Under the Government water reforms, four entities would be responsible for water infrastructure, instead of 67 individual councils. Christchurch has been offered $122.4 million to opt in to the Government's water reforms, but critics have described the “pocket change” offer as a “bribe”. This follows last month's confirmation that reforms would shift the responsibility for drinking water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure from councils to four regional entities. Thursday’s announcement was the second time the Government has offered money to councils in relation to the water reforms. It gave $761m to councils for water infrastructure upgrades in July last year and Christchurch got $40m that time around.

Source: Stuff July 15, 2021 00:00 UTC