GDC working on a plan to reflect importance of region’s freshwater catchments

The Poverty Bay Flats are in the Waipaoa River catchment. The river is an important source of water for irrigation, a back-up source of water for Gisborne city, and the major recharge source for extensively used aquifers. File picture

A new review is now under way to check the state of Tairāwhiti’s regional fresh water and the Waipaoa catchment plan.

Led by the Gisborne Distrcit Council, the Waipaoa Catchment Plan (WCP) was developed alongside the Regional Freshwater Plan and publicly notified in 2015. The catchment plan needs to be reviewed to ensure it meets the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 requirements.

A freshwater advisory group was set up to guide the development of the current catchment plan, with a series of three community consultation rounds undertaken to inform the catchment plan. This review will take a similar approach.

The review of the WCP  has four objectives — to actively  engage and collaborate with iwi and hapū in freshwater planning; to set up a freshwater advisory group to guide the review; to ensure residents and stakeholders have opportunities to inform how water will be managed ;and to provide clear direction for sustainable management of freshwater in the catchment.

Engagement with tangata whenua is central to the Waipaoa Catchment Plan and the freshwater planning process.

Through this engagement, the council hopes to develop a vision for Te Mana o Te Wai and to work together to give effect to it. The council also hopes to recognise mana whenua values, mātauranga and aspirations.

In terms of community engagement, the council plans to hold workshops with residents and whānau from the catchment communities. All meetings are open to the public.

Through the engagement, the council will reconfirm and identify any new issues and values of waterbodies in the catchment, reconfirm the freshwater management units, review and confirm objectives, review targets, and change targets if appropriate, check for the water quality and quantity targets and review and confirm non-regulatory projects that support achieving objectives and targets.

The Waipaoa River catchment is extensively farmed. It covers 216,484 ha and has formed the fertile and highly productive Poverty Bay flats on the edge of Gisborne city.

It is an important source of water for irrigation, a back-up source of water for Gisborne city, and the major recharge source for extensively used aquifers.

Key subcatchments of the Waipaoa include the Waikohu, Mangatu, Waingaromia, Wharekopae, and Te Arai.

The lower reaches of the Waipaoa catchment and many of the tributaries in the headwaters provide habitat for a range of indigenous fish species. These species rely on migration up the river system as juveniles and return to the sea as adults.

Eels are one example in the fishery that requires this ability to migrate.

Trout are present in the Wharekopae tributary. They have been introduced and are not known to migrate.

To get involved email the team at trmp@gdc.govt.nz