Annually, it adds up to an estimated 14.7% increase from the status quo for the 2026/2027 financial year, followed by an additional 28.7% increase the following year.
The average annual water bill will be $2418 for households in Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Porirua, but will vary by council area and capital value.
In 10 years’ time, annual charges are estimated to climb to as high as $6831 on average, the entity has warned.
Wellington’s water infrastructure has received insufficient investment historically, Tiaki Wai has said. Photo / Mark Mitchell
At a briefing to media on Tuesday, board chairman Will Peet said it represented “really steep increases” for households.
“This is hardly a good time,” Peet said, “but also we can’t keep on kicking the can down the road, we need to start the investment.”
He said the organisation is inheriting $9 billion of water assets with “long-standing issues that require sustained investment”, as well as taking on $1.7b of debt.
Part of the reason for raising prices on Wellingtonians was allowing the organisation to operate with enough headroom to manage unforeseen events, such as the Moa Point Wastewater plant failure, Peet said.
“There is a ton of work to do,” he said, adding that Wellington Water does not currently have an asset management system and has no central record of asset conditions.
Tiaki Wai board chairman Will Peet says “steep” rises in water billing are necessary to enable investment in Wellington’s water infrastructure. Photo / Tiaki Wai
Despite significant increases to Wellington Water’s funding, the organisation has not managed to spend all the money it has received, recording a $15m underspend of Wellington City Council capital funding this financial year.
Asked why Tiaki Wai needs such a significant funding increase when its predecessor was unable to spend its allocated funding, chief executive Michael Brewster said the new organisation would be able to spend money better and more wisely than Wellington Water, and would have a longer-term view as it will own the water assets, unlike Wellington Water.
Households who are unable to pay their new water bills will not have their water turned off, Peet said, given “water is necessary for life”.
Tiaki Wai will also not be able to go to a homeowner’s bank to recover the owed money, but will have the same powers as businesses for debt collecting.
The draft Water Services Strategy is open for feedback at haveyoursay.tiakiwai.co.nz.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.