Local Water Done Well
The Wairarapa-Tararua journey towards a Water Services Delivery Plan and joint water services delivery
South Wairarapa, Tararua, Masterton and Carterton District Councils, together with Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu, have been working together towards establishing a multi-council joint water services Council-Controlled Organisation (WSCCO) under the Local Government (Water Services) Bill to deliver water services to their districts.
This three-waters entity would have approximately 25,000 connections and deliver and own drinking, waste and stormwater services and assets. Responsibilities for water services would transfer from the Partner Councils to the WSCCO on or before 1 July 2027. This will include associated revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities.
In March/April 2025 the four councils carried out community consultation on two options – the Wairarapa Tararua Water Services Organisation and the status quo delivery model (or form of status quo delivery). There was strong community support for a regional water services organisation 88% SWDC submitters, 65% Tararua submitters, 70% Carterton submitters and 60% Masterton submitters.
On deciding which water services delivery model is optimal, under the Government’s Local Water Done Well (LWDW) regulatory regime, every Council is required to prepare a Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP).
The WSDP is a reference document for how the Council plans to deliver water services that are safe, compliant, and financially sustainable over the next 10 years and demonstrates to the Department of Internal Affairs that there is a clear plan for future delivery of water services.
Water Services Delivery Plan FAQs
What does Local Water Done Well mean for councils?
Local Water Done Well (LWDW) is the Government plan to address New Zealand’s water infrastructure challenges. The provision of reliable and safe water services to communities will be done within a new regulatory framework, focused on meeting economic, environmental and water quality needs.
Under LWDW, new rules for water services investment, borrowing and pricing apply. This new environment requires councils to submit their Water Services Delivery Plans (WSDPs) with the Department of Internal Affairs by 3 September 2025.
What is a Water Services Delivery Plan?
The Water Services Delivery Plan (WSDP) is a reference document for how the Council plans to deliver water services that are safe, compliant, and financially sustainable over the next 10 years and demonstrates to DIA that there is a clear plan for future delivery of water services. A critical objective of the WSDP is the confirmation that water services are financially sustainable by 30 June 2028.
The WSDP must be adopted by resolution by each Council and certified by the Chief Executive that it complies with legislative requirements and the information is true and accurate. If councils cannot deliver an acceptable WSDP, the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024 provides powers to the Minister of Local Government to facilitate arriving at an acceptable solution.
What does financially sustainable water services mean?
Financial sustainability means water services revenue is sufficient to meet the costs of delivering water services and planned investment meets future infrastructure requirements. The costs of delivering water services include meeting all regulatory standards, and long-term investment in water services and financing debt. How councils approach achieving financial sustainability can be different depending on local circumstances but all councils are required to meet three key tests:
· Investment sufficiency – is the projected level of investment sufficient to meet regulatory requirements and provide for growth?
· Revenue sufficiency – is there sufficient revenue to cover costs (including servicing debt) of water services delivery
· Financing sufficiency – are funding and financing arrangements sufficient to meet investment requirements?
The Wairarapa-Tararua multi-council Council Controlled Organisation
The Government has indicated a preference for regional solutions in achieving a sustainable water services delivery model. To make this more accessible, the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024 provided an alternative consultation process where
consultation need only be carried out once before a decision is made to join a multi-council owned water organisation or another model.
In March and April 2025, the Councils consulted with their communities on options for the future of water services in the district. The Councils consulted on two options, the establishment of a Wairarapa-Tararua Water Services Organisation (WSO) or a form of the status quo delivery model. Community feedback strongly supported the Wairarapa-Tararua model with 88% of SWDC submitters indicating a preference for this option. Based on this feedback, Council resolved on 8 May 2025 to proceed with establishing a Wairarapa-Tararua WSO, working with Masterton, Carterton, and Tararua District Councils.
When do the Wairarapa-Tararua Councils make their decisions?
South Wairarapa, Carterton, Masterton and Tararua District Councils are considering their WSDPs on 20 August 2025.
