Te Ao Māori
How does Te Ao Māori inform the approach of the working group to this project?
The working group is a collaboration between the hapū-led group Te Mauri o te Wai (TMOTW) and council staff.
TMOTW includes representatives of Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Kaharau, Te Hikutu, Te Mahurehure, Ngāi Tupoto and the Rāwene community. The hapū-led group is seeking solutions for Rāwene that honour the principles of Te Ao Māori.
By integrating modern technology with traditional knowledge, the Rāwene Wastewater Transformation Project sets a new standard for sustainable wastewater management in Aotearoa, demonstrating the power of community collaboration in addressing environmental challenges and protecting culturally significant sites.
In Te Ao Māori it is culturally unacceptable for treated wastewater to be discharged to water. Human waste is considered harmful and tapu, and needs to be kept separate from where people talk, sleep, cook, eat, and harvest food.
Wai (water) is considered a taonga (treasure) with a mauri (life force). The mauri of wai is considered to be degraded when wastewater is discharged to it.
The council is statutorily required to investigate options for discharging wastewater to land. Conditions of the resource consent order set out this requirement.
Discharging wastewater to land will reduce contamination of a freshwater body, and if treated wastewater is used to irrigate land this can result in reduced demand (for irrigation) on freshwater sources.
Te Mauri o Te Wai introduced a new dual monitoring process for this project using traditional Māori methods of observation.
Kōrero tuku iho (oral histories and knowledge) together with tirotiro provide the foundation to observe and track environmental trends alongside modern sampling and analysis of the treated water and its impact on the surrounding area.
Tirotiro follows the teachings of Hokianga Whare Wānanga, drawing on knowledge from local expert, Matua Rereata. This approach includes observing natural signs like lunar cycles, tides, weather patterns, land, and sea. Over time, these observations will help to understand the environment better - allowing changes, impacts, and areas for improvement to be noticed.
The working group will gather at least three months of detailed monitoring so that when the EC unit is commissioned, its effect on the environment can be assessed, and results compared.
Te Mauri o te Wai (TMOTW) was formed when an Environment Court ruling, and mediation process that followed, ordered a community liaison group to work alongside the council to monitor, operate and plan for Rāwene's wastewater treatment.
TMOTW is focused on achieving zero human waste to the Hokianga Harbour. The starting point being to improve and ultimately relocate the Rāwene Wastewater Treatment Plant from its current site at Te Raupo.
Te Raupo has always been a significant place for the hapū in TMOTW as well as other Hokianga hapū. As such, TMOTW believe Te Raupo is not a place where human waste activities should be carried out.
The site is vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding. Until a new site is found, and human waste can be removed from Te Raupo, TMOTW is working with the council to install an EC treatment system get the wastewater clean before it goes into the Ōmanaia Awa and the harbour.
You can find out more about Te Mauri o te Wai on its Facebook page.