Our water monitoring programme continues-the last run took place in early February. Despite the low flow, water quality was reasonable over the catchment. This means that our hard work to date is paying dividends.
The Whangawehi community is celebrating this Award received in Sydney in October 2018. A big thank you to the whole team and the wider community. This award celebrates the commitment of a dedicated community that has delivered some key milestones over the past 4 years. Well done to you all. Pai the Mahi.
Hi all,
The water monitoring data for October is now available : October2018
On Saturday the 8th of October, a small group of hard core Whangawehi members gathered at the Whangawehi bridge to finish off building the new railing fence which was started on the day of the working bee. The work involved digging several holes in solid hard ground and it’s no wonder that the beer afterwards was well received. Well done to you all and thank you for your commitment.
As you can see from the photo’s-all our trees have grown a lot over the winter period. They are flourishing and there is nothing stopping them now. Water is flowing very clear in the Whangawehi stream but algae are already starting to pop up at Mamangu which is a bit early.
A new tree species-the Poroporo-is now growing along the river which has been self-introduced by birds. Poroporo is a native tree already present in the DOC reserve. A small scrub-the Poroporo is traditionally a very valuable plant to Maori because of it’s itch relief properties. It’s a delightful looking plant that is known to grow extremely fast.
It is great to see that the cycle of nature is taking place and allowing the diversification of our local biodiversity.
The Taharoa team have decided to make the most of the low water levels in the Mangatupae stream by constructing a series of debris dams. The Mangatupae catchment is actively eroding and the stream bed has dropped by 3 metres over the past 30 years. The goal of the debris dam is to help stabilise and rebuild the stream bed by trapping the silt. This structure will be just one of the many tools used to reduce erosion. Last year, 2 bush blocks were fenced off and retired (5 ha). This coming winter we will attempt to fence off another 5 ha bush block with a fence line bladed to retire the stream.
Further up in the headwaters, a new soil conservation trial is underway with native trees protected by a new guard. Our hope is that all these tools will contribute towards finding a positive outcome for our freshwater quality and our biodiversity. Erosion control will be a long term battle so we will keep you posted on any further developments.
Hi all, here is the water monitoring data for our lower site in the catchment : Mamangu. This site is monitored every month and reflects overall what’s happening in the catchment. As you can see E Coli levels are very low : February2018
