Waikato River Clean-up Trust 2019 Funding Strategy Cover photograph: Considerable planting and other environmental work around the Mangapu Stream at various points in the Waipā as part of the soil conservation and sediment control project. Contents Introduction from the Co-chairs 4 The Waikato River and its catchment 6 Map of the Trust area 7 Section 1: Background 1.1 The Authority and its role 8 1.2 The purpose of this document 8 1.3 The Waikato River Clean-up Fund 8 1.4 Background documents to support applications 9 Section 2: Criteria for applicants and applications 2.1 Criteria for applicants and applications 10 2.2 Threshold criteria 10 2.3 Objectives outlined in legislation 10 2.4 General requirements for all applicants 11 2.5 Other matters for consideration 12 Section 3: Priorities for funding 3.1 Background 13 3.2 Waikato and Waipā River Restoration Strategy 13 3.3 Other priorities 13 Section 4: Information requirements 4.1 Information requirements and priorities to guide applicants 16 Section 5: Application Evaluation 5.1 Independent Evaluation Panel 18 From the Co-chairs Teena koutou, teenaa koutou, teenaa koutou katoa. The 2019 funding round for the Waikato River Clean-up Trust is significant in that it is the first time the Trust has specifically identified projects it would like to see undertaken. In the past the Trust had contained priorities to whole of the catchment. We are therefore giving themes and areas. project work that gives support to these native As part of this 2019 Funding Strategy, the Trust fish species special emphasis. has again placed reliance on the Restoration The Authority is constantly mindful of the need Strategy for the Waikato and Waipā Rivers. The to report on its progress and the headway being Strategy was launched early in 2018 by the Hon made in cleaning-up the river. In this regard, David Parker, Minister for the Environment, as a work towards a follow up Report Card on the blueprint for restoration work in the catchment health and wellbeing of the river is an important for the next five to 15 years. While the Restoration undertaking so we can all understand the Strategy is not duplicated here in this 2019 journey and progress towards achieving Te Ture Funding Strategy, it is very much a companion Whaimana. document in laying out restoration priorities. We look forward to again receiving and approving The Restoration Strategy can be viewed at high-quality collaborative projects, as we have in www.restorationstrategy.nz the past, that will help us all achieve the vision for Identified in the Strategy, and given additional the Waikato River. weight by the Trust for this 2019 funding round Ngaa mihi, are the following projects: • Project UW 16: Kōura habitat rehabilitation in Waipapa, Mokauteure and Ongarahu streams • Project UW 5: Water quality improvement in the Lower Pokaiwhenua catchment • Project CLW 20: Rehabilitate fish habitat in streams flowing from Hakarimata Range to the Waikato River. The importance of our native fish species is a particular focus in the selection of these key projects. This is an area of strong attention in Hon John Luxton Roger Pikia iwi environmental management plans and for Co-chair Co-chair stakeholder groups and individuals across the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River Waikato of the and wellbeing health Restoring and protecting the and protecting Restoring 4 Waikato River Clean-up Trust Funding Strategy 2019 Right: Lance Kerr and his family are proving that pastrol farming can go hand-in-hand with lake restoration at Lake Rotongaro. Above: Waikare Marae kaumatua, Waikato-Tainui staff and project organisers at the urupā project on the edge of Lake Waikare. Right: The Meadow Walk in Cambridge was funded eight years ago by the Waikato River Authority. Once boggy farmland is now a planted walk and wetland. Right: Sir David Fagan has overseen significant planting on his dairy farm near Te Kuiti as a means to making his property Above: NIWA whitebait restoration work, more environmentally friendly. assisted with funding from the Waikato River Authority, has seen the installation of pest fish barriers to help whitebait populations. Channels have been opened up on Motukakaho Island to enable tree planting and the creation of 5 habitat for whitebait spawning. The Waikato River and its catchment The Waikato River and its region has been populated for at least the past 700 to 800 years. The river provided physical and spiritual sustenance for large populations of Maaori living along its catchment. Throughout that time it was a source of food, including tuna, other fish and plants. It was also an important waka route. With the arrival of European settlers in the 1840s In 2012 the Nga Wai o Maniapoto legislation and 1850s the Waikato River was the main access was enacted to include the upper catchment of route inland for traders and missionaries. the Waipa River through to its junction with the Waikato River. The Vision & Strategy now applies The last hundred years have seen sweeping to the whole of the Waipa River catchment. changes to the region’s landscapes where people have settled, used and created resources. Over The Vision & Strategy incorporates the objectives time, the human activities along the Waikato River sought by Waikato-Tainui and that also reflect and the increasingly intensive land uses through the interests of Waikato River iwi and of all New its catchments have degraded the Waikato River Zealanders. and reduced the relationships and aspirations of These objectives encompass all people of the communities who identify with the Waikato River. Waikato River and their relationships with it – through their communities, industries, and their This degradation of the Waikato River and its environmental, recreational, social and cultural catchment has severely compromised Waikato pursuits. River iwi in their ability to exercise kaitiakitanga or conduct their tikanga and kawa. A number of important actions are being taken to support the achievement of the Vision & Strategy, This degradation of the Waikato River and its such as the Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy catchment has severely compromised Waikato Rivers plan change. River iwi in their ability to exercise kaitiakitanga or conduct their tikanga and kawa. A number of important actions are being taken to Through the Treaty Settlement process between support the achievement of the Vision & Strategy, Waikato-Tainui and the Crown the Guardians such as the Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy Establishment Committee was formed with the Rivers plan change. support of other Waikato River iwi. In 2009 the This plan change, with a focus on water quality Guardians Establishment Committee finalised within the catchment, will provide a regulatory its Vision & Strategy for the Waikato River. That framework to help achieve the objectives of the Vision & Strategy, “to restore and protect the Vision & Strategy. Complementing the regulatory health and wellbeing of the Waikato River”, has approach was the development of the five-15 year Restoration Strategy for the catchment. This is a health and wellbeing of the Waikato River Waikato of the and wellbeing health been incorporated in the settlement legislation for the Waikato River Raupatu Claim – the legislation non-regulatory strategy to provide a co-ordinated under which the Authority is constituted. The approach to restoration activities in the years to Authority assumed guardianship of the Vision & come. Strategy at the time of its formation in 2010. Restoring and protecting the and protecting Restoring 6 Waikato River Clean-up Trust Funding Strategy 2019 The Waikato River and its catchment Map of the Trust area 7 1/ Background and context 1.1 The Authority and its role The overarching purpose of the legislation that created the Waikato River Authority (‘the Authority’) and the Waikato River Clean-up Trust (the ‘Trust’) is to restore and protect the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River and its catchment for future generations. The purpose of the Authority is to: • Set the primary direction through the Vision & Strategy to achieve the restoration and protection of the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River for future generations • Promote an integrated, holistic, and co-ordinated approach to the implementation of the Vision & Strategy and the management of the Waikato River • Fund rehabilitation initiatives for the Waikato River in its role as trustee for the Waikato River Clean-up Trust. The Authority is the sole trustee of the Waikato River Clean-up Trust. The Trust administers and distributes a contestable fund to work towards the restoration and protection of the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River for present and future generations (this forms the Trust’s objective). In doing so it must pay adequate regard to the Vision & Strategy and the Waikato River Independent Scoping Study (WRISS). As the sole trustee the Authority determines which projects receive funding in accordance with criteria set annually. The area that this Strategy applies to is the Waikato River and its catchment from Huka Falls to Te Puuaha o Waikato and the upper catchment of the Waipa River through to its junction with the Waikato River (as shown in the map on page 7). The “River” is defined in the Settlement Legislation as including the main stem, the tributaries, and all associated lakes and wetlands within the catchment. 1.2 The purpose of this document The Trust reviews funding priorities annually to ensure funding continues to be aligned with the objectives of the Trust and the Authority. To help achieve this the Authority has formed, with other members of the community, the Waikato River Restoration Forum to support a comprehensive and connected approach to clean-up projects. This document forms the Funding Strategy for 2019 for the Trust.