Investigators' Blog

*Animalcules is the name that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch draper, gave the organisms he saw when he first looked at a drop of pond water using one of his handcrafted microscopes in the 1670’s.

My connection with water over the years 

When I think back to my childhood and the body of water that I identify with most, it’s the swimming pool we were lucky enough to have in our back garden. I remember the excitement of watching it being built, and the hours and hours my brother and I spent swimming in it.

I grew up in Johannesburg, a large South African city over 1,700 metres above sea level. A trip to the beach meant a 7 to 8-hour car ride to Durban, usually done overnight, presumably to minimise the amount of time my parents had to listen to my brother and I bickering. Hence the swimming pool.

In my teens, my family moved to the east coast of Yorkshire in the UK. Trips to the beach were much closer now, but I never really took to the cold grey salty sea. Too busy selfishly pining for our swimming pool.

It’s taken moving to the other side of the world for me to properly connect with natural bodies of water. It’s here in Aotearoa New Zealand that I’ve come to love the little spot near Henderson where I was shown the world’s only known species of bioluminescent freshwater limpet. Latia produces a glowing mucus when disturbed, probably to startle or distract potential predators. This country also has an abundance of streams that provide a habitat for all the small flying insects that our spellbinding glow worms feed on. Finding such a stream just a short walk from where I work has made me very happy indeed.

Health risks of swimming in streams in Aotearoa New Zealand

As well as making us happy, these streams can also make us very sick. In 2014, water and food-borne infections were responsible for 15,582 hospitalisations and 62 deaths in New Zealand. Organisms like Campylobacter jejuni, Giardia intestinalis, Salmonella, Yersinia, Cryptosporidium, toxin-producing Escherichia coli, rotavirus, norovirus, and hepatitis A. Some of these organisms are found in our lakes, rivers and streams; others live in the intestines of humans and animals, and can make their way into our lakes, rivers, streams and even drinking water supplies.

That’s what happened in Havelock North in August 2016. More than a third of the town’s residents were struck by campylobacteriosis caused by C. jejuni, a helical-shaped bacterium commonly found in animal faeces. People with campylobacteriosis can experience a week of cramping abdominal pain and watery or bloody diarrhoea, as well as fever, nausea, and vomiting. For some, there can be long-term consequences, including Guillain–Barré syndrome (in which the immune system damages the nerves that join the spinal cord and brain to the rest of the body), reactive arthritis, and irritable bowel disease.

The Havelock North Campylobacter outbreak was the largest we’ve ever had in New Zealand; an estimated 5,530 people had symptoms of campylobacteriosis, 45 ended up being hospitalised, and two elderly people died. Somehow the town’s water supply had become contaminated with C. jejuni from sheep grazing in a nearby paddock.

My own experience catching giardiasis

Since moving to New Zealand, I’ve had first-hand experience, not of campylobacteriosis, but of giardiasis caused by the parasite G. intestinalis. In fact, I’ve had it three times! Giardiasis is a notifiable disease in New Zealand so three times I’ve had a letter from the Ministry of Health admonishing me for catching this parasite and detailing how not to spread it to other people (basically wash your hands really well, and don’t swim if you have diarrhoea…).

In my case, I don’t think I caught it from swimming in a lake or river, but from drinking (apparently filtered) tank water. In 2016, 1,617 people had giardiasis in New Zealand. According to Wikipedia, people infected with Giardia can remain symptom-free or end up with weeks of diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal pain. Symptoms are caused by Giardia infecting the cells of the intestine and blocking nutrient absorption. Apparently, some people can also become either temporarily or permanently lactose intolerant as a result!

Giardia parasites attached to the intestinal cells of a gerbil. By Dr. Stan Erlandsen (1988) – Public Health Image Library (PHIL).

An unplanned contribution to the literature

It turns out my Giardia-infested stool samples may have contributed to a scientific paper. Juan Garcia-R and colleagues wanted to see how genetically variable the Giardia parasites are here compared to other countries, so various diagnostic labs around the country sent them fresh faecal samples from some (13%) of the symptomatic people with notified giardiasis cases between 2009 and 2015. For comparison, they also got faecal samples from farms, zoos, animal hospitals, and urban wildlife. I wonder if I had the same Giardia parasite as the gibbon or the meerkat?!

Range of hosts and assemblages (A to F) of Giardia intestinalis found in New Zealand. The number of samples by hosts identified within each assemblage is in brackets. Garcia–R JC, et al. (2017). PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(7): e0005736.

