FAQs

What happened to the Three Waters reforms?

The Three Waters reforms were an initiative of the previous government. They were repealed in February 2024 by the current coalition government. They are being replaced by that government’s own water reforms, called Local Water Done Well.

What is Local Water Done Well?

Local Water Done Well is a central-government mandated initiative to address concerns about Aotearoa New Zealand’s water infrastructure and water quality.

Local Water Done Well replaces the previous government’s Three Waters reforms.

Local Water Done Well seeks to:

• Require councils to develop a fit-for-purpose plan to deliver water services to its residents.
• Ensure water services are future-proofed and financially sustainable.
• Introduce greater central government oversight, and economic and quality regulation.

What does Local Water Done Well Require of Councils?

Local Water Done Well requires councils across Aotearoa New Zealand to develop a Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) by September 2025. Each council’s plan will outline how it will deliver and sustainably finance the water services it maintains into the future.

What is a Water Services Delivery Plan?

A Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) is a one-off plan, required by Local Water Done Well legislation, and must include

• detailed information about water services operations, assets, revenue, expenditure, pricing, future capital expenditure
• how councils plan to finance and deliver their preferred model
• how the water services will be financially sustainable by June 2028

The WSDP must be consulted to ensure community engagement and input and submitted to the Minister of Local Government by September 2025.

What are the new regulations councils will have to meet?

• Taumata Arowai are creating a single wastewater discharge standard. This will potentially require higher standards of treatment for discharges to waterways. Taumata Arowai is the water services regulator for NZ. They have an oversight role in relation to the environmental performance of public drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater networks.
• The Waikato Regional Council will continue to regulate the taking of water and discharge of wastewater and stormwater (end of pipe) as per the proposed new standards.
• The Commerce Commission will oversee (and regulate) the investment in network and treatment plants - including requiring any action needed to improve performance. The cost of providing water services will also become regulated with a consumer protection regime and this will also be overseen by the Commerce Commission.

What do you mean by “water services”?

Our Water Services Delivery Plan needs to cover all three water services – drinking water, wastewater and stormwater. Due to the complexity of stormwater assets (which include transport network, reserves and gullies) any new delivery model would likely encompass drinking water and wastewater, with stormwater assets being retained by Council but with some stormwater services being delivered by the new model.

What about stormwater?

There are unique challenges with stormwater, given it is inherently tied in with other council assets like reserves and roading. Modelling of all options has focused on keeping stormwater assets with Council, with services possibly being provided under contract by any CCO delivery option

What does ‘financially sustainable water services’ mean?

Financial sustainability means water services revenue is enough to meet the costs of delivering those services. The costs of delivering water services include meeting all regulatory standards, and long-term investment in water services.

How councils approach achieving financial sustainability can be different depending on local circumstances. Councils are required to consider the balance between three key factors. These factors are:

• Revenue sufficiency – is there sufficient revenue to cover the costs (including servicing debt) of water services delivery?
• Investment sufficiency – is the projected level of investment sufficient to meet levels of service?
• Financing sufficiency – are funding and finance arrangements sufficient to meet investment requirements?

When considering the three factors involved in achieving financial sustainability, councils are advised to keep affordability of water charges front-of-mind.

What’s the current situation in the Taupō district?

Water, wastewater and stormwater services are provided by Taupō District Council in areas where there are reticulated schemes; and these are listed as a fixed charge on residential rates invoices. Some rural properties are connected to rural water schemes and pay for these in the rates. Other rural properties, provide their own drinking water and have septic tanks and do not pay water rates for these.

Why is retaining the status quo not an option?

The status quo is not an option because of the additional government requirements including economic regulation and financial sufficiency, which means under all options, changes will be required. Additionally, aging infrastructure and increasing costs are having an impact on the delivery of water services.

What options are available for councils to deliver water services under Local Water Done Well?

The government approved five different potential options for councils; if they are able to meet financial sustainability and other legislative requirements. These are:

• In-house business unit (our current delivery model)
• Single council-owned council-controlled organisation
• A multi-council-controlled organisation owned by the council and one or more of our neighbour councils.
• Mixed council / consumer trust – a consumer trust established as the majority shareholder with one or more councils owning a minority of shares
• Consumer trust – council assets would transfer to a consumer-trust owned organisation.

What are the options Taupō District Council is considering?

