Monitoring social well-being is important, as social drivers have a key influence on other aspects of catchment health, including pest control, biodiversity, water quality and effective land use management.

The Queenstown Lake District Council conducts a 'Quality of Life Survey' annually to better understand what works well and what the challenges facing the residents in the district are. Data collected by this survey were used to derive social well-being rankings for the catchment.

Despite the low overall score, the sense of cultural heritage saw an improvement compared to the previous year, as more respondents reported being able to express their culture without feeling excluded from their community or neighbourhood. Nonetheless, just over one third of residents expressed satisfaction with the celebration of tangata whenua and Māori culture, which remains consistently low.

Various studies have been conducted to understand how the health of the environment we live in may impact the well-being of the people who live in it. Societies living in a flourishing, green environment may be more likely to thrive⁵. Wealthier societies may have more opportunities to invest in climate-aware lifestyle choices⁶.

Māori health models, such as the concept of Te Whare Tapa Whā, illustrate the intimate link between the physical, spiritual and mental health of individuals with their communities and environment⁷.

It is important to link social well-being to the other indicators presented here, to gain insights into how the health and happiness of the community may impact the catchment health.

Spare income and spare time are vital requirements for residents of the catchment to be able to invest into caring for the environment; whether this is in the form of volunteer hours or financial donations to support ecological and environmental projects. Despite the high rank of the overall quality of life, the high cost of living and low affordability of housing pose significant threats for the future health of the catchment, as residents may simply be unable to afford supporting improvements.