Published 2/09/2026
Tiaki Wai Board welcomes Moa Point Independent Crown Review report and accepts recommendations
Tiaki Wai today confirmed it has accepted the recommendations of the Independent Crown Review into the failure of the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, released by the Minister of Local Government, Hon Simon Watts.
Tiaki Wai Board Chair, Will Peet, said: “We are grateful to the Crown Review team for their time and expertise. Tiaki Wai’s Board considered the final report in a meeting yesterday.
“The failure of the plant on 4 February was devastating. As a South Coast resident and frequent visitor of the affected beaches, I was as upset as many fellow Wellingtonians. We know that local residents, the business community and mana whenua have felt this very deeply.
"On behalf of Tiaki Wai and the Board, I’m welcoming this report today and concentrating on our ongoing plant fix. The report is clear that there was not a single point of failure, but rather that this was the culmination of deep and systemic issues.
“Without minimising what happened, this moment is an opportunity to learn from previous mistakes and build better, more resilient systems and infrastructure. Our repair and renewal work started immediately after the event and rapid progress is being made.
“We have worked hard to restore the plant to full operation as quickly and safely as possible. We remain on track to begin processing wastewater again at Moa Point from November this year. The plant should be fully operational by February.
“We consider that the establishment of Tiaki Wai goes some way to addressing many of the recommendations contained in this report.
“Tiaki Wai is a new organisation with a stronger mandate and much more control over its assets. We will continue to work with Wellington City Council, mana whenua, the local community, and others to make necessary technical and governance changes," said Mr Peet.
Next week*, Tiaki Wai and Wellington City Council will host a South Coast community meeting on the response to the Crown Review, its ongoing response, and its progress on re-establishing plant operations.
The Board is confident Tiaki Wai is well-equipped to address the structural and systemic issues identified in the review. Improvements already underway include upgrades to IT systems, project management practices, and asset management processes.
These changes will deliver benefits over time as Tiaki Wai continues the long-term work of renewing the region’s aging water infrastructure.
“We’ve said all along that we welcome scrutiny and we fully understand the community’s concern to see that such an event isn’t repeated.
“We publish an update every two weeks setting out the recovery work underway at the plant. Wellingtonians can track our progress via the Tiaki Wai website,” Mr Peet said.
More information on the incident and recovery is available on the Moa Point Hub at tiakiwai.co.nz/moa-point-info-hub.
* Details on location and timing of community meeting are to be confirmed
Editor notes
Tiaki Wai has published an indicative timeline on how it plans to rebuild the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plan.
Read the Road to Recovery roadmap
About Tiaki Wai
Tiaki Wai is the water services provider delivering safe, reliable, and sustainable drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services to around 155,000 homes and businesses across Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt, and Upper Hutt.
We are responsible for over 6,800 km of pipelines, four drinking water treatment plants, four wastewater treatment plants, 140 drinking water storage reservoirs, and 354 pump stations across the region we serve.
Tiaki Wai took over from local councils on 1 July 2026 as the region-wide, publicly-owned water services provider.
We are jointly owned by Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council, Hutt City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, and Greater Wellington Regional Council as our shareholding councils, with mana whenua partners Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika.
We are governed by a Board of Directors and are accountable to our community through the Tiaki Wai Partners Committee of representatives from our shareholding councils and mana whenua partners.