The Manawatu River lacks civil support for a revitalized waterway, and requires a change to the institutional governance over it. Awareness and public exposure of the pollution rates in the river is a key step to sparking a faster clean up rate. If the Manawatu River’s nitrate rates don’t subside then the river will jeopardize the vibrancy of local areas, and its amenity value will vaporize. The lack of management over the river qualifies a two part reform. There has to be a reform of the governance structures over it, but also reform in terms of practice. As discussed earlier in the report, the Netherlands created a new regime but then failed to adhere to it, making it far less effective. Councils within the lower North Island need to unite under a memorandum of agreement and then involve civil society in the process of a cleaner waterway.
Elinor Ostrom has written liberally about the make up of ecological systems and the framework that these systems have. There is much connection between governance, resource use, resource management and civil society. No entity remains in isolation but rather a part of a wider fabric of the ecological system. In other words there is much scope for integrated management; a web of connections between central and local governments, businesses and civil society. This governance design promotes fairer outcomes and more prudential management as all intentions to make capital are made. As discussed prior there is both business and social capital at stake. Integration demands that the social equity of the public is not loss at the expense of business intents. Both forms of equity are valuable in society and need to be taken into consideration. Unfortunately for the livelihoods of scattered populations along the Manawatu River, social equity has been marginalized.
Municipal integration is vital for the purification of the Manawatu River. PNCC and the Fielding sewerage plant are the two largest dischargers of effluent into the water way. Collaboration requires councils to strategize and agree on terms of minimization. The conjoining of municipalities sparks attention from central government, as seen in the Ayuquila river basin. It was when the eight municipalities came together that the Federal Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources supported their efforts with increased finance and incentives. A retraction of foreign matter in the Manawatu River has to be precluded by governmental synergy and cohesion. Ensuring that there is no E. coli and SCBOD5 flowing through the river is crucial. The existence of these chemicals in parts of the Manawatu River is totally unacceptable, putting the health of children and patrons of the river at risk.