Decision time for Taupō water supply
The future of the management of the district’s water services is under review.
In a week or so the Taupō public will be appraised of the Taupō District Council’s preferred option for how it will manage water (stormwater, wastewater and drinking water) in the district in future.
The option will likely be presented alongside two other models for public feedback as part of the consultation phase for Local Water Done Well (LWDW) - the Government’s water system reform package which replaces the much maligned Three Waters.
The council’s communications staff and the councillors themselves will be trying to explain the pros and cons of the different options, the process councillors will have been through before settling on the preferred option and alternatives – to be decided on April 15 – and aiming to concisely present the data and projections around each.
It is likely that the council will present three options during the consultation phase.
The first will be to join with other Waikato councils as part of Waikato Water Done Well.
The second would be an in-house option which will resemble what happens at the moment but with the required financial separation from the rest of the council’s business.
A third option – a council controlled organisation CCO, will be a variant of the inhouse one, but with a different governance structure.
A council workshop on April 3 heard presentations from the Department of Internal Affairs with chief technical officer Marlon Bridge confirming the relatively secure position the council is in regarding the reforms.
Council staff spoke of the financial implications of joining other Waikato councils or pursuing an inhouse solution – the preferred council staff option following a survey, says the council’s LWDW programme manager Jo Walton.
The April 3 workshop follows a previous discussion, including a presentation on the Waikato Waters Done Well option.
More councillor workshops may yet come before April 15.
A series of tight timelines have been set by central government for all councils to make LWDW decisions, compounded by this being a local body election year.
Councils tend to avoid making major decisions in the three months prior to an election, with this year’s vote in October.
The issue is also complicated by the desire for Waikato Water Done Well to have an indication by June on whether the Taupō District Council is in or out.
The public consultation is not binding but will inform a formal decision on one of the options – projected to happen in July/August. The Government requires councils to submit a Water Services Delivery Plan by September 3.
The other WWDW district councils are: Hauraki, Matamata-Piako, Otorohanga, South Waikato, Waipa and Waitomo.