Siouxsie Wiles

About:

Dr Siouxsie Wiles is Deputy Director (Outreach and Public Engagement) of Te Pūnaha Matatini. She describes herself as a microbiologist and bioluminescence enthusiast. As Head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland, Siouxsie combines her twin passions to understand the interplay between the environment and infectious diseases, and to discover new antibiotics. In April 2017, she published her first book, ‘Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine?’, as part of Bridget Williams Books’ BWB Texts series.

What is WaiNZ?

Kia ora, Aotearoa. We’ve asked leading environmental, social and health researchers to share their personal and professional perspectives about the state of our water and what water means to us as New Zealanders. Follow their blogs right here at tepunhahamatatini.ac.nz and across social media with #WaiNZ.

Where possible, commentary will be backed up by data from Figure.NZ. Their incredible charts are based on data sourced from public repositories, government departments, academics and corporations. Check out their #WaiNZ data board and sign-up to create your very own data board on any topic that interests you.

One of my favourite rivers in the Canterbury region is the Ōpihi River. Its mauri, however, has been eroded and like many of our rivers, it is now a shadow of its former self. Currently, one of the many problems in this catchment is toxic algal blooms. These blooms are formed by Phormidium, which is a type of cyanobacteria (looks like algae but are actually bacteria), that starts off as a tiny microscopic filament and then forms dense, carpet-like mats on the river bed.

Phormidium proliferating in the Ōpihi River.

Under certain environmental conditions, Phormidium can grow extremely quickly forming black mats that cover the entire river bed. Low and stable flows appear to be a recipe for Phormidium success, however a diverse range of other factors including sediment and nutrients likely to contribute to its success. To complicate matters, the relative importance of each of these factors varies from river to river.

Phormidium can produce powerful toxins which pose a significant threat to human and animal health and the integrity of our freshwater ecosystems. Just one teaspoon of toxic Phormidium can kill a 25 kg dog very quickly. Since the first documented dog death in 1998, over 100 dogs have died in Aotearoa from ingesting Phormidium mats.

While we do not yet fully understand the ramifications of Phormidium blooms for the river itself, we do observe shifts in macroinvertebrate communities and anglers report that trout caught in waters containing Phormidium can taste earthy and smell musty.

The Ōpihi River from above. The road in the middle is State Highway 1 and the darked sections of the river are Phormidium blooms.

Every summer, many New Zealanders are unable to access what I believe is a birth right and swim in their local rivers, due to excessive Phormidium growth. For example, of the 15 sites in the Timaru District that were monitored for cyanobacteria, eleven sites had excessive Phormidium growth between October 2015 and April 2016. Phormidium blooms in the Ōpihi River were particularly bad, with a warning at the State Highway One site in place for over 150 days (17 November 2015 to 28 April 2016).

This issue is not only restricted to the Canterbury region, where there is a high proportion of agricultural land-use, but these blooms occur all throughout Aotearoa and even throughout the world. A recent survey identified 103 rivers in New Zealand had experienced one or more Phormidium blooms between 2009 and 2016. This data only represents the portion of rivers which are monitored, so it is likely that many other unmonitored rivers are also affected by Phormidium.

Rivers in Aotearoa where one or more sites have experienced a Phormidium bloom (which is >20% benthic cover) on at least one occasion between 2009 and 2016.

Since the 19^th century, there have been numerous changes to our rivers, which have pushed many beyond their breaking point and as a result we can no longer swim in them, let alone eat kai harvested from them.

I believe that the increasing severity and extent of Phormidium blooms in New Zealand rivers are a symptom of land-use change and the culmination of many alterations to these systems including changes to flow regimes (through water abstraction) and increased sediment, nutrients and water temperatures. All of these changes have made many of our rivers the ideal breeding ground for toxic algae.

Tara McAllister

Useful links

To find out more about Phormidium, here is a review article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568988316300476 or email tara.mcallister0@gmail.com for a copy.

You can also follow this link https://vimeo.com/160826825 to hear Dr Susie Wood from the Cawthron Institute (Nelson), a world leader in cyanobacterial research, speak about Phormidium.

About:

Tara McAllister is a PhD candidate in the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management at the University of Canterbury, and is currently investigating the environmental drivers of Phormidium blooms in New Zealand rivers. She also works part-time at Mahaanui Kurataiao Ltd, which is an environmental advisory company established by six Rūnanga in Christchurch.

What is WaiNZ?

