About the Programme

Taking care of our land and water resources is crucial. In 2020, Council launched the Catchment Care Programme, an initiative aimed at working together with the communities of Marlborough to invest in protecting and enhancing our river catchments. A catchment is an area where rainwater flows into a common river, lake, or other body of water. The biggest improvements in water quality are achieved when every contributor to the water body works together. Hence, a catchment-based management approach is required.

The goal of the Catchment Care programme is to adopt an integrated approach that focuses on the entire catchment. Through collaboration with landowners and other stakeholders in the community, Council aims to meet its water quality obligations outlined in the proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (pMEP). The pMEP mandates that the council address water quality issues in catchments where water quality has been identified as degraded or at risk of degradation. The Catchment Care programme is focused primarily on the no-regulatory opportunities the Council has, to support and invest in the people and communities of Marlborough, to facilitate the responsible use of natural resources.

The key objectives of Catchment Care are to:
- protect or improve water quality in the Marlborough region
- reduce erosion and sediment production
- protect sensitive receiving environments.

Go to the Appeal Version - Policy - Chapter 15 - Resource Quality for more information