Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board

Descriptive Data

TypeAgencyDate Range1927-1973DescriptionIn 1926 the Mayor, Sir Charles Norwood urged the Council to co-operate with the other authorities to develop the Wellington regions water supply and to control the watershed that supplied the water for the region. This led to the Wellington City and Suburban Water Development Act 1927 and the establishment of the Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board in 1927.

The Water Supply Board was given access given access to the Hutt, Akatarawa, Whakatiki and Pakuratahi watersheds. Members of the Water Supply Board included the mayors of Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Petone boroughs, four Wellington City Councillors, and one Councillor each from Hutt County and Eastbourne. It was chaired by the Mayor of Wellington. The Board, who held its first meeting early in 1928, made an annual report to the Commissioner of State Forests.

Its affairs were managed by the Wellington City Council Town Clerk, the City Engineer and the Forestry Officer. Over the next 45 years, the Water Supply Board would become involved with most of the supply schemes in the wider region. Representatives from Makara County and Johnsonville Town District would join in 1947. Tawa Flat Town District and Porirua Borough would be included in respectively 1952 and 1962. Lower Hutt and Petone however withdrew from the Board in 1930, after disagreement about their share into the development of a new Hutt River Scheme that would provide the City of Wellington and the Suburban Areas with 10 million gallons per day.

In 1967 the National Water and Soil Conservation Act was enacted. It provided for the setting up of a National Water Authority and required that water resources be administered by a number of Regional Water Boards or Catchment Boards. The Haywoods Booster Pumping Station, completed in 1971, was the last major water supply work carried out under the authority of the Board. The Water Supply Board was disestablished in 1973 and replaced by the Wellington Regional Water Board.

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Related Agencies

Successor Agency or OrganisationWellington Regional Water BoardRelated Agency or OrganisationWellington Regional Water Board

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Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board