69Assessment of communities’ access to drinking water

1. A territorial authority must inform itself about the access that each community in its district has to drinking water services by conducting an assessment of drinking water services in accordance with this section.

2. An assessment of drinking water services must—

3. identify each community that receives a drinking water service; and
4. describe the nature of existing drinking water services to the community; and
5. describe the characteristics of the community; and
6. assess the extent to which the community is currently receiving, and will continue to receive, a sufficient quantity of drinking water, including a consideration of—
   1. the community’s existing access to drinking water services; and
   2. any reasonably foreseeable risks to the community’s access to drinking water services in the future; and
   3. the current and estimated future demands for drinking water services within the community; and
7. describe the safety and quality of drinking water currently being supplied to the community, using information collected and made available by the Water Services Authority and any other organisations that the territorial authority considers relevant; and
8. identify and assess any other public health risks relating to the drinking water services supplied to the community; and
9. based on the assessment under paragraphs (b) to (f),—
   1. assess the consequences if the community loses access to drinking water services in the future, or is provided with drinking water services that are deficient in any way, including the implications for that community’s public health; and
   2. outline a plan to provide for the community’s ongoing access to drinking water services.

10. A territorial authority must—

11. conduct its first assessment by 1 July 2026; and
12. conduct later assessments—
    1. at least once every 3 years after the completion of the first assessment; or
    2. at an earlier date, if the authority is made aware of concerns about a community’s access to drinking water services.

13. A territorial authority must provide opportunities for any person to alert the territorial authority at any time to concerns about a community’s access to drinking water services.

14. For the purposes of this section,—

15. the scope of each assessment must include—
    1. communities that receive drinking water services from the territorial authority or another water service provider; and
    2. communities that do not receive drinking water services from the territorial authority or another water service provider; and
    3. all types of water supply arrangements, including communities (and households within those communities) that do not receive water supply services supplied by network reticulation; and
16. territorial authorities need not assess drinking water services that are owned or operated by a department within the meaning of section 5 of the Water Services Act 2021; and
17. an assessment may be carried out—
    1. by the territorial authority; or
    2. on the authority’s behalf by another appropriate organisation in the authority’s district, including another water service provider or an iwi, hapū, or other Māori organisation.