Waikato RiverCare Successfully Completes Flag Ship Project

The Waikato RiverCare team is pleased to announce the successful completion of our largest Waikato River project to date, the 5.63ha Taupiri Ki Waenganui project.

What started as a 1.1ha riparian project in 2014 progressively expanded with the help and support of landowners, our generous sponsors and members of the Huntly community into an ecosystem restoration initiative which included the establishment of a 0.9ha ephemeral wetland.

Over the last six years Waikato RiverCare has planted 27,935 plants and native grasses at this project sourced from five different nurseries. Providing work opportunities for 12 different independent contractors with services including planting, weed spraying, earthmoving, logging, arborist, fencing and surveying. More than 80 people including volunteers have contributed tot he transformation of this site from pasture and weeds to functioning riparian planting and wetland.

As you can imagine, a project of this scale requires multiple co-funders and Waikato RiverCare is fortunate to have a committed group of funders get in behind this project. Initially the Waikato District Council, then the Waikato River Authority and Waikato Catchment Ecological Enhancement Trust. (WCEET).

Waikato RiverCare would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that the Taupiri  Ki Waenganui project would not be the great success story it is without the support of our hardworking and committed contractors, supportive landowners, keen community members and businesses and our executive committee. Thank you very much to everyone who has shown their support and made this project such a success.

Project work kicked off in early 2014 when the site was surveyed to establish legal boundaries. It became clear that dialog and compromise would be required to establish project boundaries.given the proximity of the wetland to the legal boundary. Once this was agreed, pine harvesting and pre-planting spray works were able to begin.

Another main feature of the Taupiri Ki Waenganui project which makes it stand out from other projects completed to date is the multifaceted nature of this project – it’s more than just riparian planting. This project included the construction of a weir which reinstated water levels within the drained wetland resulting in the restoration of a 0.9ha ephemeral wetland critical for both invertebrates fish and wildlife.

Once the project was ready for planting, the first of two major planting rounds started int he 2015-16 funded firstly by the Waikato River Authority and then by WCEET in 2016-17.  Between the two planting events a total of 26,423 plants and native grasses were planted.

Unfortunately establishing the planting didn’t go as planned when summer flooding hit in 2017 cause losses of up to 20% within the project. We are very grateful that both the Waikato River Authority and WCEET provided funding flexibility allowing Waikato RiverCare to complete extra management actions and much needed in-fill planting in the following two seasons.

With plantings now well established, it is hoped, routine maintenance will provide the environment required for the project to be self-sustaining i.e. seeds generated by the plantings establish within the project creating a continuing cycle of succession.

While this project is now complete for Waikato RiverCare, we are confident the Waikato District Council will continue to maintain and protect the significant investment for the benefit of the Huntly community and the Waikato River catchment. We are extremely proud of the efforts of everyone involved in this project and we look forward to the continued success of this site in years to come.

Kevin Hutchinson

Site – after prep work

Waterside Planters hard at work

Newly completed site