Local Water Done Well

Council has begun to develop a Water Services Delivery Plan determining the best way forward for managing the district’s drinking, storm and wastewater as required under the government’s Local Water Done Well legislation.

Local Water Done Well is the government’s approach to reforming the way water services are delivered in New Zealand in the future. The aim is to address New Zealand’s long-standing water infrastructure challenges.

It focuses on the importance of local decision-making and the flexibility for communities and Councils to determine how their water services will be delivered in the future. It also strongly emphasises that any future delivery model must meet economic, environmental and water quality regulatory requirements.

The new legislation enacted in September 2024 requires Councils to draft a Water Services Delivery Plan by September 2025, which must:

• Identify the current state of each council’s water services.
• Demonstrate publicly each council’s commitment to deliver water services that ensure compliance, meet drinking water standards, are financially sustainable, and support housing growth and urban development.

Buller District Council engaged Stantec to support the Council in developing a Water Services Delivery Plan that meets the Government’s requirements under the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024. The plan needs to inform the development of the LTP, including asset management plans for each of the three water services (drinking water, stormwater and wastewater), and the 30-year infrastructure strategy.

One of the options for managing Buller’s water services in the future is to create a multi-council owned water organisation. Early scoping discussions with our neighbouring councils, including the Grey and Westland district councils based on the West Coast, and the Tasman and Marlborough District Councils have been taking place since December 2024, exploring the possibility of this option.

We encourage you to keep up to date with progress so you can make an informed decision in April 2025. This is when we’ll ask you which option you think is best for managing Buller’s water services in the future, as required by the Local Water Done Well legislation.