100 projects
Trying things out, costing them, and planning how to take them to scale
Living Water: Dairy and freshwater thriving together
Farming and freshwater thriving together/Te puāwai ngātahi a te mahi pāmu me te wai māori
Living Water is a partnership between the Department of Conservation and Fonterra. We’re trialling tools, methods and approaches to enable farming, freshwater and healthy ecosystems to thrive side-by-side.
We’re working with farmers, scientists, councils, mana whenua and communities to design and test solutions to improve freshwater quality, and then sharing the results of our trials and research on this website.
Our mission/Tā tātou Whāinga
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
Our People/Ō mātou tāngata
With nearly 40% of New Zealand’s land under our 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/Ngā wāhi e mahi ana mātou
How we’re working/Te āhua o tā mātou mahi
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/He aha tā mātou mahi
We are doers, with the big picture in mind. Check out what we have been up to around Aotearoa New Zealand.
Selwyn zone Committee Field trip a success
Ararira/LII Site lead, Robin Smith and Fonterra Productive Landscapes Transformation Manager, Peter Savage spoke to the Selwyn Waihora Water Zone Committee about Living Water's trials in the area and how they fit into the larger Ararira-LII Catchment Water Network Redesign Project - an innovative plan outlining how the catchment could be managed to meet biodiversity outcomes, restore mahinga kai, improve water quality and continue to provide drainage. It's pretty exciting! Watch and read about it here 👇 https://bit.ly/3dRs7hb
Newsletter out now!
The latest newsletter is out now. The end of 2021 has some pretty exciting news and new projects to celebrate. Grab a mince pie and cuppa ☕️ settle in and read it all here 👇 https://bit.ly/3EYP65X
Planting inside the sediment traps
We're planting kuta in the sediment traps around the Waikato Peat Lakes to slow the flow of water, collect sediment and prevent Ludwigia from growing. The bamboo poles stay in place long enough to support the plants to become established and eventually break down. Read about the project here 👇 https://bit.ly/3oGs9P7
Precious birds spotted in Waituna Wetlands
Another rare bird has been spotted in Awarua Bay, Southland. This is a Terek sandpiper that migrated all the way from Siberia to feed in the Bay. They eat crabs, insects and other invertebrates. They are named after the Terek River which flows through Georgia and Russia into the Caspian Sea 🥰 📷 Oscar Thomas
Tools and solutions/Ngā Taputapu me ngā Rongoā
Our projects, case studies, and resources
