Bill Bayfield, Chief Executive of the new water services regulator - Taumata Arowai - has welcomed the recent publication of Water New Zealand’s annual National Performance Review document.

Mr. Bayfield said the review document contains key information and contributes towards building a shared understanding of what is happening within the sector.

“Water NZ’s National Performance Review helps to highlight what is working well, but also where improvements must be made.”

“This is important as you cannot fix what you cannot see or measure, and as the Review points out, assessing the condition and performance of assets buried underground is both technically challenging and resource intensive.”

“I want to thank and acknowledge the work of Water NZ and some of its members to annually pull this information together and then share it with the sector. Because this helps us to know what to fix to help lift performance.”

“As the new water services regulator for Aotearoa New Zealand, we are building our knowledge base about the performance of the water services sector. All the insights we can glean from this review and other sources will be used to help inform our regulatory approach as the drinking water regulator and to develop our oversight role of the performance of wastewater and stormwater networks from late 2023,” says Mr. Bayfield.

Participation in Water NZ’s annual National Performance Review is voluntary. The 2022 review covers 38 (of 64) service providers, with jurisdictions covering 87 per cent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population.

“It is heartening to see a good proportion of the sector voluntarily contribute their expertise towards the collation of information and publication of this document. Lifting performance is not a quick fix, it will take a concerted team effort.”

“With the establishment of Taumata Arowai as the water services regulator and the introduction of the Water Services Act 2021 – we have a new Crown entity and legislation dedicated to water services. We cannot lift performance by ourselves, and our goal is to work with the sector. This will be a marathon, not a sprint,” says Mr. Bayfield.

Mr. Bayfield said that he also wanted to impress upon the sector that we have a new and unique opportunity to do things differently.

“A key requirement of the Water Services Act 2021 is that everyone operating under it must give effect to Te Mana o te Wai, to the extent it applies to their functions and duties. This obligation applies equally to Taumata Arowai and to all suppliers under the Act. Having access to good information will be critical to support decision making that reflects Te Mana o te Wai. This in turn will result in Wai ora, Tangata ora. Healthy water, Healthy people,” says Mr. Bayfield.

The Water Services Act 2021 introduces new requirements for Taumata Arowai to monitor and report on the environmental performance of all significant drinking water networks and in time wastewater and stormwater.

Water NZ’s National Performance Review provides an excellent foundation for informing the development of our new regulatory approach, but it does not cover all significant networks. It is our intention to work with the water services sector to ensure that lessons learnt by Water NZ inform our new comprehensive regulatory requirements.

“Right now, we are consulting on key documents that will inform our regulatory approach. This consultation closes on 28 March and covers our proposed Drinking Water Standard and Quality Assurance Rules. It also covers our proposed new Water Network Environmental Performance Measures that will apply to all registered large suppliers from July 2022.”

“My message to the sector is that we are working hard to make sure we create regulations that are fit for purpose within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. It is about being pragmatic. So, we propose to introduce Drinking Water Network Environmental Performance Measures incrementally over the next three years building on the work of Water NZ and others,” says Mr. Bayfield.

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