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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Structural arrangements for providing water services - Other roles of water service providers - Assessment of water services throughout district

71: Assessment of communities’ stormwater and wastewater services

You could also call this:

"Checking if a community's stormwater and wastewater services are good enough to keep people healthy"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

When you live in a community, you need stormwater and wastewater services to keep you healthy. A territorial authority must check if these services are good enough in its area. The authority looks at the health risks if these services are not available or are not good enough.

The authority checks the quality of the services and if they can meet the needs of the community now and in the future. It also looks at what happens when stormwater and wastewater are released into the environment. You can have both stormwater and wastewater services checked at the same time.

The territorial authority can do the check itself or ask another organisation to do it. The first check must be done by 1 July 2029, and then every three years after that. When the check is finished, the authority must make the results public.

The authority must also think about what the check means for its plans to manage water services, as outlined in section 230, and its role in a water organisation, as outlined in section 224. It must consider the check's findings in relation to its district plan, prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991, and its duty to protect public health, as outlined in section 23 of the Health Act 1956. The authority's duty is to improve, promote, and protect public health in its area.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1444961.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsEnvironment and resources > Food and water safetyHealth and wellbeing > Public health
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Part 2Structural arrangements for providing water services
Other roles of water service providers: Assessment of water services throughout district

71Assessment of communities’ stormwater and wastewater services

  1. A territorial authority must assess the provision within its district of—

  2. stormwater services; and
    1. wastewater services.

      1. The purpose of an assessment is to assess, from a public health perspective, the adequacy of stormwater services and wastewater services available to communities throughout a territorial authority’s district, taking into consideration—

      2. the health risks to communities arising from any absence of, or deficiency in, the services; and
        1. the quality of the services currently available to communities within the district; and
          1. the current and estimated future demands for any of those services; and
            1. the actual or potential consequences of stormwater and wastewater discharges within the district.

              1. One type of service may be assessed in conjunction with the other.

              2. An assessment may be conducted—

              3. by the territorial authority; or
                1. 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.

                  1. A territorial authority (or other organisation under subsection (4)(b)) must—

                  2. conduct its first assessment by 1 July 2029; and
                    1. conduct later assessments at least once every 3 years after the completion of the first assessment.

                      1. On completing an assessment, a territorial authority must make the assessment publicly available.

                      2. A territorial authority must also consider the findings and implications of the assessment in relation to—

                      3. the territorial authority’s water services strategy under section 230; and
                        1. if the territorial authority is a shareholder in a water organisation that is a water service provider, the authority’s statement of expectations under section 224; and
                          1. the territorial authority’s district plan prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991; and
                            1. the territorial authority’s broader duty to improve, promote, and protect public health within its district in accordance with section 23 of the Health Act 1956.

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