Councils will soon have to decide whether they opt into Government water reforms or not. As well as the Essential Freshwater reforms, the Government is also pursuing the Three Waters reform to address a decades-long ageing critical infrastructure (stormwater, wastewater and sewerage). There are also new rules coming in for national drinking water standards. Clutha District mayor Bryan Cadogan said the lack of information coming from the Government about the reforms was “like playing a mystifying card game”. “We have to decide whether we’re giving away one-third of a billion dollars worth of assets that we have built and paid for to the Government to an entity that we’re not likely to have any say on – so what does that mean for democracy? ’