What we’re up to

Have you seen a giant Kokopu? They are the largest galaxiid, named for their golden speckles which early explorers thought looked like a galaxy ✨ They are found over most of New Zealand and tend to live in habitat that is nice and dark and cool with lots of vegetation 🌿 They usually grow to around 20-30cm but their have been some recorded as large as 45cm! Hands up if you've seen one 🙋‍♀️

Today is International Women in Science Day 👩‍⚕️ We are fortunate to have a number of awesome wahine working on the Living Water project, one of which is Dr Catherine Febria of CAREX. She is part of a team of scientists at the University of Canterbury that are trying out solutions to improve waterways. Living Water has supporting CAREX’s work in Silverstream, a tributary of the Selwyn River. We caught up with her on what makes her tick: doing science in the real world. https://www.livingwater.net.nz/…/scientists-working-with-l…/

Our Northern Site Lead, Andrew, spent the weekend at Ngati Hau Festival, telling the community about the Work Living Water has been doing in the area. We heard the chocolate Kokopu went down a treat 😅 You can find out what we've been up to in the Wairua catchment 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/

The Okarika Wetland is one of two natural remaining large wetlands on the Hikurangi floodplain and home to some rare species (including the black mudfish), it's pretty special! Which is why we're celebrating it on #WorldWetlandDay The partnership between Fonterra and Department of Conservation is working with Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Wai Māori to come up with solutions to improve water quality and protect the wetlands while also enhancing farms. Part of Living Water's mission is changing how we work together to solve problems. Check out the how we're doing this 👇: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1giLYzVzJtU

Today is #WorldWetlandsDay, the facts: 👉 World’s most valuable ecosystem 👉 Disappearing three times faster than forests 👉 Provide almost all of the world’s consumption of freshwater 👉 More than one billion people depend on them for a living 👉 40 per cent of the world’s species live and breed in wetlands 👉 Vital source for food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines, and hydro-power 👉 Mitigate floods, protect coastlines and build community resilience to disasters 👉 Play an important role in transport, tourism and the cultural and spiritual well-being of people 👉 Essential to efforts to regulate the global climate by storing carbon Take Action to #KeepWetlands, learn some new skills, meet some new people and make a difference by volunteering: https://www.wetlandtrust.org.nz/get-involved/volunteer/

Tomorrow is #WorldWetlandDay, themed: Wetlands and #ClimateChange, Wetlands: 👉 protect our coast in extreme weather 👉 reduce the impact of flooding 👉 help stabalise riverbanks. Read about we're doing in the Waikato Peat Lakes to help #KeepWetlands 🌏 http://bit.ly/WaikatoPeatLakes

Last week two of our newest Living Water team members, Katie (Science Lead, Freshwater Technical Advisor, North Island) and Kate (Programme Co-ordinator) visited our Pokorokoro-Miranda site and met with the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre team to learn about the importance of protecting and expanding the shorebird habitat, reducing sediment loads and connecting on-farm biodiversity from mountains to sea.

Here's our Northern Site Lead, Andrew, out on site collecting water samples for monitoring to see if our trials in this area are working - we won't have a definitive answer for a number of years but there are some signs that things are improving, stay tuned to find out more. Read about what we are trialling here: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/

Small changes can make a big difference to agricultural waterways. Riparian planting along the banks will provide shade and cover for fish and insects and compete for space with weeds that grow along the bank.

It wasn't easy! But we have made progress in the restoration of Waituna Creek that flows into the Waituna Lagoon, a RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance - and we got it all on camera. We did this by bank reprofiling (benching and two stage channelling), installing instream structures in the form of macrocarpa logs and bundles of manuka, and extensive riparian planting. We hope the instream structures will provide fish habitat/refuge while also varying the speed of the water, creating pools and riffles, and that the two-stage channelling combined with riparian planting will stabilise banks, cater for floods, slow the water in high flows and help reduce sediment and nutrients. Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/waitunacreekrestoration

Got some questions about Living Water? Check out our FAQs 👇 ow.ly/bIA650jZmjX

Ecosystems and our land and water environments are complicated and differ greatly across New Zealand. Soil types and water pathways can vary from paddock to paddock, farm to farm, and region to region so solutions have to be designed and tailored to their unique location. This is why we are designing and trialling solutions in five very different catchments, so we can help determine what solutions will work best in which locations, find out more 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/how-were-working/

We have been working with University of Waikato Masters student Callum Douglas in Otakairangi who presented his findings on measuring the degradation and recovery of a drained wetland remnant at the New Zealand Hydrological Society Conference. Awesome work, Callum! Read about our work in the area here: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/ #NZHSNZMS2018

Here's Site Lead, Kaipara Harbour/Wairua River Catchment, Andrew, water sampling in Otakairangi. The area has been severely degraded with much less biodiversity, due to frequent fires and the area being drained/modified for production. We are water sampling to see if our trials in this area are working - we won't have a definitive answer for a number of years but there are some signs that things are improving, stay tuned to find out more. Read about what we are trialling here: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/

Our partners in the Ararira-LII River catchment, CAREX presenting to Environment Canterbury on the highlights and lessons learned from their projects in the last 5 years. Lessons learnt are being applied to Living Water’s on-farm and water network projects in the Ararira-LII catchment and the Waituna catchment in Southland. Read more https://www.livingwater.net.nz/#where

We’re excited about the government announcement that Yarrs Flat at Te Waihora/Lake Ellsemere is one of two land restoration projects in New Zealand given the go ahead under the Billion Trees Programme. Living Water has been working here over the past five years that has laid the groundwork for this investment – we couldn’t have done it without our Department of Conservation site lead, Robin Smith, who has shown real commitment for this very special lake and wetland environment in Canterbury. Love your work Robin! Check it out! https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/two-land-restoration-projects-given-go-ahead-under-one-billion-trees?fbclid=IwAR0iO5FwzA_drYdHeuWEfqPIK5bvjFyW0roLruL53ZZDrB3cbqgkBzvkku0