Te Mana o te Wai puts the health of water first, providing a new paradigm for water management. Centring the health of water at the heart of our ways of working, lives and communities engenders a concerted move from consumerism to stewardship. Lifelong, community and workforce education is a huge part of the move.
"By 2050, what needs to change is our relationship to wai. This is the key transformation we need, when this changes all the other transformations we want to see will follow." Wellington workshop participant
'Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora ngā tāngata'. 'If the water is healthy, the land is healthy, the people are healthy'. Healthy water bodies mean there is reduced risk of getting sick from unsafe drinking water or swimming or collecting mahinga kai. A holistic, catchment scale water cycle ki uta ki tai (source to sea) and mātauranga Māori informs our approach to improve water quality and quantity.
Tāngata whenua, as kaitiaki, play a strong role in local, specific place-based solutions for water service delivery. Tāngata whenua have been the kaitiaki of water over centuries and have built up a large body of mātauranga in the process. Trusting and equal partnerships between mana whenua and water services providers form the basis of harnessing mutually beneficial management approaches that deliver for water, for people and the environment.
"Te Mana o te Wai has to be front and centre, leading everything we do. We need to acknowledge it's a journey and communities need to be comfortable using Te Mana o te Wai as part of their every day language."
Hamilton workshop participant
Te Mana o te Wai has been embedded into water service delivery. The water workforce's understanding of what Te Mana o te Wai means informs business-as-usual activities such as project design, water allocation and sediment control in their takiwa (local area). Ki uta ki tai (source to sea) impacts are assessed intergenerationally (not over 10, 30, 50 years). Te Mana o te Wai sensitive solutions have replaced conventional, grey approaches. These opportunities have been realised alongside mana whenua, who are active members of the water workforce.
"Development of mātauranga Māori has been missing from our education system. Current and future generations need to understand Te Mana o te Wai." -Hamilton workshop participant