100 projects
Trying things out, costing them, and planning how to take them to scale
Living Water: Dairy and freshwater thriving together
Living Water is a partnership between the Department of Conservation and Fonterra. Our focus is finding game-changing and scalable solutions that will enable farming, freshwater and healthy ecosystems to thrive side-by-side.
We are working with farmers, scientists, councils, mana whenua and communities to design and test solutions, and then develop a plan to implement regionally and nationally.
Our mission
5 regions
Demonstrating dairying and freshwater ecosystems thriving together
1 mission
To build connections which can drive better outcomes for the environment, the economy and New Zealanders
Who are we
With nearly 40% of New Zealand’s land under their care, Fonterra and the Department of Conservation have joined forces to work on the farming and freshwater challenge.
We work on the ground, side by side. We share our expertise and use our collective strengths.
Where we’re working
How we’re working
1
Working towards a common vision of dairy and freshwater thriving together
2
Designing and trialling solutions in five catchments
3
Measuring the impact across 10 years
4
Scaling implementation — the process and cost per farm, per region and for New Zealand
5
Championing change — to mindsets, approaches, systems and aspirations
What we’re up to
We are doers, with the big picture in mind. Check out what we have been up to around New Zealand.
Working with the University of Waikato Masters students
We have been working with University of Waikato Masters student Callum Douglas in Otakairangi who presented his findings on measuring the degradation and recovery of a drained wetland remnant at the New Zealand Hydrological Society Conference. Awesome work, Callum! Read about our work in the area here: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/ #NZHSNZMS2018
Water sampling in Otakairangi
Here's Site Lead, Kaipara Harbour/Wairua River Catchment, Andrew, water sampling in Otakairangi. The area has been severely degraded with much less biodiversity, due to frequent fires and the area being drained/modified for production. We are water sampling to see if our trials in this area are working - we won't have a definitive answer for a number of years but there are some signs that things are improving, stay tuned to find out more. Read about what we are trialling here: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/
Highlights of the last 5 years with CAREX
Our partners in the Ararira-LII River catchment, CAREX presenting to Environment Canterbury on the highlights and lessons learned from their projects in the last 5 years. Lessons learnt are being applied to Living Water’s on-farm and water network projects in the Ararira-LII catchment and the Waituna catchment in Southland. Read more https://www.livingwater.net.nz/#where
Can you guess the total length of all New Zealand's rivers?
Hint: It's enough to go around the earth 4.5 times! The answer is 180 000km 😮 They're home to over 40 native species, that's why Department of Conservation and Fonterra are working together to take care of our waterways 💦
Our progress
Our plans, projects, case studies, and reports.
