Water Services Reform: National Asset Management Plan Project

Additional services

• Coordinated asset information from 67 local councils and multiple consultant teams.
• Standardised and normalised fragmented asset datasets into a consistent national framework.
• Applied quality assurance processes and geospatial analysis to assess data completeness and identify spatial patterns.
• Designed an extensible software and data architecture capable of supporting future updates, additional data sources and downstream modelling platforms.
• Managed extensive stakeholder engagement throughout the programme.

Delivery challenges

The project’s greatest challenge was managing the scale and variability of asset information held by local government. Data from 67 councils differed significantly in quality, format and completeness, with information spread across disconnected systems and often lacking consistency. The client required a reliable, nationally consistent approach that could consolidate these disparate datasets into a single trusted source to support strategic planning and investment. In addition, the programme needed a flexible solution that could continue evolving as asset information improved and future planning requirements changed.

Innovations delivered

The project transformed a highly fragmented collection of asset information into an organised, nationally consistent information system. By establishing a unified data hierarchy and scalable data architecture, Tonkin + Taylor converted what was effectively a complex “data swamp” into a single source of truth. The solution was designed to remain adaptable, allowing new datasets, future scenarios and evolving planning requirements to be incorporated over time.