Integrated catchment management—interweaving social process and science knowledge

Figures & data

Figure 1  Geography and land cover of the Motueka and Riwaka catchments.

Figure 2  Integrated catchment management develops community resilience to build ecosystem resilience (from Fenemor et al. 2008a).

Table 1  Research themes, research questions and main references related to the Motueka integrated catchment management (ICM) programme (for others, see http://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/).

Research themes	Research questions	Main references
Allocation of scarce water resources among competing land and instream uses	How do local land uses affect the availability of ground and surface water over the entire catchment?	Davie & Fahey 2005; Cao et al. 2006; Andrew & Dymond 2007; Cao et al. 2009; Fahey et al. 2010
Water allocation reflected tensions between instream flow needs for the river fishery and consumptive needs of irrigation; there are also conflicts between land uses which reduce river and ground water yield (e.g. forestry) and water allocation for irrigation	What is the most defensible way to plan for the allocation of water resources among competing alternative uses?How much water is required to maintain instream values?How do economic returns affect landowners’ and recreational uses of water?	Sinner et al. 2006; Fenemor 2007; Hong et al. 2010; Fenemor et al. 2011Olsen & Young 2009,Dymond et al. 2010; White 2011
Managing land uses in harmony with freshwater resources	How is sediment mobilised to reach rivers, and what impacts does it have?	Ekanayake & Phillips 2002; Hicks & Basher 2008; Dymond et al. 2006; Basher et al. 2011
Water use and land management practices were blamed for sediment, nutrient and pathogen losses impacting on the Motueka River and its tributaries, a nationally and internationally recognised trout fishery	What information is needed to manage river gravel allocation best?What are the threats to freshwater fish populations?How is land use affecting water quality and river health?	Basher 2006, Young et al. 2010; Doehring et al. 2011a, Doehring et al. 2011b; Olley et al. 2011Davies-Colley et al. 2004; Young et al. 2005, 2008; Young & Collier 2009; McKergow & Davies-Colley 2010; Kirs et al. 2011; Harmsworth et al. 2011; Shearer & Young 2011
	Are there simple solutions to water quality contamination by land uses?	Czernin & Phillips 2005; Marden et al. 2005; Smaill et al. 2011
Managing land and freshwater resources to protect and manage marine resources	What are the risks to marine farming from activities on land?	McKergow & Davies-Colley 2010; Cornelisen et al. 2011; Wilkinson et al. 2011
The combined impacts of land and river management were thought likely to threaten coastal aquaculture and fishing industries, in an enclosed area such as Tasman Bay	What factors increase or decrease the production and values of fish and shellfish?Where are the faecal bacteria affecting marine farms coming from?	Christensen et al. 2003; Gibbs 2004; Jiang & Gibbs 2005; Gibbs 2007Tuckey et al. 2006; Forrest et al. 2007; Cornelisen et al. 2011; Gillespie et al. 2011a; Wilkinson et al. 2011
	What are the relative effects of river flows (especially floods) on the river plume ecosystem?	MacKenzie 2004; MacKenzie & Adamson 2004; Gillespie et al. 2011b
Integrative tools and processes for managing cumulative effects	What are preferred development pathways to ensure continued sustainable management at catchment scale?	Dymond et al. 2010
Population growth, increased land subdivision, land use intensification and irrigation, increase tourism and Māori cultural and business opportunities together create uncertain outcomes at a catchment scale.	What are the opportunities for using modelling to predict cumulative effects of land use scenarios?How can models help decision-makers balance environmental impacts alongside social, economic and cultural benefits when planning for further development?	Cole et al. 2007; Dymond et al. 2010Cole et al. 2007; Dymond et al. 2010
	What engagement methods best support integrative, effective decision-making?	Allen & Kilvington 2002; Phillips et al. 2004; Allen & Kilvington 2005; Fenemor et al. 2008a; Allen et al. 2011
Building human capital and facilitating community action	What methods would best motivate environmental stewardship by catchment and community groups?	Fenemor et al. 2008b; Phillips et al. 2010; Kilvington et al. 2011b
There is increasing realisation that policy and regulation alone will not result in sustainable management. To achieve change ‘on the ground’, better ways are needed to engage stakeholders, especially landowners, taking into account their values, knowledge and aspirations	What methods can we use to promote effective interaction between scientists, resource managers, and the community?How can uptake of science knowledge be improved for natural resource management?How can iwi build their capability in the resource management process?	Allen & Kilvington 2005, Cole et al. 2007; Jollands & Harmsworth 2007; Fenemor et al. 2008a; Allen et al. 2011, Phillips et al. 2010; Allen et al. 2011Jollands & Harmsworth 2007; Ulluwishewa et al. 2008; Apgar et al. 2009; Harmsworth et al. 2011
	What innovative examples of community engagement could we use to facilitate enduring community action?	Atkinson et al. 2004; Kilvington & Horn 2006; Atkinson et al. 2009; Kilvington et al. 2011b

Figure 3  Integrated catchment management (ICM) as a process.

Table 2  Twelve key learnings from the Motueka integrated catchment management (ICM) research programme.

Key learning	Explanation
ICM is about people, people, people	He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
Catchments extend off the coast	Integrate terrestrial and marine management
Everything is connected	Particularly land-water-coasts-people
Look at different scales—zoom in, zoom out	Critical processes require management at varied scales
Relationships take time	Allow time to build trust and respect for working together
Collaboration beats confrontation	Social cohesion is a critical indicator of ICM
Involve stakeholders early	Good planning and engagement create an effective project
Communities need to design their future, not wait for it to happen	Proactive catchment and landcare groups can drive  change, to avoid regulation
Critical events (e.g. floods, loss of community cohesion) have long-lasting consequences	A river system or community can take decades to recover  from some events, because they are long cycle processes  with less visibility than immediate impacts
Long-term datasets are critical to understand changes	Understanding long cycle processes (including climate  change) requires long-term monitoring
Water is the new gold	Demand for water is putting pressure on catchment  capacity
Solutions can be found	Multiple acceptable outcomes exist, but those developed  with stakeholders will be the most enduring

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