Relevant Research reports
Relevant background research is available at the following links:
Curletts Rd waterway at Curletts Road opposite A&P Showgrounds. Flows into Heathcote River.
Toi tū te marae o Tangaroa
Toi tū te marae o Tāne
Toi tū te iwi
If we look after the waters and land around us, we will be looked after in turn.
Research
Environment Canterbury has two investigations underway relating to the health of Christchurch waterways. Waterway health is generally assessed by looking at what aquatic life, e.g. fish and invertebrates, make up the ecosystem of the stream or river. The aquatic ecosystem is affected by many factors, including in-stream habitat, bankside vegetation, sediment quality and water quality.
Reports show that the water quality of the Avon and Heathcote rivers is poor. Water quality in the two rivers is affected by what happens in the waterways upstream.
With that in mind, Environment Canterbury, in conjunction with Crown Research Institute, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), is undertaking an investigation on Haytons and Paparua streams - two streams that flow through Hei Hei, Hornby and Sockburn and flow into the Heathcote.
Haytons and Paparua streams have been selected because they pass through rural, urban and industrial land and have a range of different sources of contaminants along their length. They are two of several small waterways in Christchurch that over time have been shown to have consistently poor water quality and have detrimental impacts on water quality downstream including the Heathcote River and the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai.
Researchers planning Haytons Paprua investigation. Staff from ECan, Christchurch City Council and NIWA.
The second investigation, in conjunction with EoS Ecology, is looking at sediment sources along Cashmere Stream. Cashmere Stream is a significant contributor of sediment to the Heathcote River, which has longstanding and increasing issues with sedimentation and clarity. The sources of sediment in Cashmere Stream are broadly known, however a detailed study to investigate the significance of sources will greatly assist with targeting actions to control sediment inputs and come up with practical and achievable solutions.
Both investigations are looking at the types of contaminants that are in these waterways, their concentrations and where they are entering waterways. These detailed studies will assist Environment Canterbury, in partnership with the Christchurch City Council and other key organisations, to work to reduce the level of contaminants in our waterways. This will be achieved by working collaboratively with all businesses and residents in the catchment areas.
Christchurch City Council is undertaking investigations into the effectiveness of new stormwater detention facilities and has 24 monitoring sites on the waterways catchments network to gauge the health of our streams and rivers.
About the river asset managing project.