These could be private companies, contractors, engineering consultants, or government, regional and local authorities responsible for granting resource consents, and monitoring resource use. The work could be the provision of water supplies, the use of water for electricity generation, the management of flooding and coastal protection, the disposal of waste, the surface mining of coal or other minerals, quarrying, tunnelling, land development, and the stabilisation of landslides. To assist communities to manage their resources sustainably they plan, manage and design water treatment and waste treatment systems, recycling systems, water reservoirs, flood protection works, land and river erosion prevention, mineral extraction and remediation in quarries and opencast mines, rehabilitation of contaminated soil and water. Resource Engineering covers the sustainable utilisation and management of natural and physical resources in a manner which is beneficial to society. Sustainable means meeting the needs of present society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Resources refers primarily to water, land, minerals, air and the environment.