= / Flickr]
An employee at Tararua District Council has received a written warning from the Water Services Authority, Taumata Arowai, after failing to report a dead possum in the drinking water at Woodville.
It is the first time the authority has issued a written warning, and comes after an investigation into the council's response to the third dead possum found in the Woodville West supply in April 2024.
In the first two incidents, boil water advisories were issued to the community, but the authority said no advisory was issued after the April 2024 incident, and it was not notified.
The council had made changes to improve pest management around the reservoir, and had brought forward funding for work to prevent pests entering the system.
Taumata Arowai's head of operations Steve Taylor said pests could contaminate a drinking water supply, and it was important to put a boil water advisory in place immediately to mitigate the public health risk.
"A boil water advisory should have been put in place right after the dead possum was found in April 2024," he said. "As a result of the failure to do so, the authority issued a direction to Tararua District Council in May 2024 and began an investigation."
Following the incident, the council was asked to carry out weekly inspections of the treated drinking water reservoirs and provide a weekly report. The weekly reporting requirement had since been removed, but the council was still required to issue a notice and alert the authority if any further animals were found.
"It is not only drinking water suppliers who have obligations under the Act," Taylor said. "Staff employed by the supplier also have obligations including due diligence."
Suppliers should ensure their staff knew the importance of pest management, how to escalate when a pest or remains were found, and what action to take to protect public health, he said.
He said he was satisfied that the council now had adequate pest control measures in place and a funded plan for the infrastructure upgrades required.
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