Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Structural arrangements for providing water services - Responsibility for providing water services - Transfer of responsibilities, etc, to water organisation

15: When new transfer agreement required

You could also call this:

"When to make a new agreement with a water organisation if things change"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

If you are a territorial authority and you have an agreement with a water organisation, you need to make a new agreement if you decide to make some changes. You might decide to give the water organisation more jobs to do, or take some jobs back. You might want to change how you work together on things that affect both of you, like how to charge people for water services, or who makes big decisions.

You can find more information about working together on things that affect both of you in clause 5 of Schedule 2. You can also find information about charging people for water services in clause 6 of Schedule 2. There are rules about who makes big decisions, which you can read about in clause 7 of Schedule 2.

Before you make a new agreement, you need to think about the water organisation's rules and talk to the people in charge of the water organisation and the other owners. If you decide to stop being an owner of the water organisation, or to close it down, you need to make a new agreement that gives all the jobs and responsibilities back to you. If you want to start a new water organisation, you need to make a new agreement that says what will happen to the jobs and responsibilities.

You can find more information about what needs to be in the new agreement in Schedule 2. If the new agreement does not say what will happen to something, it is assumed that you will keep it. There are also other rules that apply to the new agreement, which you can read about in Section 13.

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This page was last updated on 31 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1004295.

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14: Purpose and effect of transfer agreement, or

"What a transfer agreement means and how it changes who provides your water services"

16: Transfer agreements to be published, or

"Agreements must be made public so you can see them"

Part 2Structural arrangements for providing water services
Responsibility for providing water services: Transfer of responsibilities, etc, to water organisation

15When new transfer agreement required

A territorial authority that has entered into a transfer agreement with a water organisation must develop and enter into a new transfer agreement if the territorial authority decides—
to transfer additional responsibility for providing water services, additional water services infrastructure, and any other additional matters to the water organisation; or
that any responsibility for providing water services, any water services infrastructure, and any other matters transferred to the water organisation are to be returned to the authority; or
to change, or to propose to change, any of the following in a transfer agreement:
1. matters of shared interest or arrangements for managing them (see clause 5 of Schedule 2):
2. arrangements for charging and revenue collection for the water services transferred (see clause 6 of Schedule 2):
3. responsible decision makers under clause 7 of Schedule 2; or
to cease to be a shareholder in the water organisation; or
to disestablish the water organisation; or
to establish or become a shareholder in a further water organisation.

Before entering into a new transfer agreement, a territorial authority must—
consider any relevant provision in the water organisation’s foundation documents; and
discuss and reach agreement on all relevant matters with—
1. the board of the water organisation; and
2. all shareholders in the water organisation.

If there are shareholders in a water organisation other than the territorial authority that established it, that authority may enter into a transfer agreement referred to in subsection (1)(d) or (e) only if all those shareholders agree.
If a territorial authority makes a decision referred to in subsection (1)(d) or (e), the new transfer agreement must return to the authority all responsibilities, infrastructure, and other matters previously transferred to the water organisation.
If a territorial authority makes a decision referred to in subsection (1)(f), the new transfer agreement—
must return to the authority any responsibility for providing water services, water services infrastructure and other matters that are to be transferred to the further water organisation; but
if all parties agree, may transfer that responsibility and infrastructure and those other matters directly to the further water organisation.

A territorial authority that makes a decision referred to in subsection (1)(f) must enter into a new transfer agreement with the new water organisation.
A new transfer agreement must—
be adopted by the territorial authority by resolution; and
contain the matters set out in Schedule 2—
1. to the extent that those matters are relevant to the type of transfer agreement; and
2. modified as necessary.

Despite subsection (7)(b) and Schedule 2, any matter that a transfer agreement does not specify as being transferred is taken to be retained by the territorial authority.
Section 13 applies, with any necessary modifications, to a new transfer agreement under this section.