Waipa participating in three waters reform
Waipā has an open mind about how water infrastructure is delivered in the future.
At Waipā District Council’s service delivery committee on Tuesday, Councillors unanimously agreed to engage and participate in the Three Waters Services Reform through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Crown.
The Three Waters Reform aims to significantly improve the safety and quality of drinking water services and the environmental performance of drinking water and wastewater systems across New Zealand.
Chief executive Garry Dyet said signing the MoU would open up significant funding for water infrastructure.
“This is a significant opportunity that allows Waipā to be at the coalface of decisions that will impact how water and wastewater services are funded and delivered across New Zealand for future generations.”
“Agreeing to participate in these discussions means we will be able to access $6.82 million without it having a flow-on effect for our residents. This is funding that we otherwise would not have access to which can be put towards maintenance and operations for the district immediately.”
The agreement follows work undertaken over a three-year period between central and local government to address a number of shortages and significant under-investment in the three waters delivery model. New legislation and the creation of Taumata Arowai, a new water services regulator, has already resulted from this work.
The Reform also aims to move water infrastructure funding to a more financially-stable footing, addressing affordability and capability shortages faced by many smaller councils.
The government has indicated its starting option favours a multi-regional approach, where smaller councils could benefit from economies of scale by associating with neighbouring councils on similar interests and issues.
Local government is currently responsible for investing in and delivering their own three waters infrastructure, which makes up a large proportion of water and property rates, Dyet said.
“Waipā has invested heavily into our waters infrastructure over many generations and we need to be at the table to make sure that the final outcome takes this into account. We will consider all options put forward to help alleviate the impact on our ratepayers.”
Participating in the initial stages of the three waters reform will be undertaken in good faith, with an option to ‘opt out’ without penalty at the end of the agreement term.
“If we do opt out at the end of that term, it would mean any additional funding opportunities would also be lost,” Dyet said.
At the September service delivery committee, elected members will receive a delivery plan of how funding would be applied in Waipā, outlining how it intends to support economic recovery through job creation and maintaining, increasing and/or accelerating investment in core water infrastructure renewal and maintenance.