Waikato Tainui is key partner for Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council and is therefore a key partner for IAWAI – Flowing Waters.
To reflect that partnership, Waikato Tainui has three members on the nine member IAWAI – Flowing Waters Forum. The other six representatives come from Hamilton City Council (three members) and Waikato District Council (three members).
As of July 2025, current members of the IAWAI – Flowing Waters Forum are Mayor Jacqui Church, Councillor Lisa Thomson, Councillor Eugene Patterson (Waikato District Council); Mayor Paula Southgate, Councillor Maxine van Oosten, Councillor Ewan Wilson (Hamilton City Council); Jaydene Kana (Chair), Leesa Murray, Norm Hill (Waikato Tainui).
It is the IAWAI – Flowing Waters Forum which appoints company directors.
Te Awa of Waikato (the Waikato River)
The Waikato River has huge cultural, recreational and environmental significance to all of us. We all want a clean and healthy river.
To Waikato-Tainui, the river is a single, indivisible being. It is a tupuna which has mana and represents the mana and mauri of Waikato Tainui.
All three partners have a deep common commitment and agreement to restoring and protecting the Awa. Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato (the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River) sets the vision for what we do, and how we do it and this will not change under IAWAI – Flowing Waters