A Fresh Start for Freshwater Depends on Iwi Engagement [Te Wai Maori Trust]

The Government will be unable to resolve competing interests over the use of fresh water until it engages with iwi and Maori over ownership of New Zealand waterways.

Te Wai Maori Trust, which was established through a nationwide iwi agreement to represent the interests of iwi in issues relating to freshwater fisheries and waterways, said there are fundamental issues that must be resolved between the Government and Maori before there can be any hope of implementing a durable fresh water management plan for the country.

Te Wai Maori Trustees say the “Report of the Land and Water Forum: A Fresh Start for Freshwater” released in September is deficient in that ownership of fresh water was outside the terms of reference for the forum itself.

“It is the view among most iwi in Aotearoa that Maori have ownership of fresh water under Maori tenure and therefore continue to maintain Tino Rangatiratanga over our country’s waterways,” the chairman of Te Wai Maori Trust, Mr Morrie Love, said today.

While the Government may see the report and its recommendations as a way forward on water reform, Te Wai Maori believes that no durable outcome can be achieved until the question of ownership is resolved through engagement with iwi. The report noted that the relationship between iwi and freshwater is founded in whakapapa and that freshwater is recognised by iwi as a taonga of paramount importance, although questions of ownership were outside the terms of reference.

“We acknowledge that the report can provide a basis for continued discussions over management of fresh water, but Maori must be brought in as owners before any robust or durable fresh water solution can be found,” Mr Love said. “The ability to successfully find widespread agreement over management of fresh water is inextricably linked to Maori ownership of waterways.”

“Te Wai Maori suggests that Maori are engaged jointly alongside the Government to address how water is used, allocated and managed,” Mr Love said.

Te Wai Maori Trust was established in 2004 through the Maori Fisheries Act to support and promote iwi management of waterways, notably in relation to customary commercial and customary non-commercial freshwater fisheries. The Trust also has a statutory role in promoting the protection and enhancement of freshwater fisheries habitats (lakes, rivers, and other water bodies), particularly those that have traditionally supported iwi and whose shores have been the location of their marae.

ENDS

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