Chairman of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council says it has been making efforts over the past few years to be better kaitiaki (guardians) of waterways.
A local iwi, Ngati Pahauwera, says the council hasn't done a good enough job so it negotiated $2 million from its Treaty claim for river restoration programmes.
Council chairman Fenton Wilson welcomes the tribe's negotiations and says it will make a huge difference to water quality in the region.
He says the council has always operated to set water standards, but they haven't been robust enough.
And Mr Wilson says there is an expectation of New Zealanders in this new century that it has to do better to protect waterways, and it is working on it.
The Ministry for the Environment has channelled the tribe's money to them through the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
Mr Wilson says that's because the ministry recognised that the guardianship can be delivered with a co-ordinated effort as one people in Hawke's Bay, not just as individuals.
