Northland Water Done Well

• March 2025: Modelling of different water service delivery options is finalised.
• 27 March 2025: Councillors vote on preferred option.
• 2 April to 2 May 2025: Consultation period.
• July 2025: Councils adopt preferred option.
• July to September 2025: All three district councils work together to prepare a Water Services Delivery Plan and must submit it to Central Government by 3 September 2025.
• October to December 2025: Central Government reviews the Water Services Delivery Plan while councils define partnership terms, key principles and key documents, including legal and foundational agreements.
• January to March 2026: Foundational principles are confirmed, technology systems are reviewed, the implementation plan is finalised and a potential trading name is identified.
• March to June 2026: Foundational documents are ratified, trading name is confirmed, key leadership and governance structures are established, the implementation team is onboarded, an office location is secured, and compliance is assessed across councils.
• July 2026 to June 2027: Transfer agreement is executed, the water services strategy is approved, and transition period begins.

Across the nation, councils are facing big challenges relating to the delivery of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services.

Local Water Done Well is a policy introduced by the coalition Government to replace the previous Government’s Three Waters reform programme and address New Zealand’s long-standing water challenges.

It empowers communities and councils to determine how their water services will be delivered in the future while meeting increased regulatory requirements and quality standards, being financially sustainable and supporting forecasted growth.

The policy also encourages councils to work with neighbouring districts on solutions that could benefit larger regions.

Councils have been investigating options for water service delivery into the future, seeking community feedback, and preparing Water Service Delivery Plans which were submitted to the Government in early September 2025.

For more information about Local Water Done Well, visit the Department of Internal Affairs website: www.dia.govt.nz/Water-Services-Policy-legislation-and-process 

No, your water services will not be affected. We will continue to provide quality services to residents and ratepayers as we look to explore the best service delivery model for the future of our community. This potentially includes working with one or more neighbouring councils. Our focus is to ensure residents continue to receive quality and value in their water services.

A Water Services Delivery Plan is a one-off plan that water service providers were required to submit under Local Water Done Well before 3 September 2025.

It needs to demonstrate how the water services will be delivered and demonstrate financially sustainability by June 2028. The plans must be for a minimum 10-year timeframe but can be up to 30 years.

It must include detailed information about water services operations, assets, revenue, expenditure, pricing, future capital expenditure, and how councils plan to finance and deliver their preferred model.

A joint Water Services Delivery Plan was adopted by all three of Northland’s district councils in August 2025 and approved by the Department of Internal Affairs in early October 2025. You can read this plan below.

Water Services Delivery Plan (pdf, 12mb) (large file)

A council-controlled organisation (CCO) is an organisation that is owned by a council/councils but operantes at arm's length from the council.

A CCO has a Board of Directors who focus on achieving what their council owners expect of them. What their council owners expect of them is agreed via a Statement of Expectations.

The two-waters Northland CCO will be a new organisation that will deliver drinking water and wastewater services on behalf of each of the shareholding councils – Whangarei District Council, Kaipara District Council and Far North District Council. It will do this from July 2027 when it becomes operational.

Stormwater assets will remain with their respective councils in terms of decision making and costs, however a shared service arrangement may be made with the CCO for operations.

This is because many critical parts of the system are shared across other council services too. For example, roads drain stormwater during heavy rain, and green spaces in parks and reserves are often designed to capture excess water where possible.

Establishment of the new water services entity will be carried out in three phases:

• the scoping and preparation phase, running from September 2025 until June 2026
• the establishment and transition phase, from June 2026 to July 2027
• the go-live and operational phase, commencing in July 2027.  

Whangarei District Council’s General Manager for Waters, Andrew Carvell, has been seconded to lead the scoping and preparation phase of implementation on behalf of the three district councils as Waters Implementation Programme Director until a CEO is appointed mid-2026.  

Recruitment for a Northland Waters Establishment Advisory Group (EAG) is underway. This group will act as an ‘interim board’ until the CCO becomes incorporated, and a board of directors is appointed in mid-2026.

The EAG will be made up of three to six members who will provide independent assurance and professional advice to strengthen the decision-making of the Elected Members Steering Group (EMSG) and operational teams

The three district councils have agreed to a budget of $1.5m for the first phase of implementation (scoping and preparation) at a council meeting in August 2025.  

A forecast of total establishment costs, based on the likely scope, timeframes and resource costs to deliver, is tentatively estimated at $8m to $15m. This consists of approximately $5m to $8m in establishment costs alongside $3m to $7m in IT costs (both implementation and licensing costs).

The final establishment budget would need to be refined based on stakeholder expectations. 

Local Water Done Well legislation requires the appointment of a competency-based board of directors. Board members would be selected for their expertise in areas such as strategic planning, financial management, governance, leadership, risk oversight, and water industry experience. The board would have ultimate responsibility for the decisions and actions of the CCO, subject to any agreements or contracts established during its establishment.

The proposal for Northland also includes a recommendation that a shareholder council be formed, including two representatives from each founding council, of which at least one must be an elected member. The shareholder council’s role would be to represent its shareholders and hold the CCO to account via a statement of expectations.

There would not be a ‘lead’ council, however legislation requires a secretariat role which could be fulfilled by a participating council, or the CCO itself. The secretariat role is yet to be determined.

This is yet to be confirmed, however, legislation provides five options for how shares can be allocated across councils. These include:

1.      Population allocation: Shares are allocated based on the proportionate population of its service area and updated as these figures change over time.
2.      Connections allocation: Shares are allocated based on the number of water connections and updated as these figures change over time.
3.      Net asset allocation: Shares are allocated based on the total net value of the council’s assets transferred to the CCO at the time of establishment.
4.      Equal proportion allocation: Shares are allocated to each council equally.
5.      Combination: Shares are allocated through a combination of the methods above. For example, 50% of the shares could be allocated based on number of water connections and 50% based on net asset value.

The Northland Local Water Done Well Working Group has agreed to a model that recognises the different starting points of each council in terms of water assets, debt levels and infrastructure investment needs.

This would be achieved by keeping financials ring-fenced for each district and having non-harmonised water charges for up to three years. Non-harmonised means water charges are different for residents in each district.

The exact details of this model are still to be worked through. It is expected that during the first three years, the CCO would be able to identify and prioritise some of the critical issues each district is facing and then be in a position to review its approach to finances and water charges.