05 May Wai Ariki and the bottled-water giants

Wai Ariki: Our water, Your Future is a contribution towards building content and understanding around wai Māori. Wai Ariki has been developed to provide communities throughout Aotearoa with sound data, information and knowledge to make sure we sustain the health of our land, waterways and people.

The Wai Ariki platform is part of a wider collective that wants to nurture, sustain and influence advocacy for our natural connection to water. We have recognised that there is a network of guardians and kaitiaki who are committed to the protection of water sources throughout Aotearoa and it is this community of shared interests that we want to mobilise and encourage to share their stories and kaupapa with the Toi Tangata network.

The recent sale of the Ashburton District Council’s Lot 9, which included resource consent to bottle 1.4 billion litres of artesian water each year, has brought issues around wai back into the spotlight. There has been strong push-back from the local community and it has brought greater public awareness to the scale at which global beverage companies have been bottling New Zealand’s water for years.

Through Wai Ariki we want to know what you think.  How do you feel about global companies buying access to our water sources? What are some of the water kaupapa in your community? What is the biggest challenge you see to accessing clean, healthy water? How do you maintain the connection and protection of your Wai Ariki? Tell your thoughts!

Nā Suaree Borell