Kaitiaki flow and management regime in the spring-fed Awahou Stream, Lake Rotorua

摘要

New Zealand environmental legislation and Treaty of Waitangi settlements recognise the value of water to Maori and enable their aspirations for a greater role in water management. However, consequent opportunities for iwi, such as the exercise of kaitiakitanga (guardianship), are hampered by barriers including a lack of established methods to transfer traditional Maori knowledge into policy and less than full Maori participation in water management decisions. Kaitiaki flow is defined as stream flow that is consistent with tangata whenua values (e.g., amenity, environment and spirituality), identified by iwi-based assessment processes. This flow was determined within the unique cultural context of Ngati Rangiwewehi, who are kaitiaki (guardians) of Awahou Stream and Taniwha Springs in the Lake Rotorua catchment, as part of a flow management regime designed for the co-managers (Ngati Rangiwewehi and Rotorua Lakes Council) of the Taniwha Springs municipal water supply abstraction consent. The regime, now part of the Taniwha Springs water supply consent application submitted to Bay of Plenty Regional Council, includes kaitiaki flow as a moving minimum mainstem flow that is 90% of daily mean naturalised flow in the Awahou Stream, permanent flow monitoring of Awahou Stream downstream of Taniwha Springs and a web-based information system. Wide participation by Ngati Rangiwewehi in the process to define the kaitaiki flow regime underlined the importance of kaitiakitanga and co-management roles to the iwi. The process showed how traditional Maori knowledge can be transferred into policy utilising methodologies that may provide a guideline to iwi engagement in other iwi/science water projects.