Gathering community values
Environment Southland has carried out work to determine the community's values and objectives for Southland's freshwater. The values are the things you think are important about water. The objectives
relate to the state we want our freshwater to be in the future.
From this work, a package of values has been developed. The package was drawn together from two key sources of information:
- regional plans and other statutory planning documents, which contain the outputs of previous discussions from the past 20 years about what is important to Southland communities in relation to the
region's waterways; and
- the Share your Wai community engagement campaign and focus group sessions undertaken between November 2018 and May 2019.
The Share Your Wai campaign was aimed at confirming the freshwater values identified in previous processes – making sure they were still relevant today; determining if there were any differing values
that should be protected; and understanding if the values varied across different parts of the region.
The engagement campaign captured values from people across our region, including tangata whenua. In addition, there was also a separate workstream designed to gather iwi and hapu values specifically.
In addition to tangata whenua being part of the wider community the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management also requires that tangata whenua values and interests are identified and
reflected in the management of freshwater.
Share Your Wai
From November 2018 to May 2019, Environment Southland councillors and staff set up shop at over 40 markets, A&P shows, events and supermarkets across the region to find out more about your aspirations
for our waterways.
At the various events, people were invited to put pins into the large map of Southland to highlight their special waterways.
With over 1000 responses, there were insights aplenty from the survey questions. Following the survey, a number of focus group sessions were held to delve deeper into the information and provide
more direction on those values and objectives as they might relate to different parts of the region.
Read more about how the Share Your Wai campaign rolled out.
What did we find?
We confirmed 18 community values and we also found two new values which hadn’t previously been identified. They are 'Community wellbeing and connectedness' and 'Amenity and recreation'.
Click on any of the values below to learn more.
There are 5 biophysical factors that contribute to freshwater ecosystem health, and it is necessary that all of them are managed. They are water quality, water quantity, habitat, aquatic life, ecological processes.
In a healthy freshwater ecosystem, all 5 biophysical components are suitable to sustain the indigenous aquatic life expected in the absence of human disturbance or alteration (before providing for other values).
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Our waterways support people being able to connect with the water through a range of activities such as swimming, waka, boating, fishing, mahinga kai, and water skiing, in a range of different flows or levels.
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Mahinga kai generally refers to freshwater species that have traditionally been used as food, tools, or other resources. It also refers to the places those species are found and to the act of catching or harvesting them. For this value, kai would be safe to harvest and eat. Transfer of knowledge is able to occur about the preparation, storage and cooking of kai.
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Customary resources are available for use, customary practices are able to be exercised to the extent desired, and tikanga and preferred methods are able to be practised.
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In waterways valued for fishing, the numbers of fish are sufficient and suitable for human consumption. In some areas, fish abundance and diversity provide a range in species and size of fish, and algal growth, water clarity and safety are satisfactory for fishers. Attributes will need to be specific to fish species such as salmon, trout, tuna, lamprey, or whitebait.
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Water quality and quantity is suitable for irrigation needs, including supporting the cultivation of food crops, the production of food from farmed animals, non-food crops such as fibre and timber, pasture, sports fields and recreational areas.
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Water quality and quantity meets the needs of farmed animals, including whether it is palatable and safe.
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Wai tapu represent the places where rituals and ceremonies are performed, or where there is special significance to tangata whenua. In providing for this value, the wai tapu are free from human and animal waste, contaminants and excess sediment, with valued features and unique properties of the wai protected.
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Water quality and quantity is sufficient for water to be taken and used for drinking water supply.
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Water quality and quantity can provide for commercial and industrial activities. Attributes will need to be specific to commercial or industrial requirements.
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Water quality and quantity and the physical qualities of the waterways, including hydraulic gradient and flow rate, can provide for hydro-electric power generation.
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Transport and tauranga waka generally refers to places to launch waka and water craft, and appropriate places for waka to land (tauranga waka).
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Education represents the need for increasing awareness and availability of accessible knowledge surrounding freshwater. This considers the natural, environmental, economic and social impacts related to freshwater. Specifically, the potential degradation of our freshwater is highlighted, acknowledging how education can enable communities to consider the impacts upon various water related activities that people value and engage in.
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This value acknowledges the historical importance placed on sites of cultural and historical significance that people value, which may be represented through physical infrastructure, sites representing specific activities, and of cultural meaning relating to ancestral connections.
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We value birdlife and wildlife in freshwater, estuarine, and related coastal environments. This value generally considers the required natural habitats, water quality and quantity to support specific birdlife, wildlife and marine life that are valued by the community. There may be freshwater management units with exceptional, natural, and iconic aesthetic features that provide for birds, wildlife and marine mammals.
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This value takes into account emerging changes in climate related to water quality and quantity from a safety perspective. Infrastructural preparedness relating to flood protection are important, alongside other natural freshwater management unit-specific issues of exceptional nature. The things we will measure to ensure this value is protected (attributes) will need to be specific to health and safety concerns.
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We value recreational activities that do not involve direct water immersion, but instead take place adjacent to waterways. Amenity and recreation generally refers to the role that water quality and quantity, and the natural characteristics that water provides in making our waterways desirable, as well as amenable to recreational activities indirectly incorporating water. This value was identified through the Share Your Wai survey responses.
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