Councils confirm new water services delivery model

Five councils covering the Wellington metropolitan area – Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council – have all now confirmed they will establish a new, jointly-owned organisation to deliver water services to their communities.

The decision to move to this new model for water services delivery has been prompted by the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy, which has mandated that all councils must review how water services are delivered.

In March and April 2025 the councils publicly consulted on water service delivery options. Across all five councils, submissions showed solid support for the preferred option of a multi-council-owned water organisation, ranging from 69 to 84 percent of submissions in favour.

The five councils have now all voted to go ahead with the new organisation, which will take accountability for water services on 1 July 2026.

Mana whenua iwi Ngāti Toa Rangitira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika support this decision and are partnering with councils on improving water services delivery.

The new organisation, with the interim name Metro Water, will own and operate public drinking water, wastewater and reticulated stormwater assets for a population of around 430,000 people.

Advisory Oversight Group chair Dame Kerry Prendergast says councils and mana whenua have been clear throughout the process that the intent is to provide better levels of service for communities through reduced leaks, outages and unplanned disruptions, while also enabling growth and delivering cleaner harbours and waterways.

“By establishing a council-owned organisation, we are ensuring assets are retained in public ownership and there is no privatisation. It also means councils, representing their communities, and mana whenua will have ongoing oversight.”

“Metro Water will have the resources, independence and region-wide perspective to effectively manage and improve three waters services for current and future communities,” says Dame Kerry.

The next steps are to finalise key foundation documents for the new organisation, finalise a Water Services Delivery Plan for submission to the Government, and appoint interim board directors and an interim Chief Executive.