ESF Presents Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream to Hamilton City Council
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
In May, the Endangered Species Foundation's Natalie Jessup presented Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream to Hamilton City Council as a ready-to-deploy solution for urban waterway restoration in Kirikiriroa. Together We Can Turn Things Around.
The verbal submission showed councillors how financial contributions and partnerships could enable community-based water care at scale, combining practical restoration with resident engagement across the city.
The freshwater crisis is real, and it's getting worse.
The presentation opened with the scale of the challenge. 89% of native freshwater fish in Aotearoa are threatened with or at risk of extinction. That includes tuna, kanakana, all five species of mudfish, four whitebait species and Stokell's smelt. Two-thirds of native freshwater bird species face the same situation. Fewer than 50 Māui dolphins remain, and they depend directly on the health of coastal waterways flowing from land.
The stakes are ecological, cultural and intergenerational.
Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream is ESF's community activation programme designed to change how people relate to water. The programme works from the premise that every drain, every stream, every household interaction with water is connected. It equips communities with practical tools: kete containing educational materials, native fish signage made from scrap stainless steel, workshop modules and online resources on how to restore and care for local waterways.
The programme is already running across the motu.
In Tāmaki Makaurau, ESF partnered with the Grafton Residents Association and Neighbourhood Watch to host community waterway events, where residents signed up to care for an urban drain. In Ōtepoti, the Otago Regional Council is piloting an Adopt a Drain programme to improve water quality running into the Tomohaka Lagoon, with households taking care of specific stormwater drains that are being identified and mapped digitally.
In the business and development sector, Naylor Love embedded Awhi Awa practice on construction sites at Sylvia Park and IKEA. Early childhood centres, including Borman Village Kids in Rototuna, used the kete to introduce tamariki to native freshwater species and what it means to be kaitiaki of local wai.
Images: Borman Village Kids Early Childhood Centre in Rototuna learning through Awhi Awa
The opportunities for Kirikiriroa are significant.
The things we can do are tangible and actionable today.
Developers can be engaged early, with urban residential water care integrated into plans from the start.
New and existing residents can be educated and empowered through scalable community programmes, with mapping tools to track, monitor and report on drains being actively cared for.
Longer-term infrastructure thinking, including the daylighting of streams and expansion of permeable surfaces, can be supported and signalled through council investment.
Awards, recognition and impact reporting can build civic pride and normalise waterway stewardship as part of what it means to live in Kirikiriroa.
The goal is systemic, integrated, long-term change in how communities relate to and look after water. Kirikiriroa Hamilton has the opportunity to lead that shift for Aotearoa.
The presentation closed by inviting councillors to consider how Hamilton City Council and ESF could formalise a partnership to deliver lasting, measurable outcomes for the waterways of Kirikiriroa.
Councillors were also invited to attend the Endangered Species National Hui, taking place on 2 and 3 September 2026 at the Atrium, Wintec, Kirikiriroa.
Find out more and buy an Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream kete here:
