Please note our Whitianga office will be closed to the public on Tuesday, 16 September and Wednesday, 17 September 2025. You can still contact our staff on freephone 0800 800 401 or via an online form.

Te hāpai riuwai Integrated catchment management (ICM)

Taking care of our land, rivers, streams and harbours

The Waikato region has more than 16,000 kilometres of rivers and streams! Stream and river stability, soil stability and flooding are influenced by natural events and processes and people’s activities over an entire catchment. So, it’s important that we don't just manage a stream or river in isolation, but instead manage its catchment as a whole. This is integrated catchment management (or ICM).

Waikato Regional Council manages our region’s catchments in partnership with local communities, to:

reduce the risk of soil erosion and flooding
reduce the amount of sediment getting into waterways
improve water quality
improve river stability
improve river environments, for example, creating a better habitat for a wider variety of plants and animals (improved biodiversity).

Enter your address in our interactive map, and find out what zone you're in!

Find out more about what we do, and what's going on in your area!

Your zone

We've divided the region up into eight catchment management zones, for service delivery. Find out who your local contacts are, and what's going on.

Coastcare groups

Coastcare groups are involved in caring for beaches around the region. They are partnerships between the local community, iwi, district councils and Waikato Regional Council, working together to protect and restore our precious coasts.

Landcare groups

Landcare groups are partnerships where local people work together to take action on water quality, soil erosion, pest management and biodiversity.

River management guidelines

Good river management protects our property and land from damage. Waikato Regional Council and landowners have responsibilities to maintain and protect our waterways. Working together ensures our rivers are healthy and well managed.

Flood protection and asset management

We manage multi-million dollar systems that protect communities, schools, roads, farms and other vital resource, keeping land draining freely in specific geographic areas where schemes have been agreed with communities.

Land drainage

Waikato Regional Council provides a drainage service for flat rural land in the Lower Waikato, Waipā , Central Waikato, West Coast and Waihou-Piako zones.

Integrated Catchment Management Committee meetings

Check out the agendas, minutes and information from Council meetings.