Rural water supplies could be devolved

The Mackenzie Country's rural communities may soon have more say in managing their water supplies.

The Mackenzie District Council is considering establishing individual trusts for rural water supplies, after it became concerned it was not recovering all its costs.

"We need to find a way to get our pound of flesh, and there are a number of ways to achieve this," chief executive Glen Innes said.

The model for Albury's community water supply, whereby an incorporated society oversees the daily management and collects its own revenue, could be adopted elsewhere.

While the water assets remained vested in the council, he said the operation ran "at arm's length".

Mayor John O'Neill said it was important to move down this path, because staff were often not charging the full amount for their services.

"We simply don't have staff on tap when problems occur."

Mr Innes warned the council would have to ensure that the upcoming water-quality standards were still met.

"It is quite a complex process establishing these committees.

"We would need a medical officer of health to draft a management plan, and we would need to tell the locals about the arrangement's viability. But before that, we would probably have to put it to a referendum."

He said the council spent more than $42,000 transferring the Albury scheme to an incorporated society in 2002.

Councillor Evan Williams said the council should not be involved in the day-to-day servicing.

"This council is not about providing rural water services for rural water schemes ... It doesn't fall under our umbrella. The change would be fair on our contractors, and fair on our ratepayers."

Councillor Simon McDermott agreed. "No-one in the council wants to be in this game. We need to sit down and reach some sort of agreement with the communities."

Although councillors favoured the proposal, they agreed to consult the communities before making a decision.

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