Three Waters - it's a contentious issue that refuses to be swept under the carpet.

The first piece of legislation putting in place the government's three waters reforms has passed its first reading in Parliament earlier this month.

In the video above, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union Jordan Williams is joined by Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby and Sustainable Bay of Plenty Trust's Glen Crowther, hosted by Brendan Horan, for a discussion on Three Waters.

Watch above to see what they all had to say.

Essentially, New Zealand's drinking, waste and storm water management will go into the hands of four new council-owned water entities, instead of 67 councils.

Councils are to be divided among four regional water service entities, and each get one share in their entity for every 50,000 people in their area, with a minimum of one share for every territorial authority.

The Water Services Entities Bill is the piece of legislation that establishes the four entities.

At least one more bill will follow, transferring the assets and setting up consumer protections.

Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta says there has been fierce opposition to the reforms.

Despite requests to stop the reforms, and go back to the drawing board, Mahuta says these problems have been talked about for the past 20 years and 'it's time for action”.

Jordan Williams and the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union have been touring New Zealand as part of the ‘Stop the Three Waters' Roadshow.

They stopped in Tauranga on Monday night to host a meeting at Classic Flyers.