kieran mcanulty stated that each local council would receive nz$350,000 over the next 12 months. the opposition national and act parties' local government spokespersons simon watts and simon court described the funding as a "bribe" and a waster of taxpayer money. 2023 revamp on 1 february 2023, kieran mcanulty succeeded mahuta as minister of local government, which oversees the three waters reform programme. after succeeding jacinda ardern as prime minister in late january, the incoming chris hipkins had announced a cabinet reshuffle on 31 january 2023. hipkins stated that the change was intended to allow mahuta to focus on her foreign affairs portfolio but denied that it was motivated by controversy around the three waters programme. he also confirmed that the labour government would continue implementing the three waters reforms. on 8 february, hipkins reiterated that the government would continue with the three waters reforms, arguing that disasters such as the 2023 north island floods demonstrated the limits of infrastructure and the need for reform. however, he stated that the government would be considering whether some of the three waters changes would be fit for purpose. hipkins confirmed that cabinet had asked mcanulty to consult with local government, māori and the public and report back on options for "refocusing the reforms." on 13 april 2023, the government announced a major overhaul of the programme, renaming it the water services reform programme. the proposed four water services entities were expanded into ten entities. these entities be owned by local councils on behalf of the public, and their boundaries will be based on existing regional boundaries. each entity will be run by a professional board, with members being appointed based on competency and skill. these boards will still retain the split governance structure consisting of both local council and mana whenua representatives. according to local government minister mcanulty also announced that the entities are expected to start operating from 1 july 2026. reactions advocacy groups the farming advocacy group groundswell nz has voiced opposition to the three waters programme, claiming that it was part of a "tsunami" of unworkable government regulations and alleging that it was the theft of the assets of council ratepayers. in december 2021, the group sponsored a petition calling for the three waters programme to be scrapped, which attracted 3,000 signatures by 15 december. in june 2022, the new zealand taxpayers' union and groundswell organised a nationwide "roadshow" to rally opposition against the three waters reforms. they toured 36 cities and towns including christchurch, alexandra, and invercargill. government departments and public servants the new zealand infrastructure commission published an opinion piece in may 2020 supporting the reform of service delivery in the three waters sector nationwide. the chief executive advocated consolidation of asset management and service delivery functions from multiple councils into much larger entities. the main benefits would be to capture economies of scale and free up councils from the specialist technical requirements of managing utility services. in late february 2023, te whatu ora (health new zealand) chair rob campbell criticised national's proposal to scrap three waters in a linkedin post and accused luxon of "dog whistling" on the issue of co-governance. campbell's remarks were criticised by several national and act mps including simeon brown and david seymour, who accused him of breaching the public service commission's policy requiring the directors of crown entities to remain politically impartial. campbell defended his remarks, stating that they were made in his capacity as a private citizen and rejected suggestions that he had violated the commission's political impartiality policy. on 27 february, prime minister chris hipkins criticised campbell's three waters remarks as "inappropriate." on 28 february, health minister ayesha verrall used her discretionary powers under section 36 of the crown entities act 2004 to relieve campbell of his position as head of te whatu ora. though campbell had apologised to luxon and verrall, the latter had demanded that he resign by 10:30 am on 28 february. campbell had refused to resign and defended his right to criticise national's three waters policy. on 2 march, environment minister david parker removed campbell from his positions as chair and board member of the environmental protection authority (epa) in response to campbell's three waters remarks. 2021 in april 2021, the mayor of the small hawke's bay town of wairoa expressed concerns that the transfer of the three waters assets from local councils into large regional entities would have serious consequences for local government. in early september, invercargill's deputy mayor nobby clark submitted a notice of motion that the invercargill city council advise the government that it would not be making any decision on the three waters issue until it had consulted the local community. this notice of motion was supported by mayor of invercargill tim shadbolt. clark's motion did not pass due to a six-to-six tie. on 9 september, mayor of dunedin aaron hawkins published an op-ed column in the otago daily times expressing concerns about the three waters programme's financial benefits, local consultation and the lack of safeguards against privatisation. however, hawkins also objected to some opponents' objections to māori iwi (tribes) being involved in the decision-making process. in late october, the government's decision to centralize water utilities and services was criticised by several local councils and mayors including mayor of auckland phil goff, mayor of christchurch lianne dalziel, mayor of hastings sandra hazlehurst, mayor of the far north district john carter, mayor of dunedin hawkins, and mayor of wellington andy foster. in mid-november, the whangārei district council, timaru district council and waimakariri district council launched legal proceedings in the wellington high court seeking a judgement about the meaning of council "ownership" of the three waters assets under the planned reforms. by 16 november, the wairoa district council and the napier city council passed motions to sign "memorandums of understanding" with "partner councils" to oppose the three waters reform model. the new zealand herald reported that over 30 councils were prepared to sign the mous. in mid-december, the "communities 4 local democracy he hapori mō te manapori” group converged on parliament and met with politicians to express their opposition to the three waters programme. the group represented 23 mayors and local councils including manawatū district council mayor helen worboys, the christchurch city council, and the waimate district council. the delegation met with representatives from various political parties, including the governing labour and national parties. the "communities 4 local democracy" group had emerged in response to the local government advocacy body local government new zealand not reflecting the views of their membership on the issue. however, the communities group did not include any councils from otago and southland. the invercargill city council had voted against joining the group due to the $15,000 contribution fee. dunedin mayor hawkins said incorrectly that the dunedin city council (dcc) had declined to join the group since its rules would have required dunedin residents to fund what he regarded as a futile legal action. 