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Taking care of our land, rivers, streams and harbours

The Waikato region has more than 16,000 kilometres of rivers and streams! Stream and river stability, soil stability and flooding are influenced by natural events and processes and people’s activities over an entire catchment. So, it’s important that we don't just manage a stream or river in isolation, but instead manage its catchment as a whole. This is integrated catchment management (or ICM).

Waikato Regional Council manages our region’s catchments in partnership with local communities, to:

  • reduce the risk of soil erosion and flooding
  • reduce the amount of sediment getting into waterways
  • improve water quality
  • improve river stability
  • improve river environments, for example, creating a better habitat for a wider variety of plants and animals (improved biodiversity).