FRESHWATER IN TE TAITOKERAU

Changes to freshwater management

The government has set a new national direction for how we must all look after freshwater.

It’s designed to start making immediate improvements to the health of freshwater so that waterways are restored to a healthy state within a generation. It’s a huge task as many of the streams, rivers and lakes in Te Taitokerau are in a poor state. If our wai (water) is unhealthy, then our harbours and estuaries are unhealthy, what happens on the whenua (land) impacts our moana (sea).

As a council, we have to implement the government’s plans and as a result we’re preparing a new Freshwater Plan. It’s basically a set of new targets, policies and rules which will enable us to improve the health of freshwater as directed by government.