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.
Wairua Catchment, Northland
Wairua River, Northland flows into the Kaipara Harbour, a significant nursery for juvenile fish and sharks. There has been a significant loss of wetland and freshwater ecosystems. Water quality is poor due to high levels of suspended sediment. Living Water’s key focus is on reducing sediment loads into the Wairua River by using solutions that improve hydrologic functioning and ecological resilience of the catchment. Read more about what we're doing in Wairua here https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/
Why were these 5 catchments chosen?
A question we often get asked is "why were these five catchments chosen?" 💦 Each catchment presents a variety of challenging situations providing breadth and depth when it comes to scoping solutions for New Zealand-wide application. 💦 Each of the five catchments is in a significant dairying region and has ecological and cultural significance Stay tuned over the next 5 weeks where we will discuss each of the five catchments.
Is Hydro-seeding a viable option?
Is hydro-seeding a viable option for retired land? Retired land can often be in steep, hard to reach areas next to wetlands meaning it's hard to get there to plant and to maintain. At our Waikato peat lakes, we are trialling hydro seeding on retired land, near the lakes. If successful it could be rolled out regionally and/or nationally, significantly accelerating riparian restoration efforts on and off farm. 🌿 Read about it here 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/lakes-areare-ruatuna-rotomanuka/hydro-seeding-trial/
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 🙋♀️
Our progress
Our plans, projects, case studies, and reports.
