The Ministry is implementing new policies and regulations to help restore and protect our waterways. Twenty-one areas of science research have been prioritised to support the implementation.
In 2020, the Government introduced new policies and regulations, as part of its Essential Freshwater programme, to restore and protect New Zealand's rivers, lakes, streams, aquifers and wetlands for future generations. This ongoing work will support wellbeing and a sustainable economy.
The policies and regulations include the:
We have prioritised 21 areas where science research would further support the implementation of the freshwater policies and regulations through to 2025.
These priority areas were developed in consultation with regional and central government representatives. Discussions were focused on water science and economics research needed to implement new water policies and regulations.
The criteria used to prioritise the research areas included:
The priority areas are rated from very high priority to low priority.
We will be undertaking some of the research in the priority areas. We are also engaging with the research sector to determine their capacity and capability to support this research.
| Science research area | Priority level |
| Develop a system for freshwater accounting | Very high |
| Understand the sources and effects of contaminants and sedimentation in estuaries | Very high |
| Improve wetland mapping | Very high |
| Improve soil mapping | High |
| Understand the drivers and management of low dissolved oxygen in rivers and streams | High |
| Understand the impacts of wetland drainage on water levels | High |
| Correlate river flow and desired ecological outcomes | High |
| Improve understanding of cyanobacteria | High |
| Understand how to incorporate matauranga Māori in managing catchments | High |
| Improve on-farm slope mapping | Medium |
| Develop a wetland identification and delineation tool | Medium |
| Improve understanding of how to manage urban stormwater quality | Medium |
| Improve macroinvertebrate metrics for rivers and streams | Medium |
| Develop resources to encourage and make better use of citizen science data | Medium |
| Improve monitoring and modelling of sediment | Medium |
| Develop a national model for the index of biotic integrity | Low |
| Understand the impacts of freshwater policies and regulations at the farm scale | Low |
| Understand the link between land use and groundwater health | Low |
| Understand how place-specific activities cause water quality degradation | Low |
| Co-develop a iwi/hapu-centric monitoring and assessment database | Low |
| Improve digital systems for collecting, storing and retrieving water information | Low |