Local Water Done Well: Waimakariri establishes Water Services Unit
Waimakariri District Council media release: 22nd July 2025
Waimakariri District Council is one of the first in the country to establish its future structure for water services under the government's Local Water Done Well legislation.
Council consulted on options for delivering water services as part of its Annual Plan between 14th March and 21st April and Council received 764 submissions on the topic. Over 97.2% were in support for Council’s preferred option to establish an internal business unit to manage water.
Mayor Dan Gordon said the Council welcomes the decision that our Water Services Delivery Plan has been approved.
“As a Council, Waimakariri has invested over many years in our water infrastructure, and we aren’t facing the same up-coming infrastructure costs as some other communities. Because of this, an in-house business unit is the best structure for our community.
“Because of this, modelling of future costs has shown that in the first 10 years the best model for Waimakariri is an internal business unit. This provides certainty for the community and through a business unit we retain effective control and influence, which is what is important to the community.”
Waimakariri District Council operates:
- Six urban drinking water schemes and five rural drinking water schemes, servicing a total of approximately 21,500 urban residential, urban commercial and rural properties to approximately 80% of the population
- Two separate wastewater schemes serving approximately 18,800 properties
- Five urban and seven rural stormwater drainage areas servicing 75% of the District’s population.
Over the last 20 years Council has invested over $100 million in water infrastructure to ensure it is of the highest quality and standard and has a 150 year infrastructure strategy to fund these assets to ensure it stays this way.
Council water-related assets together have a value of $1,103 million, and a further $112.7 million is allocated to support drinking water safety upgrades, improve wastewater treatment infrastructure, and address flood risk.
Waimakariri District Council led the formation of Communities 4 Local Democracy (C4LD), a coalition of around 30 councils advocating against the previous reform proposal which wanted to establish four entities and remove ownership and say from local communities.
C4LD put forward an alternative reform model that emphasised local say and ownership, while being agile enough to meet higher regulatory and financial sustainability standards. This policy formed the basis of Local Water Done Well - the reform proposal adopted by the new Government in early 2024.
“The support from the community throughout this time has vindicated the strong stance and time we have spent advocating for better Three Waters Reform that respected local property rights and had assets remain in the hands of the communities that paid for them.
“I’m proud of the strong stance we took on this, leading the conversation nationally, which has resulted in the best outcome possible for Waimakariri that prioritises financial sustainability (as independently reviewed by consultants Castalia), as well as local ownership and control.”
“We are committed to delivering on what we said we would through the LTP and are continually exploring opportunities to achieve greater value for money while providing the services that our community want.”
The Waters Service Delivery plan outlines the key steps the Council will make over the next 12 to 24 months ensuring our structure is aligned with the new water services legislative requirements and fully ring fencing the financials for drinking water and wastewater.
Council already has established operational relationships with Hurunui and Kaikōura councils, and remains open to expanding these shared service arrangements to provide efficiencies and savings while retaining localism.
You can read the full Water Services Delivery Plan for the Waimakariri District online.