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Was it just a real old-fashioned Nelson summer – or was it just a bit too hot and an intimation of climate change? The stats show February to be the hottest on record, so perhaps a taste of things to come. Either way, when it rained, it poured. This meant our favourite river had three or four really good freshes through, washing away the silt and weed and keeping it clean for us all to swim in (whether that be humans, dogs, koura or trout!)
Friends of the Maitai have kept busy over the summer tending to plants and working with council and other groups on keeping the Maitai flowing clean and clear. Read on for more info and feel free to get involved with any of our activities that match your interests.
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Stop Press – we want more than wading!
You’ll have seen media coverage of the government’s minimum standard for waterways being set at ‘suitable for boating and wading’. Our MP & Environment Minister Nick Smith is calling for submissions to this document.
FOM are putting in a submission and if any members would like to contribute please get in touch with Tom Kennedy (tnak@xtra.co.nz).
There are numerous points we will be commenting on but one of the big ones is raising the bar of minimum standard from ‘suitable for boating and wading’ (Grade C) to ‘generally suitable for swimming’ (Grade B).
If any FOM members want to put in their own submission that would be great. This document will set the standards that Local Councils will have to adhere to and if the standard is too low then we will all be affected and many existing healthy streams and rivers will suffer. The link is for more info is
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Fresh%20water/next-steps-for-freshwater.pdf
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Talking to the NCC
We have agreed on four items for our submission to the Nelson City Council Annual Plan for 2016-17, close off date 11 April. These are:
1) Support for the draft Annual Plan intention to defer further work on the Maitai Path and associated Nile Street Path until 2019-20, and/or propose an alternative plan for this area.
2) Request for interpretation panels for wildlife alongside the lower reaches of the Maitai and at specific other points.
3) Put forward the FOM position on the dam and any related work (e.g. the spend on the aerator), likely to be based on the work of the Cawthron.
4) State our views on production forestry in the catchment.
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Fish Passage at the York Stream
Nelson City Council has recently completed fish passage remediation work installing baffles and fish ladders at York stream by Victory school and the Brook dam. A fish ladder was installed at the Bishopdale Reserve stormwater inlet in February. A section of the chamber wall is due to be cut out in April to allow continuous flow and fish passage upstream.
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Monitoring
After finishing our work with NIWA we moved our monitoring site upstream away from the salt water wedge to Clouston Bridge. This is a good run site with adequate depth. In August and September the amount of cyanobacteria and green filamentous algae were seen to increase. We enjoyed a day with Susie Wood and colleagues from Cawthron discussing this increase and identifying periphyton in the river. We collected samples and looked at them in the lab under a microscope. A down pour of rain then washed it all out.
We are monitoring on the 1st Wednesday of the month. If you would like to come along email info@friendsofthemaitai.org.nz
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Maitai Pathway Update
The Council Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting on 26 November 2015 considered the Maitai Pathway from Collingwood Street to Nile Street as part of the programme of work for the Active Travel and Path-Based Recreation policy that the Council approved in October 2015. The section of this programme on the Maitai Pathway used the language "the special attributes of vegetation and proximity to the river edge environment" and "challenging topography", which seem to show that the Council now recognises the qualities that we have tried to raise with them since this project began. That feels like significant progress. The meeting resolved to defer implementation of changes to the Maitai Pathway until near the end of the 5 year programme 2016-2021, and to incorporate this change into budgets as part of the forthcoming Annual Plan for 2016-17. If this happens in the way that the Council intends at present, we expect that design work on this section of the Maitai Pathway will restart around 2018, to allow significant consultation and discussion about the best options.
We remain very clear that changes in this very beautiful area of riverside park running through the central city must happen in a clear and transparent and open way, so there are no surprises. We are continuing to watch the developments on this project very closely.
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Groom Creek – A Photo Essay
Richard Mountfort is a new addition to FOM. He reports on his activities at Groom Creek:
Over the summer months I have started making a photo record of all the native trees that have been planted at Groom Creek with the goal of providing members with an easily accessible photo database of all plants on the website and/or facebook page. Common names, Maori names, and Latin names will be included as well as any interesting additional information about a plant. For example, most of you will know the Kowhai means yellow in Maori, but did you know that it’s a legume, but don’t eat any part of it because it’s poisonous! Hopefully, the database will make it a richer and more rewarding experience for those tending to the plants.
Now, I must point out that one of the reasons I am doing this project is because my knowledge of plants is in its infancy, so mistakes could be made as I get my feet wet.
The vibe of the group is amazing, and that’s what I like – it’s a pleasant experience every time. I hope to meet you there.
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The Workers (after Van Gogh).
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Here is Dennis with a Fivefinger in the foreground. Whauwhaupaku (Pseudopanax arboreus).
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I love sitting down after the work is done to enjoy some homemade baking, a seasonal delight, an herb tea, and a good chat with other members
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Friday plant care
Friday fortnightly plant care group at Groom Creek is going well - the focus of the last session was too shift bark from the parking area into the planted area. We had five wheelbarrows and a sledge (with people pushing and pulling), and managed to shift a respectable pile to the planted area. WE HAVE TRAPPED OUR FIRST WEASEL – so great work by Denis and good to know the traps are working, but still no rats caught to date. The next plant care evening is Friday 15 April at 5:30pm at Groom Creek. Plenty of bark to shift if you can bring a wheel barrow.... otherwise just weeding implements.
