FAQ

Waitaki District Council's Mayor and Councillors have approved developing a Water Services Delivery Plan to join with the Southern Waters group to manage water services delivery in the region. They have directed Council officers to prepare a plan and take action to enter the Southern Waters group.

The new organisation will launch in July 2027. You will still pay water charges as part of your rates for the 2026/27 rating year.

No.

The Local Water Done Well legislation explicitly rules out private ownership of water. Joint CCO’s can only be owned by Councils or Community Trusts. The Southern Waters group will be owned by its constituent Councils.

Water assets will be owned by Southern Waters, but Southern Waters will be owned by the Councils who control that organisation.

As shareholders, Council will have appointed representatives to the shareholder committee.

They will set the Letter of Expectation for Southern Waters, who will make the decisions to fulfil those expectations as part of delivering water services.

For 2026/27, you will pay water charges in your rates bill.

Water bills may become a separate charge, similar to your power or internet bill, paid directly to Southern Waters, or the Council might collect them on our behalf. This is yet to be determined.

No.

The water charges for Waitaki will be used to pay for Waitaki’s water services.

Eventually.

Water metering allows people to be charged for what they actually use rather than a flat charge, and has been shown to reduce water usage by up to 25%

Southern Waters views rural water as a ‘Fourth Water’. The needs of rural schemes are different to urban or township schemes, and will be represented in the organisation.

Yes.

New infrastructure and investment regulation means that water charges are set to rise over the next decade. By joining with Southern Waters, water charges will not rise as much as they would have if Council had set up its own CCO, or its In House plan had been accepted.

By joining with other Councils, the lending terms to invest in infrastructure from the Local Government Finance Agency are better than being a single Council.

Southern Waters will have a larger contracting power as one of the biggest water services delivery companies in the South Island.

All four Councils will share the back-office and regulatory costs of this organisation between them, reducing costs.

Council still needs to complete a review of the condition of its water assets and submit a new Water Services Delivery Plan by 30 June 2026.

The Southern Waters Councils must approve Waitaki's entry into Southern Waters, and these decisions will be taken by 1 April 2026.