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.
Have you seen one of these?
Have you seen a giant Kokopu? They are the largest galaxiid, named for their golden speckles which early explorers thought looked like a galaxy ✨ They are found over most of New Zealand and tend to live in habitat that is nice and dark and cool with lots of vegetation 🌿 They usually grow to around 20-30cm but their have been some recorded as large as 45cm! Hands up if you've seen one 🙋♀️
Celebrating our awesome wahine
Today is International Women in Science Day 👩⚕️ We are fortunate to have a number of awesome wahine working on the Living Water project, one of which is Dr Catherine Febria of CAREX. She is part of a team of scientists at the University of Canterbury that are trying out solutions to improve waterways. Living Water has supporting CAREX’s work in Silverstream, a tributary of the Selwyn River. We caught up with her on what makes her tick: doing science in the real world. https://www.livingwater.net.nz/…/scientists-working-with-l…/
LW at Ngati Hau Festival
Our Northern Site Lead, Andrew, spent the weekend at Ngati Hau Festival, telling the community about the Work Living Water has been doing in the area. We heard the chocolate Kokopu went down a treat 😅 You can find out what we've been up to in the Wairua catchment 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/
The Okarika Wetland is pretty special!
The Okarika Wetland is one of two natural remaining large wetlands on the Hikurangi floodplain and home to some rare species (including the black mudfish), it's pretty special! Which is why we're celebrating it on #WorldWetlandDay The partnership between Fonterra and Department of Conservation is working with Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Wai Māori to come up with solutions to improve water quality and protect the wetlands while also enhancing farms. Part of Living Water's mission is changing how we work together to solve problems. Check out the how we're doing this 👇: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1giLYzVzJtU
Our progress
Our plans, projects, case studies, and reports.
