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.