Local Water Done Well and changes to the drinking water quality regulations

On 8 August 2024 the Government announced further details on its Local Water Done Well programme. The Government’s intention of this programme is to address New Zealand’s water infrastructure challenges and is in response to the previous government’s Three Waters reform.

Included in the 8 August announcement are details of proposed changes to the existing drinking water quality framework that affect “drinking water suppliers”.  The proposed changes include aiming to reduce the cost and burden for drinking water suppliers associated with complying with the Water Services Act 2021 (Act).

Currently large numbers of drinking water suppliers are regulated by the Act.  Those suppliers are not distinguished by size and all suppliers have to provide safe drinking water.  Many drinking water suppliers are, by their nature, in rural areas and beyond the reach of a Council managed reticulated “town supply” network.

In our experience, the current “one-size fits all approach” for drinking water suppliers have concerned some directors, managers and consumers of smaller drinking water schemes – as there can be significant compliance costs with the Act that will fall on a small number of consumers in rural areas.

The Government’s new proposals include:

1. Providing that some “shared domestic supplies” serving 25 consumers or less are excluded from having to comply with the Act.  These smaller suppliers will not need to register with the regulator (Taumata Arowai), prepare a drinking water safety plan or meet the other requirements of the Act.  These lower risk small suppliers could include a common situation where a farm supplies drinking water to a small number of other nearby properties.  High risk community supplies (such as for community halls and marae) will not be covered by the exclusion.   The definition of drinking water suppliers that are included/excluded from the Act will need to be very carefully considered by the Government to ensure the right balance of compliance and water safety.
2. For other drinking water suppliers that will remain captured by the Act, changes include reducing regulatory requirements and compliance costs by:
   1. Requiring renewals with Taumata Arowai every 5 years instead of annually, extending the timeframe for currently unregistered suppliers to register by an extra three years (plus an extra two years to become compliant).
   2. Enabling Taumata Arowai to proactively issue exemptions from certain regulatory requirements, where compliance with the Water Services Act 2021 is impractical, inefficient, unduly costly or burdensome.
   3. Requiring Taumata Arowai to issue drinking water acceptable solutions to a greater number of suppliers. This is to help reduce the regulatory burden and costs for suppliers, by reducing the need for suppliers to develop their own bespoke solutions.
3. Supporting mixed use schemes that supply a small amount of drinking water and larger amounts of irrigation water.  Taumata Arowai is to consider the costs of regulation to ensure the regulation is proportionate to the scale, complexity and risk of each supply.

The above proposed changes will be included in a Local Government Water Services Bill which is expected to be introduced to parliament in December 2024. There will be opportunity for public feedback on the Bill during a select committee process.  We will continue to monitor and provide updates for these proposed changes which impact many small rural water supply schemes.

Want to know more?

If you have questions about this article, please contact our specialist Rural and Agribusiness team.

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