National Māori Council executive director Matt Tukaki has confirmed the council is taking the issue of water ownership to the High Court.
The case comes after the Waitangi Tribunal recommended water ownership be taken before the courts.
Māori argue they own water but the Crown's argument is that no one owns the water but individuals need to pay to use it.
“We have been down this path as a Te Ao Māori world now for many years,” Matt Tukaki says.
“As we have gone down this path we have seen the continuous degradation of our water as opposed to just infrastructure.”
The issue of water ownership is being raised just as the government has committed funds to upgrade regional water infrastructure.
Recently Auckland mayor Phil Goff refused to pay to extract water from the Waikato River. He said he didn’t want to pay for something with undetermined ownership.