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Our freshwater resources
Our rivers, lakes and wetlands give the Waikato region much of its distinctive character. Our region has:
Some of these places are home to plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.
Freshwater is important for the region’s economic, social and cultural wellbeing. We use our freshwater resource, including ground water, in many ways. Uses include:
- domestic, industrial and community water supply and irrigation
- electricity generation
- absorbing contaminants
- recreation such as swimming, duck shooting, boating, fishing or simply enjoying being near the water.
Maori have strong cultural, traditional and historic links with our wetlands and inland waterways. These freshwater resources are spiritually significant and closely linked to the identities of the tangata whenua (people of the land).
Find out about the relationship the tribes of Waikato have with the Waikato River and their concerns about its health in Waikato Te Awa – A Taonga.
You can also find information on Maori and Wetlands, Maori and the Land, Maori and the Air and Maori and the Coast.
What affects our waterways?
Catchment land use affects the water quality of our rivers, streams, lakes and ground water. Water quality in our rivers is:
- good in undeveloped areas, such as the tributary rivers of Lake Taupo.
- relatively poor in lowland areas that drain intensively developed catchments, for example, lowland Waikato River.
Over the last 150 years we have lost 75 percent of our wetlands. Large areas have been drained and converted to agriculture. This has led to fragmentation of these habitats and a decline in many native plants and animals. Check out our indicator on the Extent of Wetlands.
Habitat disturbance and loss of migratory pathways affect many of our native freshwater animals. Commercial and recreational fisheries, including eels and whitebait, have reduced dramatically over the last few years.
Change in land use and poor land management practices in lake catchments have lowered the condition of many Waikato lakes. Some lakes have been drained completely. We are now looking at ways to protect the region’s lakes and to restore those with declining water quality.
Contamination of ground water can occur, and generally happens slowly and may not be noticed for some time. But once ground water is polluted it is very difficult to clean up. That’s why it’s so important to protect and monitor our valuable ground water resource.
Lake Taupo's excellent water quality is threatened by increasing nitrogen entering the Lake from its catchment. Find out more about how land use affects Lake Taupo.
Flooding and erosion can have major impacts on waterways. Environment Waikato's river and catchment management activities are designed to minimise these impacts.
Protecting our water
Managing water quality for all uses is a high priority for Environment Waikato. Environment Waikato measures water quality every month in the Waikato River and in other rivers and streams in our region.
We work with Care Groups in the region to decrease soil erosion and increase water quality.
Environment Waikato's Clean Streams project provides advice and financial support to encourage and support farmer efforts to reduce the impacts of farming on waterways through fencing and planting waterway margins.
Environment Waikato works with community groups and other management agencies to protect peat lakes by setting water levels for them. Peat lakes are easily damaged by over drainage of neighbouring land.
Environment Waikato is changing our Proposed Regional Plan to control the amount of nitrogen getting into Lake Taupo from land use in the catchment. Find out more about our progress towards protecting Lake Taupo.
For policy information on rivers, lakes and wetlands check our Proposed Regional Plan and our Regional Policy Statement.
You can help!
There are many things we can do to improve and maintain our freshwater resource.
- Fence off streams, rivers, swamps, wetlands and seeps to prevent stock access.
- Plant banks of waterways to help stabilise the banks and trap contaminants.
- Make sure farm dairy effluent irrigators are operating effectively and are moved frequently to prevent effluent ponding and runoff into waterways.
- Avoid break-feeding or mob-stocking close to waterways, especially in wet weather.
- Form a Care group with your neighbours to discuss and use better land management practices to protect your local waterways.
- Keep hazardous substances (such as oil and pesticides) out of our stormwater system and away from ground water wells.
- Install stormwater detention areas in new subdivisions to improve water quality (less silt and animal faeces reaches the rivers and streams).
Check out our range of publications on freshwater resources in the Waikato region.