Gore needs $465 million three waters upgrade in next 30 years

Monday, 18 December 2023

The Gore District Council predicts it will cost $465 million to upgrade its three waters infrastructure in the next 30 years, and may request a meeting with the new government about how to fund the work.

Last week, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown announced that Cabinet has agreed to introduce and pass legislation early next year that will repeal Three Waters legislation, which will restore council ownership and control of water assets.

Under the previous governments' proposed Three Waters reform, which covered freshwater, wastewater and stormwater management, the responsibility for funding the capital investment would have been transferred to the 10 new service delivery entities.

A report from Gore District Council waters asset manager Matt Bayliss, to be tabled at a council meeting on Tuesday, said that along with most other districts in New Zealand, due to ageing infrastructure, historical underinvestment, changing legislation and customer expectations, the forecast capital investment requirements for three waters infrastructure in the Gore District were significant.

Following work completed for the reform, council staff estimated investment worth $465m would be needed over the next 30 years.

That figure included $105m to renew existing infrastructure at the end of its useful life, $92m to upgrade the council’s wastewater treatment plants, $248m to complete stormwater separation works and resolve capacity issues, and $20m of other miscellaneous upgrades and improvements.

The report said it was important to note that the estimates were high level and likely to change as further investigation and design work was completed.

The $465m figure was considered a minimum, as it generally only accounted for known issues and requirements.

Financial modelling completed in 2021 estimated that under the current service delivery model, the average cost per household for three waters services in the Gore district would increase from the current $1340 to $6770 by 2051, an increase of 400%.

Bayliss’s report said when considering these funding challenges, it was believed to be vital that some form of alternative funding model for three waters infrastructure was established.

If an alternative funding model was not developed in the near future, the council would face an uphill battle to meet new regulation requirements and the Gore district’s communities’ expectations around three waters service delivery.

The report recommended the council write to the government highlighting its funding challenges and request a meeting to discuss potential alternative funding mechanisms.

In a statement released last week, Brown said the government was committed to addressing the water infrastructure challenges jeopardising the nation’s health and prosperity and driving up costs for households across the country.

“The coalition Government will instead implement a new regime which recognises the importance of local decisionmaking and flexibility for communities and councils to determine how their water services will be delivered in future. We will do this while ensuring a strong emphasis on meeting rules for water quality and long-term investment in infrastructure,’’ he said.

Brown said he was writing to mayors and council chief executives informing them of the Government’s decisions on the way forward, including key principles of the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy which has now started for further development, with key decisions planned for early next year.