Advocating for a coherent policy framework that addresses freshwater and water infrastructure issues.
New Zealand’s water resources - natural rivers, lakes, streams; and drinking water, stormwater, wastewater - are critical to our nation’s livelihood and wellbeing. To best manage them, we need to understand the linkages between them and that changes in one area impact significantly on the others.
Following on from LGNZ’s 3 Waters position paper in 2015 which analysed the core issues facing the sector across drinking water, stormwater and wastewater, Water 2050 advocates for a coherent framework for water policy, by improving understanding of water and providing a pathway to solutions for provision of water that recognises the interlinked nature of all water.
This means is that when new standards are set for water quality, we need to understand what the costs are to meet these, how will they be paid for, can communities afford them, do they have the tools they need to pay for them and how should water be managed into the future.
The Water 2050 project takes the form of a series of discussion papers, intended to promote discussion and contribute to policy development by central and local government, particularly in regards to the Government’s Three Waters Review, across five key areas:
- Allocation
- Water Quality
- Infrastructure
- Cost and funding
- Governance
