THE FUTURE OF CLEAN WATER

In collaboration with the Government of New Zealand 

 

Background 

New Zealand has some of the cleanest water resources in the developed world and has an abundant supply with only 2% of its resources directed towards consumptive use. However, the quality and quantity of its freshwater resources are both changing in important ways.

 

One of the key detriments to the quality of water is farm runoff, which has been responsible for introducing chemical fertilizers - mainly nitrogen and phosphate - into open water and aquifers. If not used appropriately, these nutrients can create "on and off" site nutrient pollution in the form of water quality issues and discharges to the air (including greenhouse gases). On the other hand, sufficient nitrogen and phosphate are required to optimize agricultural production. Both nutrients are derived from increasingly scarce resources (fossil oil and phosphate rock). This is an issue that New Zealand faces, and also a key issue for developed economies.

 

 

INTENT

Nutrient runoff into freshwater reserves (related to greenhouse gas emissions) is of strategic importance to New Zealand. The government has been committed to controlling the nature of agricultural nutrients to better influence the future of its freshwater resources. In doing so, they can offer strategies for the rest of the developed and developing world to adopt.

 

The issue represents a multi-stakeholder challenge that calls for a shift in behavior, mindsets, accepted practices, policies, and regulations. It also falls in a class of challenge where current practices and legitimate demands from growth-related objectives are at odds with the environmental and climate-related issues.

 

Approach

A team was tasked with creating a strategy to influence behavior of all the key stakeholders involved – including farmers, landowners, wildlife enthusiasts, state and local government officials –so that the future of the quality of the water vis-à-vis agricultural nutrients is significantly improved compared to it’s current trajectory.

 

The situation was approached at the level of the multi-stakeholder ecosystems. The team made strategic propositions to cause large-scale behavior change resulting in alternate patterns for nutrient use to maximize production and optimize food security, while minimizing pollution.