Water Delivery
Understanding Our Current Water Flow: Three Key Streams
Water. It sustains us, nourishes our land, and connects us all. It's fundamental for our communities, our farms, our homes, our river. Every drop counts.
That's why, in 2019, the Manawatū District Council set out to transform the way we manage drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. Council has made deliberate investments, with a focus on the future to ensure that water services across the District are not only financially sustainable but environmentally responsible for generations to come.
MDC is currently consulting on how three water services will be managed and delivered. The consultation is a requirement of the government’s Local Water Done Well programme and legislation. Learn more about the consultation, options presented and make your submission here. Consultation closes Friday 11 April 2025.
Learn more about the investments we’ve made and the projects we are currently working on below.
Manawatū District utilises multiple sources to fill the District’s drinking water requirements and extensive planning and investment ensures that the components are fit for years to come. This plan is titled the Feilding Water Resilience Project in addition to our smaller community water schemes like Sanson and NZDF Base Ohakea.
The project has a keen eye on our environmental impact with particular emphasis on protecting the Oroua River. To help minimise the amount of water extracted from the river, a third bore has been constructed at Roots Street in Feilding to supplement the Campbell Road and Newbury Line bores. In addition, a second reservoir at MacDonald Heights was installed, while the existing reservoir was earthquake strengthened.
The Feilding Water Resilience Project improves the endurance of our drinking water supply, while helping to cater for current and future demands based on local growth. Most importantly, the project caters to our local community needs while ensuring the health of the Oroua River.
The Wastewater Centralisation Programme has seen the greatest impact on the overall environmental and day to day management of the three waters. Having already upgraded the Manawatū Wastewater Treatment Plant, Council committed to a significant programme of works to centralise the treatment of village wastewater into Feilding.
For Sanson and NZDF Base Ohakea, this has included a substantial network of pipes, pumpstations and underground storage resulting in the first flush and full operation in 2024. Rongotea is currently underway, with Halcombe up next.
Financially, centralisation meant that consenting, operations and maintenance costs will only be required at one treatment plant instead of multiple, small, older facilities across the district.
Environmentally, centralising the process enables all wastewater to be consistently managed, treated and discharged to an equally high standard. The Feilding Wastewater Treatment Plan includes dual discharge with irrigation to land over the summer months (weather permitting) and via a native plant wetlands to the Oroua River over the winter months.
As part of the 2018-2028 Long-term Plan, Manawatū District Council adopted a village focused stormwater improvement programme which included Tangimoana, Himatangi Beach, Rongotea, Sanson, Halcombe and Cheltenham. It was a significant financial investment to assure that both proactive and reactive stormwater management was implemented. The plans took a local focus, responding to the needs of each community and ensuring that the improvements were fit for the overall village.
Population and industrial growth has the most significant impact on stormwater. In Council’s 2024-34 Long-term Plan, a $20+ million Feilding focused stormwater upgrade programme was approved as well as additional investment into the village stormwater improvement programme. This is an ambitious but exciting project to ensure the management of stormwater is reflective of the growing population and developing areas within the District.
