Improving water governance in New Zealand: stakeholder views of catchment management processes and plans

Abstract

Water governance refers to the institutions, legislation and decision-making processes applied to develop and manage water resources. As pressures on water resources increase there has been a realisation that technocratically-driven water management has not achieved desired sustainability outcomes. Attention must be focused not only on better scientific understanding of water and its values and uses, but also on what constitutes good water governance.