The chief executive of Waikato Tainui’s governing body Te Whakakitenga o Waikato says the Maori position on water has more support than the Government may be anticipating.
Donna Flavell is speaking at today’s Water New Zealand Conference in Kirikiriroa on how to build resilience from a marae, hapu and iwi perspective.
She says the Waikato River Settlement has helped all parties focus on what is in the best interests of the river within a single framework, and to have some of the hard conversations about what needs to be done to mitigate the effects of things like floods and cyclones.
“From our settlement we’ve pulled together quite a lot of rich data. At the port for example we’re seeing changes. Our people talk to these changes because they are on the water all the time and they know inherently what that looks like, and then they see some of the changes in the bird life for example, in the water quality,” Ms Flavell says.
The co-governance relationships could be seen in the way the iwi was able to work with its partners to manage the river for the tangihanga of Kiingi Tuheitia, including ensuring there was enough flow in the river for his final voyage down to Taupiri.
