"We grew up swimming in waterways but our kids don't get that privilege now."
Phil Reweti suggested that people nationwide could fill supermarket trolleys with bottles of water, leave stores without paying and wait to be arrested.
Te Huatahi Hawira sees herself as a kaitiakai (guardian) of the environment. She had a huge list of water issues - sewage in the ocean, 1080 and E. coli in waterways, water take from her Kai Iwi area to supply Whanganui, water diverted to generate electricity.
There were more immediate ones affecting the Kai Iwi Stream where she lived.
"Once upon a time we could go swimming and go eeling. We even had some mullet."
Ray Foxley was inspired by Ms Hawira's Facebook page and worried about 1080 and fluoride in water. He said fluoride was a male reproductive toxin and was in 60 per cent of New Zealand waterways.
"Is it a test for population control?"
Mr Shirley said it was good that people were concerned about the quality and quantity of water, an international issue. Horizons shared their goal of healthy and plentiful water, but had different ideas about how to achieve it.
He wanted the protesters to know the council spent $2.5 million a year monitoring water, so it knew what was happening. Over the last 10 years there has been improvement in a lot of places, but he said there was still a lot of work to do.
He suggested people could help, by conserving water, not adding toxins to stormwater and coming along to community planting days.
Only 0.02 per cent of water used in the Horizons Region is bottled, he said. The biggest percentage used, 78 per cent, goes to generate electricity.
Another 15 per cent is used by farms and 5.5 per cent supplies towns.
On the 1080 issue, he said everyone agreed we should prevent pests detroying native biodiversity.
"The debate is the best way to get rid of those pests, and to date all the advice is that 1080 is the best and most cost effective way."
The use of water for commercial gain was an issue for Ms Hawira. Mr Shirley didn't think that would change.
"We are getting pretty strong statements from the current government that that's not on the agenda."