“An environmental crisis second to none”
Winners of the 2013 NZ River Awards ‘River Story Award’ for community action
The Silverstream Care group
The Silverstream Care Group is a collaboration between members of Upper Hutt Forest and Bird and the Silver Stream Railway. The group formed in 2003 to restore Hull’s Creek which runs through Wallaceville, Heretaunga, Silverstream, Pinehaven and the Silverstream landfill. They are working to improve the habitat of the stream for fish and aquatic insects and to create a corridor of native plants for birds.
Since 2003 the group has removed a large number of problem trees such as willows and a range of other weed species; planted and cared for nearly 12,000 native plants alongside the stream, extending a distance of 2km thus far; and created a fish pass which sampling is showing to be successful in providing a passage for native fish to the upper stretches of the stream. Weeding and replanting work is ongoing.
Upper Hutt Forest and Bird has always grown its own plants in green houses located on vacant district council land. Plants raised by the group have been used at Hull’s Creek with the surplus sold to local councils and others and provided to schools doing restoration work. Approximately 6000 plants are raised each year, from locally sourced seeds, seedlings and cuttings.
In the past funding for the work at Hulls Creek has been provided by Greater Wellington, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for the Environment. This funding has been used to hire contractors to poison and fell large willows along the stream edge, and to clear and poison vines. A 2008 grant to the group for the removal of willows had the condition that the group provide 20% of the total value of the grant in labour and plants. In 2009 alone the group provided over 700 hours of volunteer labour.
Over the years the Silverstream care group has liaised with local schools, community groups, tertiary horticulture and landscape students, businesses (supplying corporate volunteer days) and Rimutaka Prison which as well as helping with labour has supplied plants grown within the prison. Over the past 10 years at least 80 groups have worked alongside the Silverstream Care Group.
The Army has helped out too by building formal tracks along the restored banks while Associate Professor Mike Joy and students from Massey University helped design the restored fish passage.
The group has faced significant challenges including resistance from local residents who objected to losing the established willows. The group has received hate mail in the past and substantial numbers of new plants have been vandalised or stolen. As well, the greenhouses have been subject to targeted thefts, with upwards of 100 plants being taken at one time.
The group is undeterred. Supported by Great Wellington they continue to maintain and plant areas alongside the stream and offer advice to other groups keen to restore ecological health to their local waterways.
The Sherry River Catchment community
The Sherry River catchment is the location of a collaborative research project known as the Integrated Catchment Management Motueka Research Programme (ICM). The programme ran from July 2000 until September 2011.
The partners in the ICM research programme were Landcare Research, Tasman District Council, Cawthron Institute, SCION, NIWA, GNS, and Otago University. Landcare Trust was involved as coordinator between the research programme and the local community. The aim of the ICM research project was to identify best practices for land and water use in areas where these resources were or could be used for a variety of interacting and potentially conflicting purposes. The Sherry River catchment was ideal for the research as it had different types of farms and forestry in place and the water resources were used for commercial, recreation and cultural activities.
Early in the project, in 2001, the Sherry River was found to fail safe water quality standards for bathing and drinking water, a fact which shocked the local farming community.
Researchers and local landowners then began working closely together to identify what to do. The farmers agreed to participate in a study of the effect on the river of cows crossing through it. This research revealed that walking cows through rivers contributed significantly to the poor water quality. Once this was known the farmers decided to build three new bridges across the river and to convert a fourth bridge to be used by cows.
But efforts didn’t stop there. Trials of riparian planting along the river’s edge were conducted to find out what planting methods and what plants worked best to create a buffer to filter sediment and nutrient run-off and provide shade in summer. Once this was known, the landowners put in 4,000 new plants along the waterways, including highly endangered natives with a view to preserving these species.
With conservation in mind, some farmers also placed QEII covenants over wetlands on their farm. Other efforts to restore the river included building 5km of new fencing along stream banks and, in the case of some farmers, introducing reticulated water to help reduce runoff into the river. Local landowners incurred the costs of these significant measures.
