Waipu Water

Waipu Waters - who are we?

We are committed to creating and coordinating resources, and mobilising volunteers to achieve our objectives. When the community Waipu River Walk project developed, there were discussions on water quality resulting in a subcommittee focused on water quality. Waipu Waters was formed and joined with an older Waipu water conservation group. Those embryonic footprints have led to a Bio-Blitz event in Waipu which was highly successful with results published in both local and national media.
Our voyage of discovery continues including being incorporated into the strong Piroa Brynderwyn Landcare five-year plan encompassing a clear set of objectives concerned with water quality.
We continue to gain momentum and resources to achieve our objectives.

Mission Statement
We are a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and enhancing Waipu’s water environment. We are committed to creating and coordinating resources and mobilising volunteers to achieve our objectives.

Objectives.
- Create a clean water environment, free of harmful pollution and its downstream impacts.
- Increase public understanding and promote sound land use polices to ensure clean river water quality and drinking water in the Waipu district.
- Provide the information and leadership to the community and members needed to advance our mission.
- Provide a stream health monitoring service.

Strategies
- Initiate Catchment groups in the area where landowners collectively take responsibility for the health of the rivers that run in their catchments.
- Liaise with regional and district councils for funding.
- Develop and run a community nursery of native plants for riparian zones.
- Plant appropriate and approved plants using best practise.

Farm Environmental Plans & Regulatory Requirments

We continue to build a knowledge resource of best farm land practices and what the future regulations will require.
We work with NRC in their endeavour to help farmers improve and protect their waterways, specifically fencing and planting. NRC has a fund to support this work in a collaborative funding approach. We can help farmers request this support.

Fish Passage & Stream Health

Fish passage improvement by fixing
culverts and weirs can prevent migratory fish from accessing their natural habitats. We can help landowners identify fish barriers and put in fish ladders and other solutions to fix them.
Monitor stream health...
We have the capability to test and assess the state of health of our water ways. This can be done in a variety of ways some of which require a long period of regular water sampling using a SMAak kit from NIWA or paying for an MCI (Macroinvertebrate community index) samples are done by a lab.

Projects & Working Groups

All meetings & events are advertised on the calendar page HERE
We continue to build and maintain a community nursery to grow plants needed for riparian planting on the water ways of the Waipu area and are always on the lookout for new volunteers and resources. If you’d like to be involved at any level, please get in touch. Here is where you may help. If you have plastic plant pots that you can donate please drop them to 16 The Braigh Waipu. Do you have any seedlings such as mānuka, kānuka, titoki or other natives we can propagate? Or do you want to be part of a small group that meets for a few hours a week to look after the nursery? Alternatively, do you have a stream or river on your land? Then you could join a catchment group of landowners who support each other to improve the health of their waterways.

Resources

We aim to be able to provide a consultation service to landowners to help them reduced the regulatory challenges imposed. We are always looking for experienced people to help with this service.

Waipu's Catchment Group - up and running

Throughout New Zealand over 300 catchment groups have been started by farmers, landowners, and local communities as a way to help each other out to improve and maintain the health of shared waterways. The groups get together for social working bees planting up their riparian strips and learning how else they can improve their waterways.

On Thursday November 17th over 40 farmers gathered on the banks of the Ahuroa River for a Waipū catchment kick off meeting. Many came away from the rainy morning with a clear path of how they can work together with their neighbours to improve the quality of the waterways that pass through their land.

Ben Herbert from Fonterra, one of the organisers and speakers at the event, said “I've never seen such a good turn out in the many farming events I've been to.”

Simon Couper, a dairy farmer by the Millbrook River and Trustee for Piroa Conservation Trust (PCT), has felt for some time there was a need to start a catchment group on the river. “It's a way to bring awareness of the river health and the collective responsibility for making waterways better.” He went on to say “Farmers have been fencing waterways for over ten years and continue with their efforts to comply with Regional Council requirements and Farm Environment Plans. Getting together as a catchment group builds on this work to create more of a community for further improving environmental outcomes for farms and waterways.”

The event was a team effort coordinated by Piroa Conservation Trust (PCT) and Waipū Waters along with Whitebait Connection, Patuharakeke Taiao unit, Fonterra, Dairy NZ and NZ Landcare Trust. Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council and the Department of Conservation also participated.

Piroa Conservation Trust really appreciates the commitment and effort of everyone involved. We welcome any farmers and landowners within the Waipū River Catchment to join the groups being started for each of the sub-catchments.

Sends us a message

Nursery Shindig Opening

A fun gathering was had by Waipu locals to celebrate the opening of the Waipu Waters Community Nursery in November.

Motivated by a collective goal of improving the health of our rivers, the Waipu Waters Community Nursery was formed. The nursery was initiated in May 2022 by the conservation group, Waipu Waters. Working with Piroa Conservation Trust, the nursery aims to produce 20,000 native plants annually for riparian margins, wetlands, and the restoration of migratory paths.
Currently the nursery is growing plants for the Waipu River Walk, the Waipu to Waipu Cove Cycle and Walkway and for local farmers who are interested in planting their riverbanks. Recipients wishing to obtain plants must either pay for the trees or put in some time to produce and plant them. All plants that leave the nursery must be planted in the ground and not left for the landowner to plant at their convenience. All seeds are eco-sourced locally as there are variations of every species within a small radius of a few kilometres.

Dave Brown of Tahamoana Angora goat farm has allowed the use of a discarded nursery on his land for the project. The first working bee was held in June, when over twenty volunteers took on the task of clearing the area which had been dormant for around a decade. Dave also helped with logistics and landscaping.

After a successful start a regular gathering was established. Volunteers have been turning up every second Sunday of the month to continue clearing weeds, repair growing sites and develop a sustainable working nursery. Coralie Roberts has taken the role of nursery manager and has initiated a seed potting operation known as ‘Potting Thursdays’. A small group attend the productive yet social gatherings resulting in approx. 5000 native plants being potted. If you are keen to attend, the potting sessions occur 5.30pm to 8pm every week with a shared dinner afterwards. The nursery would welcome new volunteers - if interested please contact Coralie [email protected] or phone 027432 0293.
Volunteers are also wanted for the second Sunday of every month - contact Peter [email protected]