The Waitaki District Council decided yesterday it would join the entity to the north of it under the planned Three Waters reform, and not be part of the Otago-Southland grouping.
Mr Kircher said there was a significant difference in cost - about $2000 per customer - between the two entities.
‘‘The big fundamental difference is the cost.
‘‘Some people will be concerned Christchurch will have too much sway, but that is the situation.
‘‘What about Dunedin, would it have too much sway?’’ he said.
‘‘Every council is going to have a representative, so every council will have a voice.’’
The newly proposed reforms were introduced last month and the key change to the previous proposal was reducing the number of water supply entities from four to 10.
The Waitaki council was placed in the Canterbury-Westland entity and not Otago-Southland, where it was expected to be allocated.
The new entities are based on regional council boundaries, with part of the Upper Waitaki region coming under the jurisdiction of Environment Canterbury.
The matter was raised with Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty and he decided the Waitaki council could make up its own mind what entity it would join.
It did yesterday and there were about $2000 worth of reasons they headed north.
If it went to Canterbury-West Coast the cost per consumer in 2054 - the date where the reforms went out to - was $2470 annually. If it headed south, it would cost $4430 per consumer in 2054.
Council finance and corporate development manger Phil Hope said although the actual quantum of cost difference could be debated, what was clear was a move to the entity to the north would make a difference.
‘‘The higher level of population and the distribution of this population will make a significant and material difference in the ongoing cost of water services being supplied to the Waitaki community,’’ he said.
He said if the Government had stayed with the original entity D proposal - almost all of the South Island - the estimated cost per customer would be $1640 in 2054.
A report on the decision noted a significant portion of the Waitaki district identify strongly with being in the Otago region, particularly communities south of Oamaru, many of whom work within the Dunedin city boundary.
‘‘While they may prefer to pay less under Entity I (Canterbury-Westland), they may have concerns about service delivery and lack of representation,’’ a council report said.
