Whakaki Catchment

Newsletter

September 2018

Work at Iwitea

Manuka trial

Six hundred Manuka plants adapted to grow in wet condi-

tions will be planted on Whakaki 2N and on Richard Robin-

son’s farm. The idea is to work out where these trees will

survive and thrive. The trial site will provide a challenging

environment for these young seedlings with plenty of soil

moisture and salt spray.

Nga Whenua Rahui support

Mike Mohi discussed Nga Whenua Rahui as a possible

funding avenue to assist a land use change away from

grazing and towards more environmentally friendly

ventures such as a Manuka plantations and tourism

ventures. It would take at least 3 to 4 years for the Ma-

nuka to produce honey. Discussions with shareholders

will be undertaken in the next few months.

Iwitea septic system

Stephen Heath from Wairoa District Council indicated that

there are several small adjustments that can be done to

mitigate septic systems issues. WDC has offered to engage

with its residents on a Marae project that would showcase

best practises.

Whakaki

Native tree plantings in the Hill

Country

A revolutionary large-scale native tree planting trial took

place in the hill country this winter with 3600 native trees

established on hill country farms. These trees are protected

by an innovative tree guard/protectors, developed by Peter

Manson. These guards are held by flexible fiber glass rods

and are designed to withstand cattle rubbing against

tress.Success will however depend heavily on farmers

managing their cattle carefully around these trees.

This new system offers an alternative to traditional poplar

and willow plantings. This initiative is an extension of a

successful trial on Nic Broad’s farm started three years

ago.

Also 870 poplar and willow poles were planted in the

catchment bringing the total of space planted trees to over

4400. This equates to almost 70ha of erosion prone hill

country has been planted this season.

Fresh Water Improvement Fund

(FIF)

Although the FIF application is on hold until April 2019,

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has kindly offered to support

small scale initiatives in Whakaki and Iwitea to keep the

momentum going. The Whakaki community worked with

Dick Finney, Farm Manager for Hereheretau Station, to build

a 1 km fence along the Rahui channel including the Urupa.

Also, 650 trees were established during a very popular com-

munity planting day. In Iwitea, a 3,700 m fence was built

around Lake Te Paraoa.

During June and July 2018, a series of community meetings

were held to talk about the three key deliverables of the pro-

posed FIF project. The weir, Waikatuku diversion and recir-

culating wetland require a Resource Consent application that

will need to accompany the FIF application.

The next steps will consist of getting the key affected par-

ties to sign an “approval form” that will be included in the

Resource Consent application. This document will

demonstrate that landowners have been consulted and

have formally approved the work to be undertaken.

Water monitoring

The Whakaki Lake Trust (WLT) has given the go ahead for

a water monitoring platform to be installed in the middle

of the lake. This platform will host a range of instruments

that record live a range of parameters including dissolved

oxygen, water and air temperature, pH, turbidity, conduc-

tivity, algal pigments and water level.

The WLT also received a water monitoring instrument capable

of measuring dissolved oxygen, water temperature and con-

ductivity with one instrument. It will be used by the WLT

during their water monitoring runs done each month on 7 sites

around the lake. The data collected by the WLT and HBRC

will be complementary to each other and help give a better

understanding of the main pressure points that affect the lake

at critical times of the year. In time the data will be used to

evaluate the success of possible interventions such as riparian

protection and the recirculating wetland.

The data collected will be shared under a collaborative plat-

form that is still in its development.

Provincial Growth Fund

The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will provide $100,000

for a cultural land use and economic impact assessment of

the Whakaki catchment area. The assessment will look at the

best ways to improve the productivity and environmental

sustainability of the land while protecting culturally signifi-

cant sites.