Last week's January 14 funding opportunity comes on top of the minister's announcement in November of an $8.5m funding for the Waikanae River under the Government's Jobs for Nature programme. A programme designed to create jobs to overcome the economic impact of Covid-19.
The minister said Kāpiti's application for the fund was the first she approved because it ticked all the boxes, especially the involvement of iwi leadership. A key reason for the rapid approval of the Kāpiti application goes back to the groundwork already established through a partnership around the restoration of the Waikanae River.
In 2019, under the previous Conservation Minister Eugene Sage, the Waikanae River was chosen as one of 14 rivers across the country for the Mountains to the Sea restoration programme managed by DoC.
To understand minister Sage's decision we need to look at two other earlier developments. Firstly, in early 2019, my office approached minister Sage for a meeting to discuss conflicting issues related to the Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve and the seasonal whitebaiting season that saw some claim a right for vehicle access through the scientific reserve.
The delegation to her office included Marina-a-rangi Baker from Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Robin Gunston, chair of Waikanae Estuary Care Group, and former mayor Jenny Rowan from the Wellington Conservancy.
Our appeal to the minister was for a combined approach to look at the estuary as part of the whole river ecology. DoC staff had told the minister that no funding had been allocated.
The second related development is the role played by Chris Turver and his group of whitebaiters who, in claiming a right to drive to their fishing spots at the estuary through the reserve, launched a campaign criticising DoC and its management of the scientific reserve.
Mr Turver claimed the reserve was degraded and could no longer claim a position as one of NZ's top environmental assets. Whether one accepts the rationale, that this 'degradation' justified vehicle access for whitebaiters, is an oxymoron argument or not is a separate matter. What must be acknowledged is that Mr Turver ran a highly publicised campaign that included support from a few local iwi members.
With the blessing of the minister, a first workshop was organised for all the stakeholders led by the estuary care group and funded by the mayoral office. It was supported by local iwi, DoC, GWRC, KCDC and included a number of representatives from environmental groups and river users like the whitebaiters.
Local iwi provided a Māori framework for understanding our relationship with the Waikanae River which has been largely accepted as a way forward.
Hard work by all the parties has seen the development of the Mountains to the Sea programme and the creation of a Treaty House approach which guarantees mana whenua leadership in the restoration of the river.
Minister Sage followed up on her moral support with financial grunt with her announcement that Waikanae River was one of 14 chosen for restoration funding. The November announcement of the Waikanae Jobs for Nature $8.5m funding has now turbo-charged the Waikanae Mountains to the Sea project.
Over the four years of this funding 92 fulltime jobs would be created with one-third of these to help train up mostly young Māori youth. This would see 80,000 plants over 20 hectares of riparian planting, 25km of fencing, weed control over 10,000 hectares, goat control over 5000 hectares, and predator control over 2000 hectares.
This significant investment in the restoration of the Waikanae River must not be seen in isolation. The river is a critical lifeblood of the district. It supplies portable water to two-thirds of Kāpiti's 56,000 population. It's the lifeline to the businesses operating out of Raumati, Paraparumu and Waikanae.
By protecting, restoring and enhancing the river's catchment and its biodiversity we are doing the same to our lives and our economic development.
The Waikanae River is not just what's visible to the eyes in the form of the main river and its streams. It's also connected to the flow underground and its aquifers. The river also extends through the man-made reticulation. A network of hundreds of miles delivers the river to our households and businesses.
Your early morning cuppa and your shower are just two instances of this intimate relationship. The Māori whakatuaki or proverb captures this: "Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au". Meaning, I am the river and the river is me.
