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4 Water - An Essential Natural Resource

Water is considered to be an essential element of life - an element that transcends life itself.

New Zealand has abundant rainfall; however, it is not evenly spread geographically or seasonally. Some areas are particularly dry, such as Central Otago, and other areas receive substantial rainfall (eg, Westland). In some areas demand cannot be met at certain times of the year. Additionally, there is significant variation between rainfall in different years and climate science indicates that the frequency of droughts and other climate extremes is likely to increase in the near to medium future. Rainfall collects in surface waters (such as streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands) and also flows through to groundwater (aquifers). There are numerous small catchments that have little or no connection to other catchments. [In contrast to many overseas examples (eg, Australia and Western United States) where large rivers with a significant catchment area are more common.]

Water is used for a number of competing activities in New Zealand, which contribute to economic, social and cultural wellbeing. Lakes, rivers and wetlands may be preserved for conservation values (or in national parks). Consumptive uses of water include irrigation, livestock consumption, household consumption and industrial use. Excluding hydroelectric generation, [This water re-enters the river system downstream.] irrigation is by far the largest user of abstracted water. Water allocated for irrigation has been estimated at as much as 77 percent of water allocated. [Ministry for the Environment (2000): Information on water allocation in New Zealand, report prepared by Lincoln Environmental for the Ministry for the Environment.] High quality and abundant freshwater is also important to recreation and tourism. Water has also been an important determinant of New Zealand's settlement pattern and the location and size of farms. [Today in the east coast of the South Island, councils have started to describe water, its location and redistribution as essential infrastructure which will determine the capacity for sustainable development.] Without adequate supplies of clean water, sustainable economic growth and the wellbeing of New Zealanders would be compromised.

Freshwater also has important cultural values. For Māori, water represents the lifeblood of Papatuanuku (Earth Mother) and the tears of Ranginui (Sky Father), and is an essential ingredient of life both physically and spiritually. Water symbolises the spiritual link between the past and the present, thereby giving mana or authority to people. It is considered to be a treasure or taonga left by the ancestors for the life sustaining use of their descendants, who must guard these taonga and hand them on in a good state.

Māori believe that the physical and spiritual survival of all things is dependent on the maintenance of the mauri (life force), wairua (spirit), mana (status) and tapu (sacred nature) of every water body. Only a water body with an intact mauri can sustain healthy ecosystems, support a range of cultural uses, and reinforce the cultural identity of the people. The mauri can be polluted and damaged by actions that are not part of the natural realm, such as removal of native riparian vegetation, contamination or drainage. [Ministry for the Environment (2001): Managing Waterways on Farms, Ministry for the Environment, Wellington.] This threatens the ability of the water body to nurture living things.

In the modern environment, traditional values such as kaitiakitanga and the maintenance of the life-giving capacity of water, encompass and intersect with other values in water. For example, water has value to Māori - as it does to everyone - as a factor in economic development and employment, which provides sustenance and wellbeing.


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