Large-scale water users face compulsory water-metering: Nick Smith

Any water user taking more than 5 litres per second will have to instal water meters and record their useage, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced tonight.

Treasury analysis says the impost on water users including farmers, food processors and municipalities will cost $42 million for national benefits of $101 million, on a net present value basis. The move will allow water pricing and charging to develop on a national basis.

"We can't even begin to manage water properly in New Zealand when we have so little information on how much is extracted and when," said Smith.

Less than a third of water taken nationally is currently metered.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Anti-spam verification:

Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

TWL - Share Purchase Plan Results
GMT revaluation, unit buyback and proposed structure update
Devon Funds Morning Note - 17 February 2026
CEN - Contact successfully completes NZ$450m Placement
February 17th Morning Report
PFI - Divestments
CEN offers to purchase remaining 25% of King Country Energy
February 16th Morning Report
SkyCity Appoints Chief Financial Officer
February 13th Morning Report