• Option One: Keep water services in-house (preferred option) - Council continues to deliver water services with some changes to ensure compliance with Local Water Done Well legislation.
• Option Two: Join Waikato Water, a multi-council-controlled organisation - assets, debt, and responsibility for delivering water services would be transferred to this organisation within five years.
• Option Three: Establish a single Taupō District Council-controlled organisation - A Taupō council-controlled organisation would be formed to deliver water services, governed by an independent board.

Why is Option One, keeping water services in-house, the preferred option?

This option offers the best value for ratepayers in the short to medium term, is the lowest risk, and allows for a measured approach to water reform. It also retains local control and accountability.

If Council chooses Option One, why are we reviewing in two years?

We expect in this time more information will become clearer, especially regarding what other Councils have decided to do, how the regional entity establishment is going and what further direction has come from central government and DIA. This may have changed the landscape and therefore we consider it prudent to ensure that no new information has emerged that may mean an alternative option now provides better outcomes.

If we are preferring to “keep it local”, why are we opting to sign up to Waikato Water as a shareholder? Doesn’t this mean you are choosing the multi-council model?

No. While we think keeping water services inhouse is the best option for now, we do agree that there are some areas where cost savings could be achieved by working collaboratively with other Councils. It makes good sense for us to continue pursuing these opportunities. The large collective of councils coming together under Waikato Water will have greater purchasing power and be able to develop some specialist roles. Where it makes sense, we will benefit from this opportunity as a limited shareholder.

What’s a council-controlled organisation (CCO)?

A CCO is an organisation created by one or more councils to deliver specific services. It is governed by an independent board and operates separately from the council's other functions. At present, we already have a Taupō District Council CCO which is our marketing arm Destination Great Lake Taupō. Option Three, of a council CCO is similar to Option One but has more separation from council’s other functions and independent oversight.

What is Option Two: the Waikato Water multi-council controlled and owned organisation?

You can find out more on the Waikato Water website

Has council already committed to Waikato Water?

No. We have explored in detail what this option could look like, to fully inform our public consultation. Final decisions will be made by Council following consultation with the community.

Which councils are involved in Waikato Water?

The six other councils who have signed a non-binding Heads of Agreement with Waikato Waters Done Well are Waipa District Council, Waitomo, Ōtorohanga, Matamata-Piako, Hauraki and South Waikato.

What would the Waikato Water multi-council option mean for me?

Over time, your water rates would no longer be paid for in your council rates bill. You will be billed separately for your water by the Waikato Water services entity.

Will our water rates increase? Will we be subsidising other councils who have not invested in water as well as we have?

The challenges of getting a number of councils with diverse communities and differing financial and infrastructure needs to work together will be challenging. Acknowledging this, any joint venture would have a phased pricing pathway/transition as a key design principle. The focus for the next few years of any collaboration will be on efficiency savings.

What’s the timeline/key dates?

The timelines directed by central government are tight. We will have to work quickly to deliver our Water Services Delivery Plan alongside the other commitments set out in our Long-term Plan.

Following public consultation in May, Council will deliberate and make a final decision in June or July, before submitting our Water Services Delivery Plan to the Minister for Local Government by 3 September.

Why are we moving so quickly? What’s driving the timeline?

The government is requiring us to consider all options to improve our delivery of water services and ensure financial sustainability under the Local Water Done Well legislation by August 2025.

Who’s paying for all this?

A considerable amount of work has gone into examining and understanding all the different options for future delivery of our water services. We still have some money left over from the Three Waters reforms, that was given to us by central government to assist with the cost of implementation. Once that is spent, we have set aside some funds in our Long-term Plan to help pay for the rest of the work that’s required. Our final options for consultation have been reviewed by an external agency to make sure they are complete and stack up financially. It's really important that we get this work right and fully understand the pros and cons of each option before we make any final decision.

Water is currently free – isn't it?

No. If you’re connected to a council water scheme, water is currently paid for through your council rates bill (if you’re a property owner). If you’re a tenant, your landlord will pay water rates for your property.

Each residential urban property in the district pays the same flat rate for water, wastewater and stormwater services, regardless of where it is.

Commercial property owners pay commercial water rates and large users pay on a volumetric basis – i.e. they are charged by the amount of water they use.

Some residential properties have water meters but in most cases these are presently only used to monitor leaks in the water network, not for charging water.

