Deal to streamline river management

Co-management will mean the Waikato River can be managed consistently. Photo / Jim Eagles

Major changes to streamline the Waikato River Treaty settlement will see six boards scrapped at the same time as four more iwi settle their claims to the country's longest river.

In 2008, Waikato-Tainui signed a settlement deed with the Labour government which guaranteed it a $210 million fund to clean up the polluted waterway, and a river co-management deal between itself and the Crown.

However, this year Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson asked the iwi if legislation enacting the deal could be delayed so a review could be undertaken.

Mr Finlayson wanted complex governance arrangements replaced with a simpler solution as there were fears that the number of boards could lead to distrust and log-jams in decision making.

The Herald understands a single overarching authority with equal representation of iwi and Crown appointees representing local government, possibly numbering 10 in total, has been agreed to.

The Crown wants a new deed signed off by the end of the year with Waikato-Tainui. At the same time it wants to wrap up agreements with the Raukawa Trust Board, Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa, the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board and the Maniapoto Trust Board.

These iwi all have interests in the river and getting them to agree to co-management means the Waikato can be managed in a consistent manner.

The third major change will see the Waipa River, the Waikato's biggest tributary, included to take a catchment approach to the river's restoration.

Tuku Morgan and Lady Raiha Mahuta negotiated with the Crown on behalf of Waikato-Tainui.

Yesterday, Mr Morgan wouldn't be drawn on further detail but said the $210 million fund would not be controlled by his tribal organisation; instead the new authority would manage it. The co-negotiators had committed to an end-of-year deadline for signing the new deed.

Mr Morgan said the 2008 agreement was the first stab at entrenching a co-management model anywhere in the country but the review process threw up problems for both the tribe and government.

"We wouldn't have gotten over the line if it weren't for [previous Treaty Negotiations Minister] Dr Michael Cullen," he said, "but having said that we think this is a far more sensible, pragmatic and workable deal. We're hugely excited about it."

MAJOR SHAKEUP
* A single co-management board made up of five iwi and Crown appointees.
* Waikato Tainui have been joined at the table by Ngati Tuwharetoa, Te Arawa, Raukawa and Maniapoto.
* The Waipa and Waikato Rivers to be co-managed by a single authority.
* Cleaning up the health of the river the priority.
* 78 per cent of Environment Waikato monitoring sites fail to meet guidelines for satisfactory water quality due to faecal contamination and turbidity.
* Phosphorous and nitrogen contamination huge problems.