October 23, 2014
Water quality high on agenda
A member of the Iwi Chairs' panel on water says a clear message is coming through that hapu own water and they want make the decisions about future allocation.
Hui were held this week at Kaikohe, Te Hana and Hopuhopu.
Willie Te Aho says they want to hold the government to its promise to the Supreme Court that Maori interests in water will be clarified over the next few years.
"All Maori we've met with over the last two weeks agree that te mana o te wai is the priority, look after the water and it will look after you. In some cases we will have to reduce the allocation or the water take, and at the same time reduce the amount of discharge that is impacting on the quality of the water," he says.
Iwi and hapu agree they need to work more with district and regional councils to ensure the national policy statement of fresh water has teeth at local level.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH WILLIE TE AHO CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjM0MTM=
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