The collaboration between ICM researchers and the Sherry River community also identified new and improved farming practices. Best practice recommendations related to stock management, limiting potential for soil erosion and reducing runoff. Individual landowners were recommended to produce Landowner Environmental Plans specific to their properties and activities. Best practices for developing these plans were also developed as a collaboration between the local landowners and the ICM researchers. Thus far 16 individual Landowner Environmental Plans have been prepared and are currently being implemented.
Local landowner activity to restore the quality of Sherry River is ongoing. Landowners collect water samples after storm events and have them analysed by scientists to monitor progress. They also meet regularly to discuss progress and new information, and to regularly review farm practices.
Their efforts have paid off. Based on water sampling, there has been an improvement in water quality in the catchment.
But that’s not all. By participating in comprehensive research about the effects of farming and forestry on water quality the Sherry river catchment community has provided rich insights into what can be done to improve the environmental impact of multiple land uses. The group has thereby contributed greatly to knowledge about how to best manage the multiple demands on New Zealand’s fresh water.
Waterway |
Location of monitoring site |
Annual % improvement |
Region |
Swimmability |
Matuara River |
Mid |
10.5% |
Southland |
May be marginally swimmable with thorough sampling programme |
Shag River |
Lower |
13.1% |
Otago |
Swimmable |
Harris Creek |
Lower |
13.0% |
West Coast |
Not swimmable |
Rai River |
Lower |
8.0% |
Marlborough |
May be marginally swimmable with thorough sampling programme |
Watercress Creek |
Lower |
6.5% |
Tasman |
Likely swimmable |
Oroua River |
Mid |
7.7% |
Horizons Manawatu |
Not swimmable |
Ngongotaha Stream |
Lower |
6.3% |
Bay of Plenty |
May be marginally swimmable with thorough sampling programme |
Oraka Stream |
Lower |
7.3% |
Waikato |
Not swimmable |
Otara Creek |
Lower |
3.3% |
Auckland |
Not swimmable |
In some cases the most improved streams passed through or received waste from urban areas – the Otara Creek in Auckland and Oroua River in the Manawatu are two examples. Reductions in the amount of waste put into rivers from industry, town sewage schemes and storm water were factors in the improvements observed in streams that came into contact with urban areas.
Many improving rivers had extensive rural catchments. These waterways benefited from changed farming practices such as fencing stock from the rivers, putting bridges across creeks to allow cows to cross, capturing and directing effluent onto the land and riparian planting. Examples include the Shag River in Otago, Harris Creek in the West Coast, Mataura River in Southland, Watercress Creek in Tasman, Rai River in Marlborough and Ngongotaha Stream in the Bay of Plenty.
Grand Award
Finally, there was the Grand Award for the most improved river in New Zealand. The three finalists were all rural rivers – the Shag River in Otago, the Harris Creek in the West Coast and the Waikouaiti River in Otago. The winner, by the tiniest of margins, was the Shag, followed by the Harris, the Waikouaiti third.
The strong message sent by the three finalists for the Grand Award, and indeed most of the rural regional winners and the Sherry River community, is that while changing practices on individual farms may appear to be insignificant, the cumulative impact across a catchment can be enough to turn the tide on deteriorating water quality.
The Awards send several important messages:
- it is possible to turn around poor quality rivers and streams,
- and it is happening
- sometimes all it takes is committed and sustained changes to farm practices
- and these are occurring
- farmer education and collaborative work between councils and rural communities all helps make steady gains in water quality
- addressing point source discharges (for example, upgrades to sewage systems, changed industrial practices) is vital
- having effective control over water off takes is crucial to ensuring minimum flows – so valuable in maintaining river health
- collecting robust data is important because without an accurate picture of water quality we can’t identify deterioration or improvement
- community action can improve NZ’s water quality and ecological habitat
Tomorrow is the biggie – all about the major trout fishing river that was doomed by protestors 50 years ago destined to become another manipulated gutter! So what happened? See TRM report tomorrow…