Panel on Catchment Groups Reveals a Key Tension

Our Land and Water held its final Symposium in Wellington in May 2024. During the Symposium, there was a discussion panel about catchment groups: Catchment Group Potential and Ways of Working. The panel included participants from government, research, and a catchment group organisation. Attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts and questions via an online conference app. This document interprets and summarises that material.

The panel and comments revealed a central tension that is developing with catchment groups:

Policymakers are looking at catchment groups as part of a regulatory solution to water quality problems: in essence, to recruit them to achieve limits on water contaminants. Catchment groups, on the other hand, are largely voluntary organisations based on relationships, trust and community-driven aspirations. Often, they do not have the resources, skills, or data to implement water regulations, nor do they necessarily have the intention or accountability frameworks to do so.

This disconnect is still developing, and it isn’t clear how the tension may be resolved.