$15b earmarked for Auckland wastewater plan

Watercare plans to spend $15.2 billion on Auckland's water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Watercare chief executive Jamie Sinclair said the city has had decades of underinvestment while continuing to grow.

The plan, unveiled on Thursday, brings all the agency's projects into co-ordinated programmes, Sinclair said.

"This is the largest infrastructure investment programme Watercare has ever undertaken and represents a step change in how we plan and deliver infrastructure.

"Rather than looking at projects in isolation, we're managing nine co-ordinated programmes that provide greater certainty for our customers, our delivery partners and the wider infrastructure sector."

Sinclair said the work plan "represents opportunities for employment, apprenticeships and skills development".

"This programme isn't just an investment in Watercare's assets, it's an investment in Auckland's future."

The plan covered more than 1000 projects over the next decade, Watercare's chief programme delivery officer Mark Crowle said.

"That allows us to better sequence investment, improve efficiency, strengthen collaboration and provide much greater visibility to contractors, consultants, suppliers and delivery partners."

The plan included sending $1.6b on its Waikato water supply project.

Crowle said the agency will use an alliance model, which brought the water agency, designers and contractors into one team "to deliver complex infrastructure more effectively".

The Waikato water supply programme included a new raw water intake, an approximately 50km pipeline, a new 50-megalitre reservoir at Pukekohe West and a new water treatment plant.

Once complete, it will deliver up to 300 million litres of treated drinking water each day from the Waikato to Auckland by the end of 2033.

Watercare has also launched an online infrastructure pipeline hub that gave industry access to programme information, procurement opportunities, project updates and future investment priorities.

The plan included $4b of spending on new projects, while the rest would go to existing projects and ongoing upgrades.

The next stage of the agency's $1.6b Waitematā Water Quality Improvement Programme would include major new projects in Avondale and the Motions wastewater catchment, to reduce overflows into the Waitematā Harbour, and improve wastewater network performance and resilience.

Another $600m was earmarked for upgrades to Rosedale Wastewater Treatment Plant to improve performance and support future growth across northern Auckland.

Another $4.3b will be spent on renewing Auckland's ageing water and wastewater assets.