Waimakariri District Council is establishing an in-house Water Services business unit to manage regulatory and legislative responsibilities for the district’s water supply, wastewater, and stormwater services. The business unit becomes operational from 1 July 2026, making Waimakariri the first council in New Zealand to have its in-house water services business unit approved under the Government’s Local Water Done Well legislation.
The council has been preparing for this transition since its Water Services Delivery Plan was approved a year ago, in July 2025. The plan outlines how the council will align its structure with new water services legislative requirements and ensure that financials are fully ring-fenced for water supply and wastewater. Over the past 20 years, the council has invested more than $100 million in water infrastructure and maintains a 150-year infrastructure strategy to fund these assets into the future.
The in-house business unit model builds on the council’s existing approach to managing water supply, wastewater, stormwater, rural drainage, and stock water, but with increased financial ring-fencing and new regulatory requirements. Implementation of the Water Services Delivery Plan will occur in two phases: preliminary establishment from July 2025 to June 2027, which includes setting up systems, processes, and reporting frameworks, followed by full implementation and ongoing deliverables from July 2027 onwards.
Waimakariri District Council operates six urban and five rural water supply schemes serving approximately 22,800 properties and reaching about 81 per cent of the population. The council also manages two separate wastewater schemes serving approximately 19,900 properties, and five urban and seven rural stormwater drainage schemes servicing 90 per cent of the district’s population. The council will update its website regularly to ensure the community can monitor progress and access key documents including the Water Services Delivery Plan and Community Drinking Water Assessment Report.
Read the full article at Waimakariri District Council – News →
Source: Waimakariri District Council – News. This summary was published by Input Ltd via amalgamation.nz, New Zealand’s central resource for local government amalgamation news and council merger updates.
