Waipā seeking more information about Three Waters Reform

A lack of information and a high degree of uncertainty about outcomes is hindering councils’ ability to meaningfully discuss three waters reform, Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest has warned.

His comments were made at Waipā District Council’s service delivery committee on Tuesday, following an update on government efforts to improve drinking water supply, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure throughout New Zealand.

We understand that the Reforms may impact approximately 80,000 private water schemes having to meet new drinking water standards so the sooner information can become available the better, Mylchreest said.

“In discussions, we’ve had with Local Government New Zealand, it’s clear we still don’t know what the standards are going to be, what cost is going to be involved either from councils or through a national scheme, or how asset valuations are going to be carried out. Indications are this work is rolling on but is likely to come to an abrupt stop, particularly if larger councils choose to opt out.”

“I, for one, welcome more information about where we are heading so we can plan accordingly. We have a strong partnership across the councils in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty consortium so want to be as best prepared as possible to respond to any government proposals together.”

Waipā, along with most other councils, joined initial discussions and received $6.82M in funding as a sweetener to get involved in discussing the reform programme. That money is earmarked for Waipa water infrastructure but discussions about further funding had dried up, he said.

“The lack of information about applying for Tranche Two, which may have involved significant additional funding, and the fact that discussions have dried up doesn’t give confidence to the local government sector that we’re treated as a serious partner in this,” Mylchreest added.

Waipa’s water services manager Martin Mould presented a dashboard from the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Three Waters Reform steering group which indicated Waipā was in a strong position.

Waipa is currently performing well in terms of waters infrastructure with high levels of investment budgeted for growth and asset depreciation, as well as high levels of compliance across water supply, wastewater and stormwater activities.

Mylchreest said the dashboard highlighted that Waipa’s high level of commitment towards its Three Waters programme was a responsible way forward for the district.

Waipa’s service delivery group manager Dawn Inglis indicated three councils who recently joined the regional group would eventually also be included in the dashboard and that would likely alter some of the data.

Committee members were also updated yesterday on delays in the Water Services Bill which is now expected to go before Parliament in July 2021 instead of May. The Bill will allow Taumata Arowai, the new dedicated water services regulator for Aotearoa-New Zealand, to operate in full.

Taumata Arowai will oversee, administer and enforce a new, expanded and strengthened drinking-water regulatory system, to ensure all New Zealand communities have access to safe drinking water. It will also provide oversight of the regulation, management, and environmental performance of wastewater and storm-water networks.

Once the Water Services Bill is adopted, all drinking water suppliers will have one year to register on the drinking water register. Suppliers must have a drinking water safety plan that complies with new requirements by the end of year one for those servicing 500 users or more.