Federated Farmers says a $3 million boost from the Ministry for Primary Industries for water quality is money well spent.
The money will go to the Landcare Trust to improve the country's waterways and promote sustainable management practices.
Chris Allen, Federated Farmers' water spokesperson, says the funding will allow the trust to employ a team of coordinators to work with the farming community to help people integrate sustainable land and water management practices into their farming systems.
"We believe the best way to make on-ground solutions is in the catchment," Allen told Magic Talk's Rural Today on Wednesday.
Regional coordinators would help bring local knowledge and understanding to specific catchment-related issues in various parts of the country, Allen said.
He said farmer-led, catchment-focused projects would help the trust develop solutions to "specific challenges within each catchment and on each farm".
The funding came after Federated Farmers sought extra funding for catchment areas in its submissions for the freshwater proposal last year.
The extra money would help give farmers more certainty on the issue of water management, Allen said.
"From time to time they haven't had that continuity of farming and it's put a lot of uncertainty around some of those long-term projects."