What we’re up to/

Our latest newsletter is out now. Catch up on all the latest from around the catchments including a fish survey in a drought, detention bund success, how we chose the catchments & what data we needed, footage of some cryptic wetland birds and much more! http://6775268.hs-sites.com/the-latest-updates-from-living-water-3

An early lesson for the Living Water partnership was the lack of data available in the five catchments, we had to commission our own research. The way we collected data depended on the catchment characteristics like land area, land use, soil type, quality of existing data etc. So how we collected information varied from catchment to catchment. Read how we did it ⬇️ https://www.livingwater.net.nz/tools-solutions/catchment-scale-tools/initial-information-collected-at-site/

WATCH: Dr Clint Rissmann, Principal Scientist and Technical Director at LandscapeDNA discuss a new scientific approach to modelling water quality accounting for the influence of the natural landscape. The data will be available to landowners, catchment managers, farm advisors, catchment groups and community groups. Living Water is supporting the development of a dashboard that provides automated reporting on the spatial data https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI3kCUZw6OM

The Waituna fish survey was able to go ahead last week in Waituna Creek, even though water levels are very low due to the drought in Southland. Eight years of research shows since rehabilitating stretches of the creek in 2018, there’s been a steady increase in the numbers of native fish including giant kōkopu, common bully, redfin bully, giant bully, tuna (longfin and shortfin eel), inanga, kanakana (lamprey) and freshwater crayfish (koura). Proof that instream habitat additions are hugely beneficial to improving freshwater fish species diversity and abundance

Catch up on our key work in the Wairua, Northland catchment. Spoiler: We need partnerships because no single organisation or sector has all the skills, knowledge and influence to improve freshwater and we know it requires more than just on-farm action 👇 https://bit.ly/3uuVbmN

The #WaikatoPeatLakes are rare lowland ecosystems in the heart of New Zealand's dairy country. Read what the Department of Conservation and Fonterra Farm Source Waikato have achieved 8 1/2 years into the 10-year partnership and what the future holds for the peat lakes 👇

We've updated our website, making it even easier to find out about our tools and solutions. At a glance, you can see which projects are new, in progress, or completed. Head over to see the new projects added, including LandscapeDNA, Sediment traps, the two-stage channel and the Manga-o-tama Catchment project. https://www.livingwater.net.nz/tools-solutions/

March 22 is #WorldWaterDay 💧 The #WorldWaterDay22 theme is Groundwater–making the invisible visible 💧 Groundwater is critically important for drinking and food production, it’s equally important for healthy, functioning wetlands and rivers. How do we ensure we’re protecting groundwater quality and ensuring its use is sustainable with a growing population and climate change? Head to the link below to hear how Dr Clint Rissmann, Principal Scientist and Technical Director at LandscapeDNA has developed a new scientific approach to modelling water quality. Living Water has partnered with LandscapeDNA to make this data accessible to landowners, catchment managers, farm advisors, catchment groups and community groups. It will change the game for land use decision making and catchment management 💧 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/tools-solutions/catchment-scale-tools/landscapedna/

Our Detention bund trial in Wairua, Northland shows they could be an effective tool for reducing fast-flowing floodwater laden with contaminants such as sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus, from damaging fragile freshwater ecosystems. Read more 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/what-were-up-to/stories-about-our-work-ta-matou-mahi/detention-bund-trial-successfully-reduces/

Our Detention bund trial in Wairua, Northland shows they could be an effective tool for reducing fast-flowing floodwater laden with contaminants such as sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus, from damaging fragile freshwater ecosystems. Read more 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/what-were-up-to-he-aha-ta-matou-mahi/stories-about-our-work-ta-matou-mahi/detention-bund-trial-successfully-reduces

With the changing climate bringing increased rainfall, flooding poses a big threat to freshwater and impacts farm production. Flooding causes large amounts of sediment and other contaminants to be dumped into our small, straightened waterways. The removal of natural filtration like wetlands and streams natural meandering means all those contaminants end up in our larger rivers and sensitive lowland estuaries and lagoons. Two-stage channels can help reduce flooding while preventing sediment and contaminants from ending up in our waterways. Read about the Two-stage channel we're trialling alongside the bioreactor in the Ararira catchment 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/ararira-lii-river-te-awa-o-araiara/two-stage-channel-flood-management-and-reducing/

With the changing climate bringing increased rainfall, flooding poses a big threat to freshwater and impacts farm production. Flooding causes large amounts of sediment and other contaminants to be dumped into our small, straightened waterways. The removal of natural filtration like wetlands and streams natural meandering means all those contaminants end up in our larger rivers and sensitive lowland estuaries and lagoons. Two-stage channels can help reduce flooding while preventing sediment and contaminants from ending up in our waterways. Read about the Two-stage channel we're trialling alongside the bioreactor in the Ararira catchment 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/ararira-lii-river/two-stage-channel-flood-management-and-reducing

Spotless crake/pūweto monitoring is happening around the Waikato Peat Lakes, Living Water Ranger, Rose, was lucky enough to actually see and capture this footage of these tiny, cryptic wetland birds 👀 Pūweto are a great indicator species of the success of wetland restoration, because populations can bounce back in just a few years with the right restoration conditions

Spotless crake/pūweto monitoring is happening around the Waikato Peat Lakes, Living Water Ranger, Rose, was lucky enough to actually see and capture this footage of these tiny, cryptic wetland birds 👀 Pūweto are a great indicator species of the success of wetland restoration, because populations can bounce back in just a few years with the right restoration conditions

When Department of Conservation and Fonterra partnered to create Living Water, big decisions had to be made about which catchments would be suitable for freshwater improvement. Read how the five catchments were decided and the lessons learned about working in large catchments in a limited timeframe. https://www.livingwater.net.nz/tools-solutions-nga-taputapu-me-nga-rongoa/catchment-scale-tools-nga-taputapu-hokai/how-we-selected-the-living-water-catchments

A huge win for Tārerekautuku/Yarrs Lagoon in the Ararira-LII catchment with $796,980 of Jobs for Nature funding going towards restoration. This project is the result of Living Water's partnership with the Selwyn District Council, supporting their capacity to intensify focus on waterway management by providing funding for a Biodiversity Coordinator to work alongside the Living Water Site Lead. The position became permanent, full-time in 2018. Forming partnerships like this ensures the hard work continues beyond Living Water's 10 years. Restoration work includes predator trapping, weed control, native planting and will create up to 11 full-time jobs. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127789121/canterbury-wetland-restoration-project-gets-800000-funding-boost