FAQs

Local Water Done Well is the Coalition Government’s plan to address New Zealand’s long-standing water infrastructure challenges. It replaces the previous government’s Three Water proposals. 

Transformational change is being mandated because water services in much of New Zealand are suffering longstanding and serious challenges, mainly due to a lack of sufficient investment over a long period. Councils need significant and sustained investment over coming decades to fix water networks, which are at risk of critical failure in places. Urgent attention is also needed to enable new housing growth, provide safe drinking water, improve environmental water quality and enhance resilience.

The Havelock North drinking water incident in 2016 was a major trigger for this work, when around 5,500 people fell ill and four people died after drinking contaminated water.  This event exposed serious issues with New Zealand’s water infrastructure, safety standards, and the need for stricter regulation. It highlighted the risk of poorly maintained water systems, prompting the government to push for legislation changes to ensure safe drinking water nationwide.

The government requires all councils to review how water services are delivered to ensure they are safe, reliable, and affordable. Rising costs, stricter regulations, and ageing infrastructure mean we need to find a financially sustainable way to manage water services for the future.

There will be new rules for investment, borrowing and pricing and new options for how we deliver water services.

City and district councils throughout New Zealand are required to formulate a plan (Water Services Delivery Plan) within a year to show how they will deliver water services that meet these new water quality and infrastructure standards while being financially sustainable in the long-term.

The Water Services Delivery Plan must say what service delivery model we propose to use in the future. It must show that the delivery of water services will be financially sustainable and can meet new regulatory standards by June 2028.

While we've made some good investment decisions in the past about our three waters, we expect it will cost our ratepayers more in the long run to meet the new rules and regulations put forward by the government.

Increased costs to demonstrate our compliance to the new economic regulator.

Increased project and operating costs to comply with new water quality regulations.

Plans are a requirement under the Act. Through the development of Plans, councils will provide an assessment of their water infrastructure, how much they need to invest, and how they plan to finance and deliver it through their preferred water service delivery model.

Plans are a way for councils to demonstrate their commitment to deliver water services that meet regulatory requirements, support growth and urban development, and that are financially sustainable.

Yes, all territorial authorities must prepare a Plan. This includes all district and city councils, and unitary authorities, and excludes regional councils.Plans can be developed by individual councils, or joint with other councils if they propose to deliver water services through a joint arrangement.

Plans will cover information across three key areas: financial and asset information, investment required, and service delivery arrangements. They must cover information about all water services (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater).

Section 13 of the Act outlines what information is required to be included in Plans. Section 14 of the Act outlines what additional information is required for joint Plans.

Councils have 12 months from the date of the enactment of the Act to prepare and submit their Plans. Plans must be submitted to the Secretary for Local Government by 3 September 2025, unless an extension is granted.

Any new waters CCO would deliver drinking water and wastewater services.  Stormwater can be considered separately.  But under our preferred option, we have suggested responsibility should go to the Water Services Organisation.

A CCO is an organisation that is ultimately accountable to Council but is run independently, with independent management and governance.

Most of the costs will need to be borne by councils / ratepayers. The Government says additional funding (via the Local Government Funding Agency) will be available for water services organisations that meet government requirements, and for high growth councils

Yes, water costs are rising nationwide due to stricter standards, infrastructure upgrades, and climate change impacts. The key question is how we manage these rising costs.

No. Under all options, water assets will remain publicly owned. The law prevents councils from selling water assets without extensive legislative and community approval.

If a water organisation is created, councils will appoint representatives to oversee it, but the day-to-day management will be handled by a specialist board and CEO.

While the council will no longer directly manage day-to-day operations, it will be involved in governance and oversight to ensure the organisation meets community expectations.

Yes. Large commercial water users and industries already pay additional trade waste charges. A new water organisation would ensure consistent water charging policies across the region.

Instead of being part of council rates, water bills would likely become a separate charge, similar to your power or internet bill, paid directly to the new water organisation.

An economic regulator (Commerce Commission) will monitor pricing to ensure affordability and fairness.

Horowhenua and Palmerston North have this option as their preferred option, whilst Kāpiti and Manawatū are also looking at a ‘status quo’ option. Each council has outlined why their option is preferred in their consultation material.

All four councils agree that if there is a jointly owned water organisation between a number of councils, then these four would be the preference.

We need our community to have their say on what option they think is best. Once we have that feedback, councils will talk with each other to determine what the next steps are.

That could happen. We’re all trying to make the decision around the same time, in early May, to make sure we all have as much time as possible to work on our water services delivery plans.

All councils have alternatives in their options that could work if needed. It may however mean that some of the full benefits in each councils ‘preferred’ option may not be realised to the full extent.

Government has indicated a desire for councils to collaborate, however the legislation allows councils to keep water services if it meets key criteria. For some councils this is possible, and for some it isn’t. All councils have to submit a water services plan in September and the Government then assesses it and either signs it off or provides feedback. We expect that it would be at this stage if there is a concern raised about any proposed delivery option.

We all pay different amounts for water at the moment, and some communities pay with water meters or fixed charges. If we create a joint water services organisation, it would determine how water would be charged, and also how much. The legislation allows for ‘price harmonisation’ which means everyone pays the same over time. This can be phased in at different times. We’ve done some initial modelling to show what this could look like which is available on our website. Our councils believe this is an important topic, and if there is agreement to create a water organisation, we expect this is something councils would agree on while setting up the ‘Statement of expectations’ for the water organisation to follow.

Different councils have different relationships with local Iwi/hapū, and currently all councils work directly with the tangata whenua of their own areas. This has been a very fast process under very tight timeframes. While councils have been keeping iwi/hapū informed, there haven’t been discussions at this stage about where iwi/hapū would have a role in any water organisation.  

Regardless of how water services are delivered or who delivers them, legislation requires that the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are upheld.