What will happen if one of the four councils resolves not to approve the Wairarapa-Tararua WSDP?
Councils are free to make their own decisions. The Wairarapa and Tararua councils have agreed that certain key decisions must be made within a timeline that allows each council to meet the new legislative requirements.
If needed, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) advises that councils can request that a Crown Facilitator be appointed to assist with the identification and development of solutions that address financial sustainability and affordability issues. This could include working with a group of councils to facilitate or negotiate a joint Plan if those councils would benefit from someone external to help ‘broker’ and coordinate this during the water services delivery plan process.
The modelling informing the Water Services Delivery Plan
Under the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) councils fund depreciation from income and use the resulting funds to pay for water asset renewals (the existing model). The Wairarapa-Tararua joint model funds renewals from loans and ensures debt is repaid from income. This allows the spreading of debt over more years and balances debt; it is a utilities infrastructure funding model, enabled by legislation.
We have modelled the Wairarapa-Tararua approach to generate a projected annual charge for an average connected consumer receiving access to all water services (drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater management). Average connection cost has been calculated by dividing all costs for each service of water, wastewater, and stormwater by the current and projected number of connected users for water services. This factors in existing and future levels of service and growth. The key inputs to the model are based on Councils capital programmes in their long-term plans, and we have made some additional assumptions about operating costs based on other comparable organisations.
Within the overall WSO, each Council has a different transition path and financial picture, based on their respective starting debt positions, capital programmes, and the Council’s agreement to maintain non-harmonised prices for at least nine years.
South Wairarapa District Council, within the WSO, is projected to generate sufficient revenue to meet the full cost of water services delivery, including operating expenditure, asset renewals, and debt servicing. This is underpinned by a shift to a WSO with a target capital structure generating sufficient revenues over the forecast period.
Will water services costs increase?
Yes. Water infrastructure in New Zealand is increasingly expensive to provide. Councils have been grappling with water services delivery cost increases and underinvestment in asset renewals and upgrades for some time. LWDW is about operating differently to deliver safe and reliable water services effectively in a financially sustainable manner.
South Wairarapa District Council requires substantial capital investment to meet regulatory standards, maintain service levels, and support growth. The $150m programme in the WSDP features significant project work in years one-to-five. This has resulted in higher debt levels and customer pricing. In the following years, capital expenditure will stabilise, improved asset condition will reduce operating costs and enhance service reliability, and operational efficiencies of the regional model will be accruing.
It is important to note that costs would have to increase under any future delivery model chosen by the Council because of the legislative requirements for water services. Adopting a regional approach is the most affordable option for the community.
When will the new organisation be in place?
Subject to all four Councils adopting their WSDPs and DIA approving the plans, Councils have committed to have the new water services organisation up and running by 1 July 2027 (or earlier if possible). Until that time, the Council will continue to own the water assets. Council brought the capital programme back in-house on 1 July 2025 to focus on delivery over the next two years and prepare for transition to a new water services delivery organisation. Operational services will continue to be delivered by Wellington Water Ltd until Wellington Water is wound up as part of the Wellington region’s transition to a new organisation.
Read our submissions on Local Water Done Well
Submission on behalf of the collective councils of the Wairarapa region
Local Water Done Well – options reports
Appendix 1 CDC AMP on a page
Appendix 1 SWDC AMP on a page
Appendix 1 Tararua AMP on a page
Appendix 2 Team Bios
Appendix 3 MCA Criteria Definition, Criticality and Anchors
Appendix 4 MCA Evaluation – Blank
Appendix 5 MCA Evaluation
Appendix 6 Castalia review of Wai T water sector evaluation criteria 111024
Appendix 7 Water Services Delivery Plan Options – Wai+T (Final)
Appendix 8 Wairarapa 3x councils model output summary slide pack
Wai + T Joint Arrangement Report
WRWSDP_Appendices_041024
WRWSDP_AppendixD_041024
WRWSDP_Regional Report_041024