ENVIRONMENT WATER QUALITY
F Setting an example in the Sounds Mapping and measuring water flows means farmers in a Marlborough river catchment know what’s flowing, where. By Anne Hardie.
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armers in the Pelorus catchment will know the water quality entering their property and any changes when it leaves their property following stream mapping and in-depth water quality testing. It is part of the Te Hoiere/Pelorus Catchment Restoration Project that has been mapping everything that carries flowing water, whether it flows just one day of the year or 365 days. Anything that has the potential to carry E.coli, nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment downhill into the rivers and out into the Marlborough Sounds. The Pelorus River is the largest river catchment feeding into the Marlborough Sounds; gathering water from smaller rivers and streams on its downward path to the Havelock Estuary. Tiny streams beginning at the top of the surrounding hills travel through bush, forestry, farms, lifestyle blocks, the Havelock township and past baches in the Marlborough Sounds. It all makes up part of a catchment that has now been mapped and measured. The project which involves the Marlborough District Council, Department of Conservation, Ngati Kuia and the wider community has been chosen as an exemplar catchment by the Government, with more funding directed toward measuring and improving problems identified. Measurements are more detailed to measure clarity, nutrients, sediment and E.coli at more than 100-plus sites spread through the catchment. Project manager, Heli Wade, says water quality measurements during the past 12 months have established a baseline. That is now being used to create an effective monitoring and evaluation programme that can be used to make improvements where it is needed. She says it is a 10-year project to do the work and start to see some Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | September 2021
