Water Supply Bylaw review

Submissions closed on 08 May 2023, 04:00 PM

Aerial shot of the dam surrounded by native bush.

We’re proposing to adopt a new updated Water Supply Bylaw to replace our existing one. The new bylaw includes a few changes. Have your say on these using the online form below.

The Water Supply Bylaw protects our water and those drinking it

The purpose of the Water Supply Bylaw is to ensure the efficient and sustainable use of our water resources. It is also intended to protect public health and safety in regard to the supply of drinking water and to protect our water supply infrastructure from misuse, damage, nuisance or interference.

While the scope of this proposed new bylaw hasn’t changed much since the adoption of the 2015 bylaw, improvements have been made to its structure and wording to improve clarity and implementation.

We are proposing these changes

  • Acknowledging that tangata whenua are kaitiaki of water, and particularly Rangitāne o Manawatū’s role as mana whenua
  • Drafting backflow provisions into the bylaw itself, instead of having them in a separate appendix
  • Clarifying our ability to review extraordinary and restricted flow supply connections, to ensure the safety and integrity of the network
  • Improving cross reference between the bylaw and administration manual
  • Updating our water supply area maps
  • Removing related forms from sitting within the bylaw itself so that these can be updated more efficiently
  • Removing some duplicated appendices

Statement of proposal: Draft Water Supply Bylaw 2023(PDF, 3MB)

Have your say by 4pm Monday 8 May

Let us know your thoughts by filling out our online submission form. Paper copies of both the statement of proposal and submission form can also be collected from our Customer Service Centre or any of our community libraries.

If you’d like to speak to elected members in person, please indicate this on your submission form. A hearing is expected to be held by our Finance and Strategy Committee in May 2023. We’ll write to all submitters once a date is confirmed. Following this Council will then meet in June to consider all the submissions and decide whether to adopt the updated Water Supply Bylaw. 

Click here to view form.