TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2026
11:00 – 12:30
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND CO-DESIGN THROUGH A TE AO MĀORI LENS
Te Ama | Aukaha te Wai and Climate Change Special Interest Group
This workshop is a joint proposal between the Climate SIG and Te Ama | Aukaha te Wai, both SIGS of Water New Zealand. This workshop will establish and start to build best practice outcomes in Tiriti aligned climate adaptation. It will explore how Māori worldviews (Te Ao Māori) and the centreing of mātauranga-a-rohe can inform modern stormwater management for climate adaptation. There will be a panel discussion with industry SME’s and kaitiaki, followed by a workshopping element with case studies to integrate a co-designed approach. Climate adaptation is the focus, with how mātauranga Māori and kōrero tuku iho can inform the approach. This will be a thought piece as much as having tangible outcomes, as it is a topic that has not been breached at the Water New Zealand Conference before.
2:00 – 3:30
75 BY 35 – SHAPING NZ’S BIOSOLIDS JOURNEY TO CARBON NEUTRALITY
Wastewater Special Interest Group
This 90-minute workshop tackles the most human challenge in NZ’s biosolids sector: the gap between knowing what needs to happen and actually making it happen. The WW SIG biosolids working group has set a goal of increasing beneficial reuse from approximately 17% to 75% by 2035. The barriers that remain are not technical. They are structural, political, and organisational.
The session opens with an honest account of where the regulatory landscape currently sits with the WEPS and a decision-making roadmap the working group has developed to navigate refulatory requirement alongside a pre-published Biosolids guideline for land application. We touch on the CCO funding picture that has complicated ownership of these decisions. From there, participants work through a PESTLE exercise (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental), stepping into the perspective of the stakeholders who hold the keys to biosolids reuse.
Groups map what each stakeholder needs to move forward in the current environment.
The session closes with a structured provocation (“So, what happens next?”) and a Commitments Board, where every participant writes one specific action with a date. That board is photographed and shared with all participants within 48 hours.
4:00 – 5:30
NITRATE IN DOMESTIC DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES
IWA
This workshop will feature a number of speakers from Regional Council, science, industry and iwi. They will present on the latest information on the level of nitrate in drinking water supplies (reticulated and private) as well as in our groundwater. They will then form a panel discussion on where to next on nitrate in our drinking water.
This workshop addresses the growing pressure drinking water suppliers are facing as well as domestic self-supplies to source safe drinking water. It recognizes the voice of the community as well as emerging evidence on the potential impact of nitrate, even at levels below MAV, on human health. It is also linked to Taumata Arowai decision to review the current MAV for Nitrate.
WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2026
10:30 –12:30
A DEMAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING FRAMEWORK FOR AOTEAROA
Water Efficiency and Conservation Action Networks
As the NZ water sector heads into the teeth of reform, there is a clear and present need for water service providers to build capability in relation to demand management. Facing a range of threats to water security including finite freshwater resources, increased uncertainty of existing water resources and infrastructure deficits, water service providers will eventually need to turn to demand management to accommodate growth and defer costly investment in new sources and supply infrastructure.
The most current document providing guidance to water service providers in NZ is the Framework for Valuing Water Demand Management produced by Beacon Pathways in 2009. Whilst the framework provides a sound basis, the context has changed, technology has evolved, and reform is setting a new bar for investment planning and performance. Hence industry guidance on demand management planning would benefit from a refresh. This workshop will characterise this need and look at how to approach developing a new framework for demand management planning that reflects the economic, institutional, governance, regulatory, financial and other realities that the NZ water sector confronts in 2026 and beyond.
The workshop will also be linked to the Smart Water Infrastructure Group (SWIG) workshop on smart technology. Customer metering is going to form a key part of the next big wave of infrastructure investment within the sector. The SWIG workshop will be looking at the case for investment in smart technology across the three waters. But with smart meters likely to feature in that investment wave, there is a need to emphasise both the case for the technology in terms of its asset and network management benefits, but also as a key plank and enabler of demand management.
12:30 – 1:30
DRIVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
This will be lunchtime session (not workshop) – people can bring in their lunch – we will have selection of speakers a Diversity Champion representing women in construction and a neurodiversity perspective Will be a Q&A – ideas share for the sector. Pipeline article and web content.
1:30 – 3:00
SMART WATER AS A FINANCIAL LEVER: USING DIGITAL INSIGHTS TO TACKLE AFFORDABILITY AND ASSET MANAGEMENT
Smart Water Infrastructure Group (SWIG)
This interactive 90‑minute workshop explores how smart water and digital investments translate into measurable financial and balance‑sheet outcomes, not just operational improvements. Led by the Water NZ Smart Water Infrastructure Committee (SWIG), the session combines short provocation presentations, real-world practitioner case studies, a facilitated panel, and structured breakout discussions.
Participants will examine how tools such as the Meter Maturity Framework, 3WADS v4.0, and digital maturity assessments can support credible business cases for boards, regulators, and funders—particularly in the context of new council‑controlled organisations (CCOs) under the Local Water Done Well reforms.
3:30 – 5:00
TIROHIA KI TE ANAMATA: CONSIDERING THE ROLES FOR WATER REUSE IN AOTEAROA
Drinking Water SIG
This workshop will provide a forum for the water industry to come together to share learnings from international practice and Aotearoa experience, and to explore the regulatory, cultural, educational, and technical challenges associated with reuse. With an expert panel bringing together a cross section of experience, participants will have the opportunity to consider the role of reuse in a safe, sustainable, and culturally grounded water future for Aotearoa New Zealand, and identify practical actions our industry can take to progress understanding and informed discussion.