Growers asked about water quality in rivers

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne District Council and Horticulture NZ have asked growers on the Poverty Bay and Uawa flats to complete a survey about the water quality in local rivers.

The information from this survey will be used to model estimated nutrient losses from the various land-use and soil types across the flats.

The council manages rivers through catchment plans.

These identify specific areas of land use known as Freshwater Management Units, or FMUs.

Jo Noble, director of the council’s Sustainable Futures Hub, said the FMUs were an essential tool in freshwater management.

“FMUs allow council to manage the river quality in the context of specific land use.

“The predominant land use within these areas is irrigated horticulture, vegetable cropping and occasional grazing as part of the crop rotation cycle.

“Over the past few years monitoring in the Poverty Bay Flats FMU, and the Uawa Flats has shown a trend of deterioration.

“We’re working with HortNZ and Plant & Food Research to help assess and better understand nutrient dynamics and land management practices on farms and orchards in these areas. This survey helps us do just that.”

The survey closes on August 31.

“All responses are confidential and no personal details will be released. All responses go directly to Plant & Food Research.

“All catchment plans, including the FMUs, are being reviewed over the next two years as part of council’s freshwater projects of the Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan review.”