Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill
This law sets up a new system for how local councils manage drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services. Every council must write a plan explaining how they will deliver these services, keep them financially sustainable, and meet quality standards. The plan must be checked and approved by a government official. If a council struggles, the government can send in helpers or take over the planning. Watercare (Auckland's water company) is given its own special rules to make it financially independent from Auckland Council.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
Councils must show their water services are financially self-sustaining, and water charges must cover long-term investment costs rather than being subsidised by other council budgets.
financially sustainable means... the revenue applied to the authority's delivery of those water services is sufficient to ensure the authority's long-term investment in delivering water services
an explanation of how the revenue from, and delivery of, water services will be separated from the territorial authority's other functions and activities
providing a financially sustainable model for Watercare to be financially separate from Auckland Council
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Finance and Expenditure Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 12 June 2024.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.