Kia ora, Aotearoa. We’ve asked leading environmental, social and health researchers to share their personal and professional perspectives about the state of our water and what water means to us as New Zealanders. Follow their blogs right here at tepunhahamatatini.ac.nz and across social media with #WaiNZ.

Where possible, commentary will be backed up by data from Figure.NZ. Their incredible charts are based on data sourced from public repositories, government departments, academics and corporations. Check out their #WaiNZ data board and sign-up to create your very own data board on any topic that interests you.

The misuse of scientific data to portray a particular perspective is not unusual in advertising, but the presentation of water quality data by the government in New Zealand is a glaring example of misrepresentation to alter public perception.

Here is one example: figure.nz graphs from the Ministry for the Environment website give average values for a range of water quality parameters. They are presented in the ‘four major land cover classes’: urban, pastoral, native and exotic forest, based on the dominant land cover in the catchment of the site.¹

The graphic above clearly shows that for nitrogen – and the other water-quality parameters show a similar pattern – the worst water quality is in urban catchments; the next worse is pasture, then exotic and the best sites are in native forest.

Looking at the graph above, it’s blatantly obvious that Federated Farmers and other industry commentators are right; urban dwellers are our water-quality problem, as urban sites are plainly worse than all the over land cover classes and clearly worse than farming (pastoral).

Unfortunately, that conclusion is almost completely incorrect because what the graphs don’t reveal is that urban waterways make-up less than 1% of the total length of waterways in New Zealand. In contrast, pasture is close to 40% of river length. And because most urban waterways are small, the volumes of pollutants are orders of magnitude less in urban waterways compared to pastoral.

So, while it is a fact that urban sites are on average worse than pastoral sites, there is a big ‘but’ here: urban sites are a minuscule proportion of the length of waterways of New Zealand. This is not to say that we should ignore the urban sites – all waterways need to be protected – but clearly, we should prioritise the biggest problem first.

To correct the misrepresentation in the graph above, the widths of the bars should be made proportional to the total length of waterways in New Zealand they represent. At 0.8% of the total length of waterways in New Zealand, the bars for urban land cover would be so slim they wouldn’t be visible without a magnifying glass.

This anomaly I have highlighted here is very well concealed. Almost every report on the Ministry for the Environment website, and most of the background reports done by NIWA, do not point this crucial detail out. The only paper I could find that does mention it is a 2004 peer reviewed journal article² and this paper concentrated on lowland rivers and thus reported the proportions of total length in lowland rivers. Despite the fact that nearly all our urban catchments are in lowlands, urban waterways are still only 1.6% of the total lowland waterway length, followed by exotic forest at 6%. Native forest is 18% and pasture is 74%.

This example of a graphical misrepresentation highlights the need for some independent oversight of the data presented by government departments, in this case, the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand. It emphasises the need to keep crucial environmental data collection and reporting with an independent body well away from government departments.

These water-quality graphics are a not so subtle but effective way of downplaying the impact of farming on water quality and sadly is just one of many. The sad thing is that it just adds to the confusion and means that farmers don’t get to see the truth and see this misrepresentation of data and rightly feel hard done-by. Even worse, the downplaying of the real problems reduces the chances of anything being done to address them.

Mike Joy

References

1. Statistics New Zealand. River water quality: nitrogen. URL: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/environmental-reporting-series/environmental-indicators/Home/Fresh%20water/river-water-quality-nitrogen.aspx
2. Larned, S.T., Scarsbrook, M.R., Snelder, T.H., and Biggs, B.F. (2004). Water Quality on Low-elevation streams and rivers of New Zealand recent state and trends in contrasting land cover classes. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 38, 347-366.

About:

Mike Joy is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science at Massey University. He researches and teaches freshwater ecology, especially freshwater fish ecology and distribution, ecological modelling bioassessment and environmental science. His book, ‘Polluted inheritance: New Zealand’s freshwater crisis’ was published by BWB Texts in November 2015.

What is WaiNZ?

Kia ora, Aotearoa. We’ve asked leading environmental, social and health researchers to share their personal and professional perspectives about the state of our water and what water means to us as New Zealanders. Follow their blogs right here at tepunhahamatatini.ac.nz and across social media with #WaiNZ.

Where possible, commentary will be backed up by data from Figure.NZ. Their incredible charts are based on data sourced from public repositories, government departments, academics and corporations. Check out their #WaiNZ data board and sign-up to create your very own data board on any topic that interests you.

Memories of Stewart Stream, Opito Bay

Opito Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula is a special place to me – where I spent idyllic childhood summers, swimming, diving, exploring, hut-building – and with important experiences that led to my career as a marine biologist today.

