Horizons Regional Council's Rachel Keedwell: Freshwater - what's important to you?

We must safeguard our water so our future society can thrive - this will mean something different for everyone so we want to know what it means for you. Photo / Horizons Regional Council

OPINION:

What do you value when you think of freshwater? From having a shower, refilling your water bottle, and watering your garden, to taking a refreshing dip at your local swim spot, walking by the river or purchasing fresh vegetables - everyone in Aotearoa has some kind of relationship to freshwater, whether that be recreational, spiritual, commercial or industrial.

Horizons Regional Council is seeking to understand how the community and tangata whenua value freshwater to help guide the future protection of this important resource. Your feedback will help inform Horizons' implementation of central government's National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, which came into effect last September.

The policy statement is part of a wider package called Essential Freshwater that aims to stop further degradation of New Zealand's freshwater resources and to restore waterways and ecosystems to a healthy state within a generation.

These reforms also provide regional councils with direction on how to manage freshwater and an opportunity for us – alongside our communities - to set a regional direction.

To give effect to this new policy framework, Horizons will need to rewrite its own regional policy plans by 2024. This first round of community engagement will help us gain an understanding of what is most important to you in relation to freshwater now and for future generations. Alongside this engagement, we are also ensuring a decision-making partnership model with tangata whenua.

Horizons has an active role in managing freshwater within our region. In addition to regulatory work where we oversee and monitor the use of freshwater, we have also secured central government funding for Jobs for Nature projects that progresses water quality interventions for Lake Horowhenua, increases our planting and fencing work to protect waterways, and fixes barriers to native fish passage.

While we are seeing improvements in some areas we know things such as a warmer climate and the pressures on land use and development will continue to play a part in the future of both the quantity and quality of freshwater.

Freshwater is one of our most precious resources. It enables our communities to thrive socially, culturally, economically and environmentally.

Kei te ora te wai, kei te ora te whenua, kei te ora te tangata – if the water is healthy, the land and the people are nourished.

We have provided an online platform at haveyoursay.horizons.nz as a way to gather your thoughts and values. You can also find more information about all things freshwater on our website horizons.govt.nz.

Alternatively, residents can email info@ourfreshwaterfuture.nz or send a letter to Freepost 217922, Private Bag 11025, Manawatū Mail Centre, Palmerston North 4414.

• Rachel Keedwell is chairwoman of Horizons Regional Council.