Water – Wai
We are the economic regulator for water services under the Government's Local Water Done Well (LWDW) regime. We're drawing on our experience in successfully regulating other sectors and international best practice in water regulation to develop an effective regulatory regime tailored for Aotearoa NZ…
We have created simple overview that explains the tools available to us to carry out our role.
What will we do? | He aha ta tātau e mahi ai?
Collaborative approach
The Commerce Commission is an independent regulator, but we recognise we cannot effectively develop and implement economic regulation for water without working collaboratively with the sector. It is important to have a regulatory regime that is well understood by a diverse range of stakeholders.
We are working to ensure the Commission’s role and the role of economic regulation is understood by the water and local government sectors. This includes why our initial focus is to improve the information available to understand performance. We have engaged with Water NZ members, council staff and elected members directly and via Local Government New Zealand. Click below to see our previous presentation to stakeholders about our role.
What’s happening? | He aha te mea e puta ana?
On 26 August 2025, the Government introduced changes to the Commerce Act that set up our enduring role as the economic regulator for water services. We have a range of regulatory tools available to us, and one of those is Information Disclosure.
We expect to set initial information disclosure requirements around six months from the passing of the legislation.
Information Disclosure
One of the key tools we will use for economic regulation for the water sector is information disclosure (or ID) – a form of economic regulation that promotes transparency by requiring service providers regulated suppliers to publicly disclose certain information about their performance.
We take that information, analyse it and publish it in a manner that makes it easier to compare between regulated suppliers, and look at trends over time.
Foundational information disclosure
The Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act enables specified entities to be subject to an early form of ID by the Commission, called ‘foundational information disclosure’. This is a type of economic regulation that requires certain water service providers to share information to the public and the Commerce Commission about their operation.
In March 2025, the Government decided to designate Wellington Water Limited a specific entity that will be subject to foundational information disclosure until the full economic regulation regime is in place from mid-2026.
For an overview of the differences between foundational information disclosure and enduring information disclosure please see the table below:
| Foundational ID | Enduring ID | |
| Duration | A temporary form of disclosure. | A long-term form of disclosure. |
| Who it applies to | Water service providers specified by Government through an Order in Council. Currently only applies to Wellington Water. | Will apply to all local government water service providers. |
| When it applies | For Wellington Water, expected to apply from mid-August 2025 until enduring economic regulation applies, likely mid-2026. | Likely to apply from mid- 2026 onwards. |
| Likely information requirements | Targeted information to help stakeholders understand more about whether they are getting value for money. Requirements tailored to Wellington Water’s context, and are not intended to set a precedent for the long-term ID framework. | Requirements are initially expected to include a wide range of financial and asset planning information, with the scope likely to expand over time to provide a more comprehensive view of provider performance. |
| Services covered | Water supply, wastewater and stormwater services. | Water supply and wastewater services (stormwater services may be added in the future). |
| Enabling legislation | Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024. | Commerce Act 1986, as amended by the Local Government (Water Services) Bill, expected to be enacted mid-2025. |
| Purpose | To promote transparency and incentivise better performance. By ‘shining a light’ on performance issues, stakeholders gain a better understanding of supplier performance, how this compares to past performance and other suppliers, and what improvements are expected in the future. | |
| Compliance | The Commission has a range of enforcement tools if suppliers do not comply, ranging from compliance advice and warnings to seeking pecuniary penalties in the High Court. | |
| Published material | Under both forms of ID, water suppliers must publish the required information to help stakeholders better understand their performance. The Commission analyses the information and publishes our commentary on performance. | |
Crown monitor role
The Government has appointed the Commission as the Crown monitor for the interim regulation of Watercare. The role of the Crown monitor is to monitor and report on Watercare’s performance against the Watercare Charter, which was passed into law in March 2025.
The three-year Charter period started on 1 April 2025. Set by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the Charter will remain in place until 30 June 2028, after which price-quality regulation will apply to Watercare.
Our letter of expectations to Watercare outlines how we will monitor and report on Watercare’s performance during the Charter period. The letter also outlines our ability to investigate and take enforcement action if Watercare is non-compliant with reporting, price or quality requirements. For example, the Charter includes enforceable minimum service quality standards in relation to unplanned water supply interruptions, wastewater overflows and real water losses.
Who we’re working with | Ngā Tari e tū tahi ana
The Commission understands there are many parties that have a role in the wider water landscape. In developing our regime, we’re working closely with our fellow water services regulator, the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowaiopen_in_new and with Government agencies like the DIAopen_in_new.
There are also other key parties that have a role in reviewing council information including, the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Health, and regional councils.
What’s next? | He aha te mea panuku?
We will continue to publish more information about our mahi, key documents, consultation dates and opportunities for engagement.
If you’d like to be kept up to date with our latest updates, subscribe to our email list.
If your interest relates to our Crown monitor role, please contact us at crown.monitor@comcom.govt.nz
Frequently Asked Questions | Ngā pātai auau
We know that economic regulation can appear complex and that there is uncertainty about what it will mean for councils. We have in the past provided some answers to common questions from the sector about economic regulation ( 119 KB, PDF ). These are updated from time to time as we get questions from stakeholders.
We also encourage you to send your questions to us. You can do so by emailing wai@comcom.govt.nz.
Work with us | Me mahi tahi tatou
We’re building our Water team to ensure we have the expertise in-house to deliver on our remit. Keep an eye out on our careers pageopen_in_new for the latest job listings.