The Stewart Stream in the middle of the bay was an important location for our adventures; you could travel up it in a small boat or kayak, you could play in the lagoon where it met the beach at its end and for some, this was where you went “fishing”, first off the bridge and then on the purpose-built fishing platform. There are stories of people catching huge eels and I, myself, have seen koura (freshwater crayfish), small fish and eels in the clearer headwaters of the stream.

Soil erosion poses a threat to our waterways

While recent attention has focused on nutrients and bacterial contamination in New Zealand’s rivers, there is a hidden danger present in many of our streams – sediment washing into our waterways through soil erosion.

Every stream naturally includes some form of sediment, but if the sediment levels get too high, then there is a cascade of effects on the stream – sediment can block the light so that algae cannot grow, can smother stream invertebrates which are an important food source for fish, can damage fish gills, and the decreased water clarity makes it more difficult for fish to move around and find their prey.

Scientists usually measure the effects of sediment on streams using a measure of turbidity (how cloudy the water is), and the % dissolved oxygen (if this is too low, then larger organisms such as fish may die).

One might think that the Stewart Stream, whose catchment is primarily exotic or native forest, might show good water quality.  However, recent sampling by the Waikato Regional Council shows that at the stream mouth it exceeds ecological health guidelines in 5 of the 6 water quality measures in samples taken in January and February 2015 (see figure below).

Figure. Number of water quality results outside or within ANZECC guidelines for the samples collected weekly from 18 Coromandel streams for eight weeks during January and February 2015.  (Waikato Regional Council Report)

In addition, faecal contamination from cows, humans, possums and gulls exceeded the guideline values half of the time, especially after periods of heavy rainfall.  Some of this contamination will come from the drystock farm in the lower part of the catchment (which to its credit has fully-fenced the border with the stream), but some will also come from the septic tanks of holiday homes near the beach. In report-speak, this means that there is “an elevated risk of swimming at this location about half of the time”.

Stream clarity badly affected by erosional run-off

Let us focus, however, on the turbidity and dissolved oxygen levels.  In general, the water is clear (below the guideline on 6/8 samples), but when it rains a large amount of sediment from the catchment runs into the stream (turbidity guideline exceeded, and there is a lowering of dissolved oxygen).

In the period since Jan/Feb 2015, when the Waikato Regional Council took these samples, the forestry block that borders the stream on the western side has been logged, and there is now significant wood debris and sediment from logging activities in the stream.  Removal of the pine trees and the native undergrowth has exposed the underlying clay soil, so that every time there is significant rainfall the stream clarity drops dramatically.

I did not have the instruments needed to measure turbidity or dissolved oxygen on my recent walk but, as shown in the photo below (taken on 2 September 2017), the stream is carrying a lot of sediment and I imagine the invertebrates and fish living in here would be under some stress. After long periods of rainfall, this discoloured sediment forms a huge plume where the Stewart Stream meets Opito Bay.

This is New Zealand and the rain will continue to fall, and at times there will be lots of erosional sediment washed into our streams.

In a time of climate change, where rainfall is expected to be more intense, we need to more carefully consider the impact of what is happening in the catchment on our rivers and streams. Just as for our farms, where riparian plantings of native vegetation are used as a means to decrease nutrient runoff into our streams, perhaps it is time for our forestry blocks, whether in private or public hands, to consider a riparian zone of native vegetation, that gives a buffer for our streams from erosional run-off.

Mary Sewell

Reference
Waikato Regional Council Technical Report (2016/17). Snapshot of coastal stream mouth water quality in the Coromandel area (January/February 2015). 

About:

Mary A. Sewell is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. She studies the impacts of the environment on reproduction and development in marine invertebrates. Increasingly, her research also covers the impacts of anthropogenic effects, such as climate change and freshwater run-off, on coastal marine systems.

What is WaiNZ?

Kia ora, Aotearoa. We’ve asked leading environmental, social and health researchers to share their personal and professional perspectives about the state of our water and what water means to us as New Zealanders. Follow their blogs right here at tepunhahamatatini.ac.nz and across social media with #WaiNZ.

Where possible, commentary will be backed up by data from Figure.NZ. Their incredible charts are based on data sourced from public repositories, government departments, academics and corporations. Check out their #WaiNZ data board and sign-up to create your very own data board on any topic that interests you.

