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
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
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 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
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.
Heavy rain doesn't always mean water!
You would have thought all that rain in Canterbury would mean the ephemeral drains are flowing. Many of the waterways in Canterbury are spring-fed and still dry. More rain may mean flow but we’re waiting for the springs to become active again before we can continue monitoring some of our trials like our bioreactor and two-stage channel.
Talking freshwater, farming and Taonga species
Keith Ikin (DOC Manager Freshwater) and Elizabeth Heeg (DOC Acting Aquatic Director) visited the Wairua catchment to meet with Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Wai Māori, the collective hapu who are the kaitiaki for tuna and other taonga in the area. They shared their amazing mahi and aspirations, especially for tuna, which includes replacing the pump systems to improve tuna migration
Help restore the Wairua!
💧 Help us restore the Mauri of the Wairoa River and its tributaries. 🌱 The aim is to get a further 100,000 plants into the Kaipara catchment plus a mix of fencing, water reticulation and infill planting projects. 🙋🏼♀️ This project is the work of the 8️⃣ partners that make up the Waimā Waitai Waiora Partnership 🙌 Partnership for progress in action!
Koi Carp barrier installed at Lake Ruatuna
We recently installed a koi carp barrier at the outlet of Lake Ruatuna, Waikato Peat Lakes to "Stop the Spread" Read about the damage koi carp do and how this barrier will help protect our native freshwater species https://bit.ly/3fIeKR7
Tools and solutions
Our projects, case studies, and resources
