It's done and dusted and Maori have no basis for their claim over the country's fresh water.

Public law expert and former ACT MP Stephen Franks says full and final Treaty of Waitangi settlements have already been made over all the lakes and rivers that generate power.

"That doesn't mean it won't succeed though, I mean it's tactical and it's just a legal mugging, it's very common, it's worked before. In fact if I were in the shoes of the Maori Council, you'd feel negligent if you didn't give it a try," he says.

Stephen Franks says if iwi in those areas were to raise issues over them again it would be a very blatant reneging of that deal but in the meantime it cranks up unrealistic expectations and can be used as political leverage.

He says this attempt to raise the issue again is tactical, and has worked before - so he's not surprised the council is giving it a try.

"If there's any customary or common law rights they would be for the neighbouring iwi not a pan-Maori thing, not for a, sort of, brown colour claim as it were," he says.

Photo: Lake Taupo (Getty Images)