Will the cost of water services increase?

Yes. In addition to general inflation, government is introducing new water quality standards that councils must meet; and increased compliance costs. See water costs and billing for more information.

Will I have to pay for water in future?

You already pay for water, wastewater and stormwater services via your council rates, (with some variation depending on where you live, eg in town or rurally). What may change is how you pay for your water. It could be that water becomes treated like a utility and you pay for it via a separate bill, just like you currently pay for power. It’s also possible that in future you may pay for water use by volume, instead of paying a flat fee as at present. This means households that use more water for uses such as irrigation, would pay more.

What are water meters?

Water meters are connected to each property and measure the volume of water used. That then determines how much a property pays for water. Some people view meters as a fairer option as you only pay for what you use, and therefore are incentivised to use less water. It also means people with pools or irrigation systems pay for those large volumes of water. However some have concerns about the impact on large families or people who use more water for health reasons.

Are we getting water meters?

The government's new legislation is likely to lead to volumetric charging (water meters) for water services, moving away from property value-based charging. While a user-pays model may have varying impacts, average water users are likely to benefit.

Whether water services stay with council or move to some other entity, you should expect that at some point in future, water meters will be introduced and there will be volumetric charging for water. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll wind up paying more for water – people who use water mindfully and conserve it will pay less than those who use a lot of water for things such as maintaining lawns.

We'll undertake community consultation on this topic, anticipated for 2028 as part of our Long-Term Plan.

Will I get charged differently?

That depends on which delivery model is chosen but water could end up being charged as a utility. You could wind up receiving a water bill in much the same way that you currently receive your power bill.

Why are you consulting?

We are consulting with our communities on Local Water Done Well because we need to make big decisions about the future of our water services, and we want to hear the community's views and preferences on the options available.

Do I have a say?

Yes. From now until 29 May we will be asking you for your thoughts on the future of our water services delivery. We need to know what the community priorities are for the future of our water services so we can take those into account as we make this significant decision.

The finalised Taupō District Council Water Services Delivery Plan (or joint plan with other councils) is required to be delivered to central government by September 2025.

How will my feedback be used in the decision?

This information will be presented to Councillors, who will use it to shape their deliberations and ultimately make a decision that reflects the community's needs and preferences. Councillors aim to make a well-informed decision that ensures the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of our water services. It's essential to note that this is a consultation process, not a referendum, and Councillors will use their discretion to make a decision that balances the various views and interests expressed by the community, alongside other important information like financial analysis, expert advice and government directives.

How will we know what the public feedback was?

We will analyse and summarise the public feedback received, making it available in a report on our website. This ensures transparency and allows the community to see how their feedback informed our decision-making process.

How will my water services be affected throughout this process?

While Council goes through this process, we will continue to deliver water services (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater) as normal while we explore the best service delivery option under the Local Water Done Well model.

Our goal is to look after our critical water assets, keep water supplies safe and make a decision that is right for our communities – well into the future.

What about fluoride? Will you keep adding it to water under any or all of these options?

We currently add fluoride to urban drinking water supplies as directed by the Ministry of Health. Review of fluoride rules is not part of this consultation.

Will you be governing private water sources such as wells on private property?

Local Water Done Well is just about the water services that are currently managed by Council, not private sources.

Is this a first step towards future privatisation?

There is no intention by council to privatise its water services but we acknowledge we are unable to control any future moves towards privatisation by central government.

What is the impact on staff?

Our people are our priority and concern for their situation will be forefront in any decision-making. There is currently no direct impact on any staff but we will be keeping them informed and taking onboard their perspective in ongoing discussions.

What about iwi/hapū?

Iwi and hapū will be consulted as part of the discussions. We are committed to our partnerships, including upholding our commitments within the Mana Whakahono ā Rohe relationship agreement with Ngāti Tūrangitukua, and adhering with the requirements of our respective Joint Management Agreements across our rohe.

How was it decided which councils we would work with? What about other regions (e.g. BOP)?

Taupō is unique in that it is part of four regional council areas. We participate in the Mayoral forums for both the Waikato and BOP and have discussed Local Water Done Well options in both forums. However, we have focused our discussions at this point with the other Waikato councils, recognising our natural connections with Waikato waterways, through Lake Taupo and the shared Waikato awa.