Water Research Strategy

• Preface
• Introduction
• Research Needs
• Models, Data, Communication and Delivery of Research Outputs
• Prioritisation of Research Needs: What must be achieved over the next 10 years?
• Next Steps ...
• Advisory Group Membership
• Consultation

Water Research Strategy

1. Preface

Sound water management is not solely an environmental issue, it is also essential to the pursuit of sustainable economic development. Water is central to New Zealand’s biologically based export economy and our competitive advantage and is of vital concern to Māori. Water needs to be sustainably managed to provide for New Zealand’s economic development and growth and other values important to New Zealanders (including biodiversity).

New Zealand is approaching some water resource limits, which can be seen in areas with deteriorating water quality, where water demand outstrips supply, and where there are constrained economic opportunities.

As we approach water resource limits, conflict arising from differing values and uses will increase. Resolving this conflict increasingly requires more robust scientific information and decision-making processes. This research strategy recognises that to manage water effectively and efficiently we need information to support:
“decisions about water management at the national, regional, catchment and land-use scales so they are based on sound knowledge of the resource itself, including its social, cultural, environmental and economic values, and so decisions deal with uncertainty and risk.”

The research strategy has been developed jointly by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). It is intended to guide FRST and the science sector in delivery of the information and tools required to enable world-class management of water resources in New Zealand. The strategy is particularly targeted to guide investment in water research over the next 10 years. This is the timeframe for current and emerging science to be delivered and converted into the tools required for better water allocation and control, better water conservation and better water quality.

Existing sector-based environmental research strategies have been taken into account in identifying research needs. The strategy has been strongly influenced by government decisions on fresh water as well as being modified as a result of consultation.

There are many diverging, and sometimes conflicting, views on the values and uses of water. This document does not try to reconcile or prioritise these values, but recognises the diversity and notes that it is imperative for water managers to consider many, if not all, views.

This strategy sets out the current issues for water management. These are used as a basis for defining and prioritising research needs. It is intended that these will be updated as gaps in information are filled and new gaps emerge – it is, as such, a “living” document that will be reviewed.

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