The catchment of the Whangaehu River, Te Waiū o Te Ika, has statutory recognition as part of our Treaty of Waitangi settlement legislation Rukutia Te Mana.

The origin of the Whangaehu River is Te Wai-ā-Moe, the Crater Lake of our ancestral maunga Koro Ruapehu. This is our most significant awa culturally and spiritually due to its origin and the different qualities it provides for our people; wai ora, wai tapu, wai mouri, wai mana and wai mate. Te Waiū-o-Te Ika upholds the mana of the statutory recognition as a catchment-based approach, an indivisible whole.

Pe Whakahā are responsible for setting up our river entity, Te Punga Te Pua – a person who represents the river and is the voice of the river.
The river entity is focused on developing the documents to describe the management of the catchment.

The members appointed by relevant iwi and local authorities aim to:
• Prepare and approve a Whangaehu Catchment strategy document
• Promote the statutory recognition
• Advance the health and wellbeing and coordinated management of Te Waiū-o-te-Ika catchment, and
• Engage with and provide advice to local authorities and Crown agencies in relation to Te Waiū-o-te-Ika catchment.

Pae Whakahā have been running wananga to different parts of Te Waiū o Te Ika. The purpose is to introduce members who will make up the river entity to its mouri so they will be more motivated to protect the river and its catchment. Pae Whakahā have also lobbied the IUCN to include naturally volcanic acid river ecosystems like the Whangaehu river into its typology of ecosystems. The present typology includes acid pools, but not the much rarer rivers.