Iwi pact step towards cleaning up the river

Waikato tribe Ngati Raukawa has signed a joint management agreement with the Waikato Regional Council to co-manage the Waikato River catchment and restore the health of the river.

It is the first of a series of agreements to be signed between the council and iwi under new co-management arrangements for the wider Waikato River.

In a joint statement, regional council chairman Peter Buckley and Raukawa Charitable Trust chairman George Rangitutia emphasised the partnership that existed between their two organisations.

"The Waikato River is a taonga for Raukawa, the regional council and the wider community. The new co-management arrangements strengthen the strong partnership that already exists between us when it comes to protecting and restoring the health of the river."

Mr Rangitutia called on all those who had a love for the Waikato River to "do their duty in what will be a gigantic clean-up operation".

He said the river had been subjected to nutrient run-off from farmland, other pollution and the build-up of silt and bacteria.

"The fish, once plentiful, have declined to alarming numbers and plant life has deteriorated. The water quality has suffered and the ecological balance has been disturbed."

He said for decades Raukawa were reduced to passive observers and watched in dismay as their taonga ailed, and the agreement allowed Raukawa to resume joint guardianship of the river.