Kawerau District Council to discuss the Government’s Three Waters Reform

Kawerau District Council welcomes the introduction of the new regulations for drinking water in New Zealand.

As part of the Government’s Three Waters review, the Mayor, Chief Executive and various elected members attended workshops and presentations from officials about the introduction of new regulations and a proposed approach to Three Waters investment and service delivery reform.

At the upcoming Council meeting on August 25, the Kawerau District Council will make decisions about whether to sign the initial Water Reform Memorandum of Understanding.

As part of this initial MOU, the Kawerau District Council, like all other Councils in New Zealand, has been offered a funding package to be used for water infrastructure. Based on population and district size, the Council is eligible for $390,000 in the first round. The Council understands there may be additional funding as part of the regional pool for Councils in the Bay of Plenty region.

Kawerau District Council Chief Executive Russell George said this information would be tabled and discussed at the next week’s Council meeting.

Mr George said there would be further decisions to make in 2021 as to whether Kawerau continues to manage its own water assets or what the alternatives may be.

“We are very much in an information gathering stage of the process with the Government and working through this alongside our neighbouring Territorial Authorities in Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki and the wider Bay region.”

“The Government is still working through the process of what the Three Waters reform looks like. However, we will be ensuring we are represented and part of these discussions to ensure Council are fully informed as we go through this process.”

Kawerau Water Infrastructure Projects Underway

Kawerau District Council is already undertaking several large infrastructure projects relating to the water reticulation and wastewater treatment system in the Kawerau District as part of the 2020/21 Annual Plan.

The projects underway include:

The Bell Street reticulation replacement project which is in the design phase. Once the design phase is completed the project will be put out for tender by the end of August 2020, following which the work would commence.

In addition, the toby replacements are continuing in the Domett Street area. These tobies have back-flow preventers and also a further screen. The reticulation in Domett Street have already been replaced with polyethylene pipes.

All other reticulation within the Kawerau District are being assessed using data from previous years and there is representative physical sampling being taken from various areas. This assessment would likely be completed by the end of 2020.

In addition, there was $537,000 budgeted for the replacement of stormwater and wastewater infrastructure.

[ENDS]