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Fresh Water Management
This group met recently and we are still beavering away on identifying the values and attributes of the river that are important to us. Once these are established we will move onto the next phase of the process and look at the what practices and limitations in use are required to maintain the values we have agreed on.
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The Fish Game
This game, developed by FOM has been adopted and modified by the council into a large scale board game (on canvas). It has already been used at events as an educational tool to highlight the challenges migrating fish encounter - it’s a bit like snakes and ladders where fish have to find their way from the Haven all the way to the top of the river to reproduce, overcoming various obstacles and swimming past local landmarks along the way. It was first used at the Moturoa Mission, an Enviro-schools event held at Rough Island, and also at the Hira Family Fun Day. It proved very popular with the children and stimulated some good discussion about stream habitat and human actives. The children particularly enjoyed the challenge of throwing the large dice.
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Love it or hate it social media is an effective way for us to communicate between newsletters. We can let you know about plant tending days, urgent actions needed ot you can just post a photo of your family/dog enjoying the river. Go to facebook and search for Friends of the Maitai or
https://www.facebook.com/friendsofthemaitai
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Brook Sanctuary Mini-Blitz
At the end of February a group of enthusiastic biologists and citizen scientists gathered at Brook Waimarama Sanctuary to conduct Nelson’s first biobltz - a rapid identification and assessment of the biodiversity of a specified area. The area chosen was a small area of the Sanctuary, just upstream of the Visitor Centre.
Over the 24 hours of the Biobltz about 50 volunteers of all ages (6 to 80 odd years) carried out nearly 300 observations and identified 121 species. This is great, but probably only a fraction of what is contained in the Sanctuary.
Interesting finds included many koaro (whitebait species), small eels and koura (freshwater crayfish) found by the electric fishers, Tom Kroos and Paul Fisher during the day and more at night; keruru and tui feeding in the bush and a family of friendly wekas including juveniles inspecting the Visitor Centre. There were many native plant species collected and a species of fishing spider (Dolomedes) in the stream Image below. Also a possible long-tailed bat hunting moths image below, corded by bat detector by the Visitor Centre in the middle of the night. Previous recordings have been in the Pelorus Bridge area but possibly bats are present throughout the Richmond range as they have a range of up to 100sq kms.
A further Bioblitz on a larger scale will be carried out towards the end of 2016. This will include a comparison area in the wider Maitai River catchment. Species identified are at http://www.naturewatch.org.nz and http:// www.brooksanctuary.org/news/bioblitz-success.
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Dogs’ Breakfast!
A series of Dogs’ Breakfast events were over summer opposite Riverside Pool to raise awareness among dog owners about the risk of toxic algae (cyanobacteria) in the river and how to keep their dogs safe. The event was supported by Nelson City Council, Cawthron Institute and local vets. Council has commissioned Cawthron to carry out research on what causes toxic algal blooms in the river. Generally, research shows that cyanobacteria is more likely to spread when river flow and water levels are low, during warm and stable weather, and if there is fine sediment in the river.
At the February event about 50 dog owners from across the region visited the stall to get their questions answered and receive some free doggy treats. For more information about toxic algae including pictures of what it looks like, visit nelson.govt.nz [search phrase = toxic algae].
Caption: From left, Council freshwater scientist Dr Paul Fisher, Cawthron international student Alice Kilner and dog owner Renee Lang with Quanda at last month’s Dog Breakfast.
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Upcoming Stormwater conference
Water NZ is holding its annual stormwater conference in Nelson this year, at the Rutherford Hotel, on 18-20 May. The theme is resilient stormwater systems and there are a wide variety of papers being presented. Ami Kennedy (with support from David Ayre, Alison Horn and Steven Gray) and Jo Martin (NCC) have written a collaborative paper about progress to date on Project Maitai/Mahitahi, and are giving a presentation in the case studies section of the conference. For more information on the conference please see http://stormwaterconference.org.nz/ Please contact Ami if you’d like to see a copy of the paper. |
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Connect with your waterway..
Ami Kennedy, who has been at the heart of FOM since its rebirth two years ago, recently presented a talk on her thoughts and feelings about fresh water to the Happyzine Talks, along with another nine inspiring locals, each talking for six passionate minutes about a project they’re working on. You can read the full story on our website (insert link)
My water story began 30-ish years ago on the Canterbury foothills. I had a water race in my front yard. This living water body, small but significant, was my playground my friend my teacher. I connected with the creatures, with fish, spiders, insects and feed eels, beautiful serpent-like fish with a taste for dog sausage. They came each evening to visit, large and small, silently moving through the water to greet me or at least feed. Sometime later, notice was given that the water race was to be shut off. It was no longer needed and the costs too high. The water race was drained. The eels unable to climb and slither up the steep banks perished.
I was devastated! My heart broke. Feelings of powerlessness and frustration came up, how could this be allowed to happen?
I invite you to think of a memory where you made a connection with water or a place that held wonder for you. The feelings you have about this place or waterway, no matter how small, have the potential to be the seed of your passion towards taking action. I did not have the ability to save those eels when I was ten but gained the passion to take action to help prevent such waste of life again.
I now live with the beautiful Maitahi, my larger friend and teacher. With the Friends of the Maitai, we are learning how to truly listen to our river.
Together we share our concerns and take action. We are one group of many who care. We are not large but have had a significant impact, collaborating with council and others, raising public awareness and providing opportunities for direct action.
So dare to connect, dare to fall in love with your waterway, so you can continue to listen, learn and take action for your beloved.
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