Know your wai - Visions for freshwater

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Consultation has concluded

Feedback on the draft freshwater visions is now closed. We'll be working through all the feedback and sharing it with Council and Te Ao Marama before a final set of visions is available for further consultation.


These visions will express the community aspirations for freshwater to help guide how we manage freshwater in Southland.

Southlanders have already told us a lot about what they want. This includes cleaner waterways for swimming, fishing and practicing mahinga kai (food gathering), as well as drinking water. Our waterways support food production, commercial and industrial use.

In managing freshwater, we’ve already come a long way. Now’s an important time to get involved.

Ultimately we want our waterways to achieve a state of hauora – healthy resilience, where they can take a knock and bounce back.

The visions aim is to express the community’s aspirations for freshwater to help guide how freshwater is managed in Southland. The visions will be included in the Regional Policy Statement (RPS), as required by the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM).

The RPS guides natural resource management policy and practice in Southland. It identifies the community’s aspirations and the actions required to achieve them. It directs both regional and district plans, encourages people to work together and recognises our connection to our environment by encompassing the concept of ki uta ki tai (mountains to the sea).

We are currently seeking feedback on the Te Mana o Te Wai objective and Freshwater Visions, which we propose to insert as objectives into the RPS, Chapter 4 – Water.

Before completing the survey, click here to read the draft Te Mana o te Wai objective and visions for your area (Freshwater Management Unit).

If you're unsure about which Freshwater Management Unit you might be in, check out the map.


Find out more:

Learn more about our process for improving Southland’s freshwater and meeting the requirements of the National Policy Statement here.

Check out the FAQs and other useful information on the right.

Feedback on the draft freshwater visions is now closed. We'll be working through all the feedback and sharing it with Council and Te Ao Marama before a final set of visions is available for further consultation.


These visions will express the community aspirations for freshwater to help guide how we manage freshwater in Southland.

Southlanders have already told us a lot about what they want. This includes cleaner waterways for swimming, fishing and practicing mahinga kai (food gathering), as well as drinking water. Our waterways support food production, commercial and industrial use.

In managing freshwater, we’ve already come a long way. Now’s an important time to get involved.

Ultimately we want our waterways to achieve a state of hauora – healthy resilience, where they can take a knock and bounce back.

The visions aim is to express the community’s aspirations for freshwater to help guide how freshwater is managed in Southland. The visions will be included in the Regional Policy Statement (RPS), as required by the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM).

The RPS guides natural resource management policy and practice in Southland. It identifies the community’s aspirations and the actions required to achieve them. It directs both regional and district plans, encourages people to work together and recognises our connection to our environment by encompassing the concept of ki uta ki tai (mountains to the sea).

We are currently seeking feedback on the Te Mana o Te Wai objective and Freshwater Visions, which we propose to insert as objectives into the RPS, Chapter 4 – Water.

Before completing the survey, click here to read the draft Te Mana o te Wai objective and visions for your area (Freshwater Management Unit).

If you're unsure about which Freshwater Management Unit you might be in, check out the map.


Find out more:

Learn more about our process for improving Southland’s freshwater and meeting the requirements of the National Policy Statement here.

Check out the FAQs and other useful information on the right.