It is envisaged that the schemes will ultimately be owned by the water users (shareholders) and operated using co-operative principles. Water companies have been created for this purpose for each scheme area.

The cost of water shares are $30,000 per share and are available to eligible investors with staged payments.  Under a Water Supply Agreement, each share will provide access to 3000m³ of water per annum which will be supplied at a daily volume of 30m3. These volumes are considered sufficient to irrigate 1 ha for a variety of horticultural uses and are in general alignment with other local schemes.

Shareholders will be required to pay annual fees to cover operational and maintenance costs which will remain unchanged until 2030.

Fixed water charges will be set at $1000 per share per annum and will cover maintenance costs, insurance, health and safety and financing costs.

Variable water charges will be capped at $800 per share per annum and will only be charged to those who enter into a Water Supply Agreement. They cover power related costs.

The three main purchase options are:

1. Full payment of share price

2. Share up option
A portion of the shares paid for upfront, and the remaining portion spread over the following four years.

3. Dry Shares
Dry shares are shares in the scheme that can be purchased by paying a portion of the full share price. While they are in the form of a dry share you are not able to take water. They would normally have a maturity date where the shareholder must either pay the remaining amount of the shares to convert them into normal wet shares or forgo them. They provide the shareholder certainty that a portion of the scheme is allocated to them that can be converted to wet share when water is required.

The schemes distribution network will be developed in response to demand. 

Kaipara was operational at the start of the 2024/25 summer while the Mid North will be commence operating in Q4 2025 with the completion of Otawere Reservoir.