Resources and Links
Freshwater Symposium
Landcare Research hosted a Freshwater Policy Symposium in Wellington in October 2013. The Symposium brought together key stakeholders from research, regional council, central government, and Māori organisations to share their insights into how decisions are being made about land and water policy and hear from those implementing the freshwater reforms. Further details and an overview of the Symposium can be found here.
Land and Water Forum
The Land and Water Forum brought together a range of industry groups, electricity generators, environmental and recreational NGOs, iwi, scientists, and other organisations with a stake in freshwater and land management. They were joined by central and local government observers in developing a common direction for freshwater management in New Zealand and provide advice to the Government.
Five members of the Regional Council Forum currently have collaborative processes for freshwater management underway:
- Hawke’s Bay Regional Council — Collaborative decision making for freshwater resources in the Greater Heretaunga and Ahuriri Region
- Waikato Regional Council — Collaborative Stakeholder Group (CSG) to help drive solutions to issues affecting the health of the Waikato and Waipa rivers.
- Greater Wellington Regional Council — As part of the Regional Plan review process, five whaitua (zone) committees are being established to examine water quality and allocation issues with major river catchments of the Greater Wellington Region.
- Northland Regional Council — Waiora Northland Water, an integrated programme for freshwater management, has established 5 catchment groups for managing freshwater.
- Environment Canterbury — The Canterbury Water Management Strategy provides a shared vision — developed over many years via extensive public engagement — to protect our fresh water for generations to come.