Stories and storytelling processes to support river knowledge and practice

We document how river stories, as sources of local knowledge, can inform management applications in the Waimatā Catchment on the East Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. Analysis of semi-structured interviews with residents and users of the catchment shows how river stories express deep-seated connections for the river, emphasising concerns for river health, ancestral relations, recreational and aesthetic functions and biodiversity values. By opening dialogue about the catchment, river and its management, we show how river stories can help to extend participation processes from ‘being informed’ to ‘being an informer’. Equally, stories provide a basis to challenge or refute commonly held beliefs. Identification and coding of local knowledge derived from river stories provides a readily accessible method to appraise socio-cultural connections to rivers, providing nuanced understandings of social, cultural, economic and biophysical considerations. Ways of being and knowing expressed in/through river stories can help to facilitate locally owned and locally informed, place-based approaches to river management.