Across Aotearoa New Zealand, many rivers are disappearing or no longer safe for fishing and swimming, and we are seriously concerned about declining river health. It seems like everyone I talk to from my generation or older had a favourite river or waterhole that they enjoyed as part of growing up as a Kiwi kid. When asked, very few them would swim in that river today – if it actually still existed. The ‘bottom line’ regulatory approach of the government’s freshwater reforms is anthropocentrically framed, and I argue, flawed.

Inspiring New Zealanders to take care of our waterways

Inspired by and drawing from mātauranga Māori, I am part of the Te Awaroa team that aspires to catalyse a national movement of New Zealanders taking action to care for their waterways. A critical strand of this effort is to understand the issue from the perspective of the river – what would the river say? What is it saying? Buoyed by Te Awa Tupua Act 2017, whereby the Whanganui River has been accorded legal personality, recognised as an ancestor and an integrated living whole which flows from mountains to sea, we seek to articulate, and then empower the Voice of the River.

In a Māori worldview, because there is only one set of primal parents, all things are related and we exist in a kinship-based-relationship with Te Taiao – the Earth, Universe and everything within it. Whakapapa is the central principle that orders the Te Taiao. Water appears early in the whakapapa, emerging while Ranginui and Papatuanuku are still locked in loving embrace:

Ā, ko Rū-nuku, ko Rū-rangi, ko Rū-papa,
ko Rū-take, ko Rū-kerekere,
Ko Rū-ngātoro ko koukou mataero, koi runga,
Koai ū-whāio, Ko Rū-ngātoro,
Ko Wai-o-nuku, Ko Wai-o-rangi,
Ko Wai-papa, Ko Wai-take, ko Manatu.

And, the Earth trembles, the Sky trembles, the Ground trembles,
the Source trembles, the intense trembles,
the resounding trembles, annoint the thin surface above,
Then numerous trembles, resounding ko Manatu, tremble, the ebbing,
the Waters of the Earth, the Waters of Heaven,
the Waters of the ground, the Source of Waters, the ebbing.

(From the writings of Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke)

Taiao is considered as one, whole interconnected system, which comprises component parts – Taimoana the realm of water; Taiwhenua – the realm of land; Taitangata – the realm of living things; Tairangi – the realm of the atmosphere, parts that are never considered as discrete, individual pieces, but only ever as part of the whole, as they are inextricably linked.

Now, let me introduce you to the Tarawera River

I have been privileged to have spent time with the Tarawera and some of its people over the past decade.

At its head waters, after it flows out of Lake Tarawera, the Tarawera River is crystal clear, bursting with life, with luxuriant native bush nestling right up to its banks:

After a short 65 km journey to where it flows into Te Moana a Toi – Bay of Plenty, it changes to this:

The tragic situation that has befallen the Tarawera is not unique. Across New Zealand, many rivers are no longer safe for fishing and swimming, and Kiwis are really worried about our rivers. And those are the rivers and streams that haven’t been subjected to the abject humiliation of having been buried alive in pipes, or those that only flow sporadically, if at all, as their waters have been over-allocated for irrigation or other purposes.

Data show we are in a freshwater crisis

Waterways in New Zealand are in a perilous state. Research shows an alarming and overwhelming trend of degraded water quality, of lost wetlands, of exhausted or polluted aquifers and intensive catchment land modification. Whether too little, too much, or too dirty, for many years, voices articulating their fears about the decline were ignored in favour of development imperatives but more recently communities, industry, business, politicians and philanthropists have joined the chorus of concern. Some sobering statistics:

• 70% of our rivers don’t meet Ministry of Health recreational contact guidelines
• Sediment chokes many harbours and estuaries
• 90% of our wetlands gone
• 18,000-34,000 people contract waterborne diseases every year
• Pollution of freshwater is spreading

New Zealand is in a freshwater crisis. It’s not maybe, it’s not perhaps, it’s not it’s coming – we are in it.

It’s no wonder then that the OECD has told us that our growth model is approaching its environmental limits. It’s no wonder then that the state of our freshwater is the environmental issue of highest public concern.

The anthropocentrically framed ‘bottom line’, ‘humans first’ regulatory approach of the government’s strategy for freshwater, I believe, is flawed.

For example, $44 million funding to enable rivers and lakes across NZ to be improved compared with $400 million to fund irrigation Investment.

Sadly, NZ is not alone, the truth is that dominant civilisations on the planet are behaving in a way that is leading our children and our children’s children and our children’s children’s children into a bleak, unsustainable future, that most of us don’t want.

