Watercare’s first year of financial independence marked by landmark year of delivery and transformation

Financial independence, the completion of New Zealand's largest wastewater infrastructure project, and strong operational performance marked the past financial year for Watercare.

These and other highlights are outlined in Watercare’s annual report, which covers our key achievements and performance between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026.

Read the annual report

Watercare chief executive Jamie Sinclair says 2025/26 marked the beginning of a new era for Watercare.

“On 1 July 2025, Watercare became financially independent from Auckland Council and entered a new economic regulatory environment. These reforms have fundamentally changed how we fund and deliver Auckland's water and wastewater infrastructure.

“Financial independence gives us greater certainty and flexibility to invest in the infrastructure Auckland needs while remaining focused on providing safe, reliable and affordable services for the 1.8 million people who rely on us every day.”

A major focus for the year was establishing Watercare as a standalone borrower.

“During the year we successfully established domestic and international funding programmes and raised approximately $1.5 billion across debt markets, while maintaining our Aa3 credit rating with a stable outlook. We also secured $3.4 billion in committed bank debt facilities at the time of financial separation.

“This provides a diversified and resilient funding platform to support Watercare’s current $15.2 billion ten-year capital investment programme, focused on renewals, resilience and enabling growth.

“Watercare’s revenue of $1.29 billion and strong operating cashflows of approximately $791 million, supported the $959.5 million invested into infrastructure during the year.”

This included the completion of landmark infrastructure projects across Auckland.

Watercare Chief Executive Jamie Sinclair at Flow 2026.

“By the end of June 2026, the Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel was fully operational. This $1.66 billion project is the largest wastewater infrastructure project ever delivered in New Zealand and is already delivering significant environmental benefits.

“Since the first half of the tunnel section was commissioned in early 2025, an estimated 741,000 cubic metres of wastewater and stormwater overflows were prevented from entering Auckland's waterways as of 1 July 2026, enabling a cleaner environment for today and tomorrow’s generations.”

Other major milestones included commissioning the new Snells Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant, bringing the upgraded Clarks Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant into service, completing Auckland's $75 million flood recovery programme and progressing significant renewal programmes to water and wastewater networks across the region.

Sinclair says despite a year of significant organisational and regulatory change, Watercare continued to deliver strong results for customers and communities.

“We achieved all our service delivery performance targets, maintained strong compliance with water quality measures, and continued to invest in smarter technologies to improve network resilience and performance.

“We also remained focused on affordability, with the average Auckland household spending less than 1% of its household income on water bills.”

Some of the highlights for 2025/26:

• Scale: An asset base of $18.76 billion, serving 1.8 million Aucklanders.

• Customer satisfaction: Achieved a Customer Net Satisfaction score of +55, exceeding the target of +45.

• Responsive service: Achieved all targets relating to attending and resolving faults and issues in our service network.

• Affordability: Kept water services affordable, with the average Auckland household spending 0.94% of income on water and wastewater services.

• Infrastructure delivery: $959.5 million in infrastructure upgrades and renewal programmes across Auckland.

• Financial independence and debt programme: Raised approximately $1.5 billion across domestic and international debt markets, secured $3.4 billion of committed bank debt facilities and maintained a Aa3 credit rating with a stable outlook.

“The past year was about strengthening our foundations for the future," Sinclair says.

“We've successfully navigated one of the most significant transitions in Watercare's history while continuing to invest in critical infrastructure, protect our environment and deliver the services Aucklanders depend on every day.

“Our focus now is on delivering the first year of our 10-year capital investment programme. Working smarter, together, to plan, maintain and deliver the infrastructure Auckland needs to create lasting benefits for Auckland communities and a more resilient Auckland for generations to come.”

*Watercare’s reported surplus of $928.4 million includes a one-off, non-cash income tax credit of $913.4 million following its exemption from income tax from 1 July 2025. The credit reflects an accounting reversal of previously recognised future tax liabilities, does not reflect underlying operating performance, and did not result in any cash being received by Watercare.