The Internal Affairs Department has rejected Waitaki District's standalone water services plan. Photo: RNZ
Waitaki District Council's standalone water services plan has been rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs.
Officials have ordered the council to carry out a full review of the district's water assets or face ministerial intervention.
The district council submitted the plan in August after backing out of the Southern Waters partnership with three other councils.
Mayor Gary Kircher, who opposed the independent approach, warned it could lead to rates rises of up to 40 percent over the next two years.
In a letter to the council, the Department of Internal Affairs gave Waitaki until the end of June 2026 to submit a revised plan and review the current condition, lifespan and value of the entire water services network.
Secretary for Local Government Paul James said the plan failed to meet regulatory requirements or include enough funding to cover the district's projected growth, saying the council should consider alternative models to the in-house option.
He said the council had also provided insufficient information about the condition of its network.
"The plan states that a lot of the existing information (CCTV etc) is now dated, with recent inspections indicating a general deterioration of the network condition over the last two decades, along with high inflow and infiltration levels in many of the schemes," he said.
"An assessment of the current condition, lifespan and value of all of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater networks is a legal requirement, and is also required to assess the financial projections in your plan and the overall financial sustainability of the plan."
James said he would brief the local government minister on the outcome of his assessment, "including advice on the potential use of ministerial intervention powers" if required.
"My expectation is that...you also consider different scenarios including the potential for a change in delivery model in your revised plan."
In a statement, Waitaki District Council said the cost of carrying out the asset review was "likely to be in the millions of dollars".
"An asset review of condition, lifespan and value of the entire water services network taking place in the next nine months is currently unbudgeted and so the new council will need to agree if it wants to fund this work to meet the government requirements," the council said.
The Department of Internal Affairs has approved the Southern Waters scheme, so Central Otago, Clutha and Gore district councils can establish the South Island's biggest joint council water company.
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