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Taumata Arowai: New Zealand’s New Water Services Regulator
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n the December issue of Municipal Water Leader, Elizabeth Soal wrote about the major changes happening in New Zealand’s three waters sector, which covers drinking water, wastewater, and storm water. In this issue, we interview Bill Bayfield, the CEO of the New Zealand’s new water services regulator, Taumata Arowai, about the reforms and about the role of his organization. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Bill Bayfield: I started working in water in 1980. The organizations I worked in were the predecessors of what are now regional councils; they regulated water use and water quality in those regions. The regions were all defined by catchments, so we managed water from ki uta ki tai—from the mountains to the sea. We copied the idea of catchmentbased management from the United States. I have always been a regulator, and I eventually became the CEO of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and was the CEO of the Canterbury Regional Council. I had spent 10 years as the CEO of the Canterbury Regional Council and had been involved on behalf of regional councils in the central government process looking to restructure drinking water, wastewater, and storm water regulation over the last couple of years. Having been involved in that for the regional councils, I was asked if I would like to be the establishment CEO for the formation of the new national regulator. Municipal Water Leader: Why was the new national regulator established? Bill Bayfield: In 2016, there was an incident in the town of Havelock North in which drinking water gave around 5,000 people cryptosporidiosis—it killed four and probably severely compromised the health of dozens more. That was a major wake-up call for New Zealand, and consequently there was a formal enquiry and a review that lasted a couple of years and made around 40 recommendations to the New Zealand government, almost all of which are now being implemented. The review found that no part of the system worked well, including the national Ministry of Health, the public health units in each region and district, and the district councils that deliver the majority of New Zealand’s drinking water through municipal systems. In response, there was a major overhaul of the system. The government took the job of regulator away from the Ministry of Health and gave it to a new independent regulator—that’s us, Taumata Arowai. We went live on November 15, 2021. I was employed as the establishment CEO, but COVID‑19
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and other matters delayed the actual start-up, so I’ve been asked to stay on beyond establishment and be the CEO for the next year or two, depending on how well it goes. Municipal Water Leader: Taumata Arowai is primarily a drinking water regulator. What will its role be in relation to the other three waters services, wastewater and storm water? Bill Bayfield: Taumata Arowai is the front-facing regulator for drinking water, replacing all other regulators. But on wastewater and storm water, what New Zealand lacked was an oversight regulator, so we will manage the performance of the suppliers of both wastewater and storm water services, but will do so largely through the regional councils. We don’t start regulating wastewater and storm water until November 15, 2023, so for the time being, our priority is drinking water. Municipal Water Leader: Did New Zealand get the idea of a three-waters-based reform from overseas? Bill Bayfield: Yes. I know we considered various delivery systems in the United States and Europe, and of course, we always look at Australia. Our law often fits with that of countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK. In particular, we found our position quite similar to that of Scotland in terms of population size and the rural character of the land, so we were able to draw from that. Municipal Water Leader: What role did the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) play in making threewaters-reform recommendations to the New Zealand government? Bill Bayfield: WICS was brought in because the initial work, particularly on wastewater, showed that there was significant underinvestment in infrastructure in New Zealand. Because local authorities—namely, our district councils—were responsible for it, they faced a mammoth uphill task. After the government designed the new regime for managing drinking water, people noticed that the investment required was quite significant. After the New Zealand government thought of establishing a drinking water regulator, it was proposed that there could be an economic regulator. WICS is the economic regulator in Scotland, so it was invited to take a look at New Zealand and recommend what it would do. It concluded that there was considerable scope for efficiency across the three waters services in New Zealand but that the scope for efficiency was only likely to be realized if there was a significant consolidation of service delivery. municipalwaterleader.com