2022 on 23 february 2022, the dunedin city council voted to join "communities 4 local democracy" by a margin of eight to seven. by that time, the number of local authorities involved in the advocacy group had risen to 28. in response to the dcc's decision to join "communities 4 local democracy," two local māori runanga (tribal councils) kati huirapa ki puketeraki and te runanga o otakou withdrew from their partnership with the city council; citing a breakdown in their relationship. on 29 march, the dcc voted by a margin of seven to six to reverse their earlier decision to join "communities 4 local democracy." supporters including mayor hawkins argued that joining the pressure group adversely affected the council's relations with local māori while opponents like councillor lee vandervis criticised the council's reversal as a rejection of local democracy in favour of "centralised control." in april, the mayors of the gore district and the southland district expressed support for the revised plans announced by government in response to the working group recommendations, including the shareholdings to be allocated to councils. the mayor of porirua expressed similar support. the president of local government new zealand supported the need for change and the certainty provided by the government's announcements. however, the mayor of auckland, although supporting much of the reforms, complained that auckland was being disadvantaged and losing control of its water assets, because of the failure of other local bodies. in early july, waimakariri district mayor and communities 4 local democracy deputy chair dan gordon urged the invercargill city council to reconsider its decision not to join the lobby group. on 4 july, the southland district council confirmed that it would oppose the government's three water reforms and seek to retain control over its water assets. on 6 july, the wellington city council voted against joining the anti-three waters communities 4 local democracy. however, mayor andy foster used his casting vote to express his disagreement with the government's three water reforms. despite its stated opposition to the three waters reforms, the taupō district council applied for nz$4.93 million in funding from the government for an upgrade to owen delany park. these funds come from the government's better off funding programme, which supports local government transition through the three waters reforms. taupō district mayor david trewavas justified the funding application on the grounds that the park upgrade would benefit the community. following the release of 2022 new zealand local elections results in early october 2022, surveys by online media organisations newsroom and the spinoff found that a majority of elected mayors opposed the three waters reforms. newsroom's survey of 220 newly-elected mayors and councillors found that 76% of respondents opposed the three water reforms. similarly, the spinoff's survey of 66 elected mayors found that 43 mayors were opposed to the three waters reforms, 14 were undecided, and that nine supported them. during the 2022 auckland mayoral election, mayoral candidate wayne brown campaigned on halting the three water reforms programme in auckland. following his election as mayor of auckland, brown instructed the region's water management company watercare to stop working on the programme on 17 october, describing it as a "doomed proposal". in addition, other newly-elected mayors including mayor of invercargill nobby clark and mayor of nelson nick smith have expressed opposition to three waters. on 31st october 2022, brown along with the mayor of christchurch phil mauger and the mayor of waimakariri dan gordon proposed an alternative three waters plan which would maintain the national water regulator taumata arowai but would maintain local ownership, control and accountability over water resources including stormwater assets, transport and drainage. other proposed changes have included providing affordable finance to support high standard investments in water infrastructure and encouraging local water services entities to consolidate into regional water entities. 2023 mayoral responses to the government's three waters revamp in mid-april 2023 was mixed. local government new zealand president stuart crosby stated that "a number of questions remained" but added that the vast majority of local councils agreed that water reform was necessary. mayor of south wairarapa martin connolly said that the changes would give local councils more say compared to the previous model. mayor of wellington tory whanau defended the need for water reform but wanted it to go faster. she also welcomed the retention of mana whenua representation on the water servcies entities. mayor of new plymouth neil holdom expressed support for the water reforms and urged the labour and national parties to put aside their political differences. the mayors of the hawke's bay region including mayor of hastings sandra hazlehurst, mayor of wairoa craig little, mayor of central hawke's bay alex walker, mayor of napier kirsten wise, hawke's bay regional council chair hinewai ormsby, and ngāti kahungu iwi chair bayden barber issued a joint statement welcoming the changes to the three waters reform as a "win-win" for the hawke's bay region. several mayors including mayor of ashburton neal brown, mayor of dunedin jules radich, and mayor of gore ben bell adopted "a wait and see approach." by contrast, critics including mayor of manawatu and communities 4 local democracy co-chair helen worboys, mayor of grey tania gibson, mayor of clutha bryan cadogan, mayor of hurunui marie black, mayor of upper hutt wayne gupp, mayor of invercargill nobby clark, mayor of southland rob scott, mayor of central otago tim cadogan,