The 2019 climate change risk assessment identified drinking water supplies as number one among the top 10 risks. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The water industry says for the sake of resilience in the face of worsening extreme weather, the government should look at appointing a minister for water.
Water New Zealand's submission on how to improve critical infrastructure said it was good water services were now being considered critical.
"The water sector ... is under stress and there are significant vulnerabilities," it said.
The weaknesses across a fragmented system included "no back-up plans in the event of failure or compromise".
It also noted that "the terms of reference for the government inquiry into the response to the 2023 North Island severe weather events is silent on all three water services", drinking, stormwater and wastewater.
Water demanded more attention considering the official 2019 climate change risk assessment identified drinking water supplies as number one among the top 10 risks while wastewater and stormwater made the top 10, it said.
Another thing being overlooked in the government's consultation document was how demand for water workers was forecast to skyrocket.
"A missing trend is capability and capacity of the workforce to deliver."
The government would probably need to impose minimum resilience standards, Water NZ said.