Using knowledge to make sound decisions

Developing a knowledge base for sound decisions

Independent specialists will support the Whaitua Committee by using collective scientific, cultural and community knowledge, data and information to show the current state of the catchment and to then test ideas about the impacts of future choices.

We’ve brought together more than 20 independent specialists with expertise in hydrology, chemistry, ecology, social science, economics and mātauranga Māori to provide well-reasoned, trusted information and knowledge to the Whaitua Committee.

The Whaitua Committee will consider their knowledge, the model outputs, and different perspectives from the community to make recommendations that affect what can be discharged into or taken from waterways, and on other activities for land and water management in the Ruamahanga catchment.

Find out more about  developing a knowledge base for sound decisions for the future of our catchment (PDF 4.5 MB) .

Applying collective knowledge

The Ruamāhanga Whaitua Committee will ask questions about what could happen in the future under certain conditions, such as different land management practices, and how the catchment would respond to those. These are called scenarios.

Models will then be used to forecast the potential environmental, social, recreational, cultural and economic consequences of these scenarios. More than 10 models will show how the Ruamāhanga catchment fits together and how contaminants, such as sediment, move within it.

The Whaitua Committee will consider all the knowledge, model outputs and different perspectives from the community to make recommendations that affect what can be discharged into or taken from waterways, and on other activities for land and water management in the Ruamahanga catchment.

Their recommendations will form their Whaitua Implementation Programme (WIP).