Local Water Done Well

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Here’s what’s happening, and why it matters.

Ōtorohanga District Council provides safe drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services for our community - protecting public health, the environment, and supporting sustainable growth.

Like many councils across New Zealand, we face future funding challenges to keep water infrastructure up to standard. The Government’s Local Water Done Well (LWDW) policy is their new plan to tackle this.

What is Local Water Done Well?

LWDW is the coalition government’s new approach to managing the “three waters” - drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. It replaces Labour’s previous “Three Waters” reform.

Under LWDW:

• Everyone pays fair, cost-reflective prices for water services.

• Money collected from water rates can only be spent on water services.

• Services must meet new quality and environmental standards.

• Councils must invest properly in water infrastructure.

Our recent decision

Ōtorohanga District Council has signed the Shareholders Agreement to become a stage one shareholder in Waikato Water Ltd (WWL) - a council owned water services company.

This means:

• We’ll keep running our own water and wastewater services for now.

• We get a direct say in how WWL is set up and governed.

• In 2027/28, we’ll consider moving to stage two - transferring assets and operations to WWL - but only if we’re confident our district won’t be worse off financially or operationally.

You can read the full media release about our decision here.

What the community told us

During public consultation (9 April - 6 May 2025):

• 4 submissions were received (one person spoke to Council).

• 116 people downloaded the Consultation Document.

• 36 people downloaded the Options Analysis.

• 98 people viewed the FAQs.

What’s next?

The new law requires every council to prepare a Water Services Delivery Plan by September 2025. This plan will set out how we’ll:

• Meet the new regulations.

• Keep services financially sustainable.

• Manage water infrastructure for at least the next 10 years (with a detailed first 3 years).

Councils can do this alone or team up with others. For us, being part of WWL is one way to explore shared solutions and keep water services strong for the future.

Stay in the loop:
For the latest updates, milestones, and decisions from Waikato Water Ltd, check out their news page and subscribe for email updates:
🔗 waikatowaters.co.nz/news