Water regulations in the pipeline
New environmental and safety regulations for drinking water and wastewater will be brought in as part of a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the country’s water systems.
The Government is undertaking a major revamp of water infrastructure following years of complacency over drinking water safety and the impact on the environment from wastewater.
Ministers will consider three key options:
– Bringing in new regulations only, and allowing the water sector to voluntarily reform services so that they meet the new standards;
– Setting up a national, longterm fund to pay for improvements and act as an incentive to voluntary changes;
– Creating several dedicated, publicly-owned drinking water and wastewater providers that
would likely take over from individual councils – either on a regional basis, with potentially 12 providers, or on a superregional basis, with between three and five providers.
In a paper to Cabinet, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Health Minister David Clark said: ‘‘There are system-wide challenges facing the
three waters, and the response will need to be system-wide, from source to tap and back again.’’
Mahuta promised the Government would work ‘‘collaboratively’’ with councils. Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) welcomed the focus on drinking water reforms, but urged officials ‘‘not to shut the door on innovation’’ by pursuing
mandatory consolidation of water assets as a ‘‘silver-bullet fix’’ to problems.
Policies will be hammered out over the next year, with new legislation to be introduced in 2020. Improving the three waters systems involves overcoming major hurdles, including funding challenges for upgrades, the capability of councils – particularly smaller ones – to meet the necessary improvements, and poor regulation across the system.