On 5 August 2014, the Crown and Whanganui Iwi signed Ruruku Whakatupua, the Deed of Settlement for the Whanganui River, at Ruakā Marae in Rānana. 

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In the Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown, the vision for the Whanganui River settlement has been founded on two fundamental principles:

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• Te Awa Tupua mai i te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa - an integrated, indivisible view of Te Awa Tupua comprising the Whanganui River and all its elements in both biophysical and metaphysical terms from the mountains to the sea; and
   

• Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au - the health and wellbeing of the Whanganui River is intrinsically interconnected with the health and wellbeing of the people.

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Ruruku Whakatupua - Te Mana o Te Awa Tupua is primarily directed towards the establishment of a new legal framework for the Whanganui River which is centred on the legal recognition of the Whanganui River from the mountains to the sea, incorporating its tributaries and all its physical and metaphysical elements, as an indivisible and living whole – Te Awa Tupua.

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Ruruku Whakatupua - Te Mana o Te Iwi o Whanganui is primarily directed towards Whanganui Iwi and the recognition and further development of the relationship between Whanganui Iwi and the Whanganui River through both cultural and financial redress.

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At the heart of the settlement and Te Awa Tupua framework is the legal recognition of Te Awa Tupua. The legal recognition of Te Awa Tupua is a fundamental recognition of the interconnectedness of the Whanganui River, its peoples and its resources.