So, what are the options, how much will water charges be, and how will that work?

Currently you pay water charges on your rates bill. It's about $1,913 per year now.

That's going to change because of the Local Water Done Well Reforms.

Whether In-House, Stand-alone CCO or Joint-council CCO - you'll receive a separate water charges bill from 2027/28. That means those charges will not be on your rates bill each year.

This will be like the bill you get from the power company because Water Services will be regulated just like power companies are, that's part of the reforms.

Council has modelled all of the options, and the first table below shows the water charges in 2027/28 and 2033/34.

Joint Council CCO SWDW - 2027/28 - $2,168 per year / 2033/34 - $2,894 per year
Stand-alone CCO - 2027/28 - $2,466 per year / 2033/34 - $3,754 per year
In-house business unit 2027/28 - $2,269 / 2033/34 - $3,093 per year

The second table shows the modelling for South Canterbury, for the same period. The South Canterbury Councils did not model for a stand-alone CCO.

In-house Business Unit - 2027/28 -$2,041 per year / 2033/34 - $2,924 per year
Joint-council - 2027/28 - $2,269 per year / 2033/34 - $3,093 per year

You can see the preferred option of Southern Water Done Well is the one which produces the lowest charges to you, the water customer.

All of this modelling can be found on our Consultation Site, and the image is taken from Page 30 of the Consultation Document