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Water Services Reform Programme
Updated: 13 April 2023
The delivery of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater is changing.
All New Zealanders need safe, reliable drinking water, wastewater and stormwater – our water services. We depend on these for the health and wellbeing of our communities and our environment.
Changes to water services reforms (13 April 2023)
Why do we need reform?
The evidence shows as a nation we haven’t adequately maintained and improved our water service infrastructure. Without change, the safety, reliability and affordability of these services will continue to suffer, leading to more New Zealanders getting sick from contaminated drinking water, more sewage spills and increases in costs for households.
How will our water services be improved?
The Government has worked with local government, iwi and water industry leaders to create a detailed, affordable plan to make sure our water services system is in good condition to meet challenges like population growth, climate change and natural disasters.
Under this plan ten new publicly-owned Water Services Entities will run New Zealand’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services – currently operated by councils on behalf of communities.
The Government’s plan will build these new Water Services Entities (WSEs) on the foundations of existing council infrastructure, people, and expertise. The plan is designed to give the new water organisations the financial flexibility to make the necessary upgrades more affordable for everyone.
Water Services Legislation
The Government is implementing reform of water services through a suite of legislation.
They are:
- The Water Services Entities Act
- The Water Services Legislation Bill
- The Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill
The Water Services Entities Act
The Water Services Entities Act establishes the new water services entities so they are ready to provide services from 1 July 2024.
You can read more about the Act here: The Water Services Entities Bill
The Water Services Legislation Bill
The Water Services Legislation Bill is before Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee which is now considering submissions from the public, councils and others. The committee is due to report back to the House by 8 June 2023.
Learn more and keep up with the process by clicking the button (link) below.
Submissions process (on www.parliament.nz)
Read the Bill (on www.legislation.govt.nz)
The Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill
Also introduced to Parliament in December 2022, the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill implements Cabinet’s agreement to establish an economic regulation and consumer protection regime as part of water services reform.
You can read more about economic regulation and consumer protection in three waters services on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s website here: Economic regulation and consumer protection regime for water services
Read the Bill (on www.legislation.govt.nz)
Further legislation
In early April 2023 the Government decided on changes to the water services reform programme. These changes included increasing the number of new water services entities from four to ten in order to strengthen local representation and voice.
The Government also decided to change the establishment date of the entities, with the new entities going live sequentially from early 2025 with this process to be completed by 1 July 2026 at the latest.
The Government intends introducing and passing legislation to implement these changes and associated matters before the 2023 general election. This will give councils and their water services staff certainty for planning and employment purposes and to allow our work to set up the new entities to continue.
The Water Services Legislation Bill and The Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill which are both currently before Parliament are largely unaffected by the changes to the number and boundaries of entities and their go live date. These bills will continue their progress through Parliament on their current timetable.
Find out more
Contact us
If you have any queries, please email: waterservicesreform@dia.govt.nz
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