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Highlights
Five to 15 year Restoration Strategy
» This ground-breaking collaboration between DairyNZ,
the Waikato Regional Council and the Waikato River
Authority got underway during the year.
The Waikato and Waipa River Restoration Strategy
project was launched near Hamilton by Environment
Minister Hon Dr Nick Smith in February. It’s believed to
be the first collaborative initiative of its type involving
such organisations in the country and the development
of the Strategy is expected to take until 2017.
Waipa Catchment Plan
» A corner stone planning project for the Waikato and
Waipa River catchment was completed during the
year with the finalisation of the Waipa Catchment
Plan. This work was brought forward and carried
out by the Waikato Regional Council with funding
support from the Authority. The Plan is a model for the
development of the overall Restoration Strategy for
the entire Waikato River catchment.
Five-year report preparation
» The preparation of the first five-year report to the
Crown and Waikato River iwi was a major focus for the
Authority during the year. The report is a requirement
of the Authority’s enabling legislation and is due to be
completed by November 2015.
Upper river visit
» The Waikato River Authority board combined its
Annual General Meeting with a visit to the upper
reaches of the Waikato River in November 2014.
The Wairakei meeting allowed easy access for
stakeholders in around the Taupo area to attend the
AGM.
Board members were also able to go onto the water
to see the river for several kilometres by boat
downstream from the Aratiatia rapids and power
station.
Fourth Funding Round completed
» The Authority’s 4th Funding Round allocation was
completed at the end of 2014.
The Authority decided to allocate $6 million to 33
river clean up projects.
There were two major projects as part of the
allocation, both in the Waipa River catchment, that
each receive $1 million of funding. This included
implementation work for the Waipa Catchment Plan
particularly around soil conservation schemes.
The other $1 million Waipa project is a partnership
with DairyNZ to develop sustainable milk plans for
dairy farms in the catchment.
Investment Fund
» The Authority again saw continued growth in its
long-term investment fund during the year. The fund
is to be used to support river clean-up activities at
the end of the Crown’s 30 year funding commitment.
As at the end of the financial year the fund stood at
$47.1 million. This was an increase of $6.7 million
during the year that included investment returns of
approximately $3 million and net cash flows to and
from the fund.
Preparing Report Card
» Work on the Authority’s first comprehensive report
on the Waikato and Waipa Rivers was largely
completed during the year with a release of the
inaugural Report Card scheduled for November
2015. The Report Card will be an on-going initiative
with data on the health and well being of the river
published on a regular basis.
Improvement to processes
» The Authority was able to make improvement to
its funding and management processes during the
year with the implementation of a new web-based
software management system. The system enabled
funding applications to be managed entirely on-line
for the 2014 funding process. The new system allows
for easier gathering of project information and more
comprehensive project monitoring.
Healthy Rivers: Plan for Change/Wai
Ora: He Rautaki Whakapaipai
» Waikato and Waipa River iwi and Waikato Regional
Council’s process to work with stakeholders to
develop changes to the regional plan made further
progress during the year. Healthy Rivers is of major
importance to the Waikato and Waipa Rivers as the
regional plan must give effect to the Vision and
Strategy, which the Authority oversees. The Authority
sits on the project steering group Te Roopuu Hautuu
with river iwi and the Waikato Regional Council.
Role and Reputation
» The Authority continued to make solid progress in
communicating its role and reputation during the year
through the use of multiple communication channels.
A number of public presentations were carried out by
Board members and management members and there
was a level of news media coverage of the work of the
Authority during the year.
Restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River
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