Big changes are coming to water services - here’s what they mean for you
Monday, 25 November 2024
Paula Southgate is the mayor of Hamilton.
OPINION: Straight up: the way your water services are delivered IS going to change, and I want to be upfront about how and what this means for you.
Talk about waters reform has been going on for over a decade in various forms, but now we are in a process that will lead to some very specific changes to the way your drinking water is provided, and wastewater is taken away.
In short, the Government has provided clear direction for water and wastewater management into the future. A key part of this direction is that water and wastewater services (and everything to do with these) must be separated from other council services and activities. The Government has also set the expectation that we should be having conversations regionally. Water and wastewater services may be put into a new council-controlled organisation – also known as a “CCO” (in our case, likely a partnership with Waikato District Council and/or other councils, or it could be a Hamilton CCO). Importantly:
A CCO would still be owned by the parent councils.
The CCO will have the ability to borrow to fund infrastructure – and this debt will be independent of other council debt.
Water and wastewater services will no longer be paid through your rates – this payment will instead be a separate user fee via the CCO (most likely requiring a water meter in future years)
There are and will be more new regulations for water management, including financial regulation, but the detail is not yet clear.
So, what does this mean for you?
Most of us don’t usually think about our drinking water or wastewater (and why would we?) It is very much a core service of Councils that we take for granted. Also, you can be forgiven for thinking that when Three Waters was repealed by Government everything would just go on as it was before. Not so. And now it is time to understand the new arrangements.
The good news is that Hamilton has excellent drinking water and high wastewater standards, but this does not change the fact that we also face significant challenges right now, and into the future.
Our biggest and most expensive challenge is growth (getting enough water and pipes to service our fast-growing newer areas) and addressing our aging water pipes and water treatment plants within the existing parts of the city. We are not alone. The Infrastructure Commission, and others, have identified significant investment needs for water services across New Zealand over the next 30 years – including for Hamilton City. It is also clear that there have been decades of under investment in maintaining, renewing and/or building water assets.
The changes that are coming are designed to enable us to better tackle these challenges in the coming years. It is clear drinking water quality standards will remain high in Hamilton, as will the wastewater returned to our Waikato River.
All councils need to have water and wastewater plans sorted and presented to Government by September 2025. Government has expressed a desire to see Councils work together for better results.
In Hamilton we are developing options for consultation with you in the new year. Right now, we are in the process of separating the costs of water services from our other services and identifying how this impacts Council.
As water services are about 30% of what we do (both current services and new water assets required to service our fast-growing city), this is a huge change. Removing water costs from our organisation requires us to be clear about the costs of the remaining business we do, and what that work will be.
Establishing CCOs enables borrowing to fund water investments without impacting our overall debt ceiling (the amount we are allowed to borrow) as a Council.
We are working on credible, pragmatic proposals for the future of water services, which will be reviewed through a Long-Term Plan amendment. The council’s preferred options for review will be decided on December 12.
Change is happening rapidly, and we have little time to reach out to the community. Around the country we have seen what happens when water infrastructure becomes old, fails or has not been built. We must now innovate to create a strong future for Hamilton, Waikato, and New Zealand. We need to look after our critical water assets, keep water supplies safe and do so at the best possible cost.
It is time for straight talk and new ways of thinking.
For more detail, see: Local water done well | Hamilton City Council