The details of what we are doing to Earth and how harmful our impacts are, are complex and some of the facts controversial, or even just being ignored. However, it is patently obvious that we humans are behaving in a manner which is destroying the Taiao. It seems that we just don’t care.

Focusing back now to NZ and its rivers, decision-makers argue about national standard parts-per-million this and dissolved oxygen limit that, missing the point entirely that in whatever techno-scientific terms and rationalisations are being used to justify the decisions – our rivers are dying.

Te Awaroa research and action project

Business as usual will condemn our waterways and with it our people, our food and recreation sources, our economies, our identity to certain death. Te Awaroa, Voice of the River, is not business as usual. Te Awaroa is a foundational Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research and action project intent on catalyzing and inspiring a national movement of New Zealanders taking care of their waterways with a goal of 1,000 rivers in a state of ora (health) by 2050.

Te Awaroa seeks to transform New Zealanders’ relationship with rivers, founded upon a kinship relationship with Taiao, and building on practical and personal connections to foster a duty of care. Although a kinship approach is drawn from a Māori worldview and knowledge base, the idea enjoys widespread support of many Kiwis, as it is consistent with how many of us ‘feel’.

Within this framework Te Awaroa will use participatory and action research approaches along with mana whenua monitoring, maintenance and enhancement to allow the emergence of newly re-discovered and innovative approaches and tools to establish healthy relationships between a waterway and its people, animals and plants, to bring about a very different way of living with rivers.

The perception of apathy I mentioned earlier is just that, a perception. In reality, dozens if not hundreds of committed, passionate and dedicated individuals and groups are working tirelessly around Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve better outcomes for our rivers and waterways.

Reframing the issue from the river’s perspective

I learnt from the Coast Salish First Nations people of Vancouver Island that because we have two ears and one mouth, it is twice as important to listen as to speak. Inspired by that paradigm, a critical difference of the Te Awaroa effort is to reframe the issue from the perspective of the river – what would the river say? What is it saying? We seek to listen, then articulate, and then empower the voice of the river, drawing from all knowledge available.

We seek to understand river health: what the water quality is – nutrients, sediments, pathogens, human, animal and industrial waste and whether there is enough water for the flora and fauna to thrive.

We seek to understand river behavior: the underlying geology, fluvial geomorphology, flooding. When a river floods, it is a river behaving like a river.

We seek the rivers’ stories – how we know the river – from multiple views and perspectives. Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au.

I believe that two of the key reasons why there is not more widespread condemnation of current unsustainable practices and action is that everyday people:

1. Do not have relationships with waterways anymore – it’s hard to care about something you don’t have a relationship with, and
2. Feel a sense of powerlessness in the face of the relentless machine that continues to take and take and take.

Therefore, the aim of the Te Awaroa Voice of the River approach is to reintroduce people to their waterways, to rekindle those relationships, by exploring whakapapa, sharing river narratives, making hikoi along rivers, articulating the voice of the fish, the eels, the algae, the macroinvertebrates, the behaviour of the river. Collectively, these ‘voices’ constitute the ‘Voice of the River’.

One of the few exceptions to the constant onslaught being wrought on our waterways is Te Mana o te Wai – a section of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management that flows out of a Māori kinship framing and mātauranga Māori. It asserts that water is a taonga to Māori and it carries mauri. This is reflected in the concept of Te Mana o te Wai – the innate relationship between te hauora o te wai (the health and mauri of water) and te hauora o te taiao (the health and mauri of the environment), and their ability to sustain te hauora o te tāngata (the health and mauri of the people)”.

In effect, this approach says – first, it is the right of a river to be a river, second, we need to ensure the integrity of the catchment and flora and fauna, and third, only then can humans seek to derive sustenance.

Daniel Hikuroa

About:

Dr Daniel (Dan) Hikuroa, a Principal Investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini, is an earth systems scientist at the University of Auckland who integrates mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and science to realise the dreams and aspirations of the communities he works with. Dan’s many projects include the co-writing of the 2014 State of the Hauraki Gulf Environment Report.

What is WaiNZ?

Kia ora, Aotearoa. We’ve asked leading environmental, social and health researchers to share their personal and professional perspectives about the state of our water and what water means to us as New Zealanders. Follow their blogs right here at tepunhahamatatini.ac.nz and across social media with #WaiNZ.

Where possible, commentary will be backed up by data from Figure.NZ. Their incredible charts are based on data sourced from public repositories, government departments, academics and corporations. Check out their #WaiNZ data board and sign-up to create your very own data board on any topic that interests you.