Three Waters reform programme

rdf:langString Three Waters reform programme

rdf:langString The Three Waters reform programme (also known as Three Waters) is a public infrastructure restructuring programme launched by the Sixth Labour Government to centralise the management of water supply and sanitation in New Zealand. It proposes shifting control of stormwater, drinking water and wastewater management from the country's 67 local councils to four new publicly-owned regional entities by July 2024. Details of the proposed reforms were announced in October 2021. The Three Waters reforms were criticised by several mayors and the opposition National and ACT parties. From November 2021, a working group of mayors and Māori representatives reviewed issues of representation, governance and accountability, and reported back in March 2022 with 47 recommendations. In April 2022, the government accepted 44 of the recommendations. Key changes to the original proposals included providing non-financial shareholdings for councils in the four new water entities, and increased legislative protection against future privatisation of the water assets. Regional representative groups would be established as part of the governance structure, with equal representation of council and tangata whenua. These representative groups would appoint the members of the boards of the four water entities, based on skill and competence.