The Three Waters legislation concerns waste water, storm water and drinking water.
The legislation proposes that the existing 67 local councils hand over their control of the three waters to four semi-autonomous regional councils by July 2024. The councils are not being replaced. They will continue to operate as before but their control over the three waters will be taken over by the new "super" councils.
That something urgently needs to be done about our waters is not disputed. Think of the campylobacter-polluted water that made more than 8,000 people sick in Havelock North where 45 were hospitalised and many were left permanently disabled, and four died. Think also of the frequent overflowing drains in Wellington City and Auckland's contaminated beaches after heavy rain.
Our water infrastructure needs between $130-180 billion to fix. Local councils should have been spending money on replacing pipes that are in places 100 years old but have been fearful of raising rates and losing their seats.
