My Account
A major new scheme aimed at stopping thousands of tonnes of sediment from flowing down the Hoteo River and into the Kaipara Harbour every year has been launched by Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters department.
The five-year $2 million Hoteo Sediment Reduction Programme will focus on a 12km stretch of the Kourawhero Stream near Kaipara Flats, which is a hotspot for riverbank erosion and sediment production.
Project manager Dylan Clarke told a recent meeting of the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group (IKHMG) at Kaiwaka that 32,000 tonnes of sediment travelled down the Hoteo every year, more than 70 per cent of which came from erosion of stream banks.
The new scheme, which is jointly funded by the Ministry of Environment’s Freshwater Improvement
Fund and Auckland Council, aims to reduce that amount by funding research and support for landowners, including fencing, planting, labour, and Geomorphically Effective Management Solutions – or, making sure the right plants are in the right place.
The first step will involve a full assessment of the stream in conjunction with landowners to identify where erosion is happening and options for remediation.
The project has a steering group that includes representatives from the Forest Bridge Trust, Beef + Lamb NZ, Million Metres Streams, IKHMG, Te Uri o Hau, Nga Maunga Whakahii and Ngati Manuhiri.
A community meeting about the project will be held at the Puatahi Marae at Glorit on Sunday, September 23 at 10am. RSVP dylan.clarke@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
