SWDC among Waikato Councils uniting to explore regional water services

A Fresh Approach to a Regional Challenge

Multiple independent reports over more than a decade have said that managing water services regionally could save money and improve infrastructure by leveraging scale. This regional model would involve creating a new multi-council organisation—called a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO)—to handle drinking water, wastewater, and, where requested, stormwater services.

Under Waikato Water Done Well, participating councils would transfer responsibility for their water services to the new organisation which they will collectively own, and have a say in its strategic priorities.

Community Input Matters

In early 2025, each council will make the Waikato Water Done Well model available to the public as part of community consultation.

Next steps

The CCO would be established in mid-2025 and following an implementation period that will support the safe transition of council’s water services, it would become operational by mid-2026. A key requirementis that this is seamless from a customer experience perspective.

The outcome of the community consultation and subsequent decisions by each council will determine which councils formally adopt the Waikato Water Done Well model.

Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council are also exploring establishing their own CCO, but have been clear that they see a regional model being of benefit at some point in the future.