This Charter is a shared statement of intent among community groups, researchers, businesses, and local, regional and central government. We work in partnership under a Charter to achieve outcomes that cannot be attained independently. We do this by sharing expertise, networks and resources to promote and achieve solutions needed to improve the ecological health, indigenous biodiversity and amenity value of our urban waterways. We uphold Te Mana o Te Wai to actively protect and enhance the mauri of urban waterways in Ōtautahi.
This Charter is a statement of intent to work in partnership. It imposes no binding authority, decision or obligation on partners. Each signatory partner remains autonomous, and none is bound by the Charter in undertaking its everyday activities. The partnership is not a new formal structure or organisation.
Background
Routine water quality monitoring of Christchurch’s urban waterways reveals regular exceedances for contaminants above guideline levels. Water quality varies considerably across and within catchments. Monitoring identifies areas that need to be improved, and it will take time and everyone working together to make a positive difference.
Christchurch has many passionate community groups who are already working to, and desire to further protect and improve their local waterways. Activities involving local communities and schools, with support through the partnership, will bring about behaviour changes, at individual, household and community level, to stop contaminants entering stormwater and waterways, and degrading water quality.
Municipal stormwater treatment infrastructure alone will not address this water quality problem, it also needs communities to actively prevent pollution in the first place. To achieve community action requires communities to be aware of the issues and the actions that they can undertake.
