Authorities have moved to give assurances that the Hoteo River remains a key focus for sediment reduction initiatives following a blistering attack on progress by a Mahurangi Matters reader.
Richard Griffiths paddled down the river for the first time in nearly 20 years last month and says he was sorely disappointed to see “no improvement in riparian protection whatsoever”.
“Virtually the entire river above Atuanui (Mount Auckland) remains unfenced with both cattle and sheep having unfettered access to its banks,” he says.
“The upshot of this is ongoing erosion and sedimentation of the river and harbour.”
The criticism comes despite the launch of the $2 million Hoteo Sediment Reduction Project by Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters Department and the Ministry for the Environment in 2018.
The aim of the project is to stop thousands of tonnes of sediment flowing down the Hoteo River and polluting the Kaipara Harbour.
Project manager Sarah Nolan says the river is the largest in the Auckland region and so far work has focused on a Hoteo tributary – the Kourawhero Stream – which suffers from the worst levels of bank erosion in the catchment.
She says various erosion control measures have been demonstrated, including riparian fencing and planting, along the Kourawhero and where it joins the Hoteo. She says this work has been done in partnership with mana whenua, the community and private landowners.
Auckland Council Healthy Waters general manager Craig Mcilroy adds that the Healthy Waters team has installed water quality monitoring devices ahead of further erosion control measures to see how effective they are at reducing sediment.
But Mr Mcilroy admits Healthy Waters is still seeing the effects of 100 years of deforestation and it could be decades before streams adjust to restoration efforts.
“It’s a long journey to repair 100 years of damage, but we have made a start and are monitoring what we can while we start to drive long-term change,” he says.
Mr Mcilroy says so far the project has protected around 20 hectares of riparian corridor with 7km of fencing.
“While numbers like these are great, a catchment-wide approach needs to be taken in order to see the magnitude of change we are hoping for,” he says.
He says it needs to be appreciated that fencing is expensive. To install 20km of fencing can easily cost upwards of $1 million.
Meanwhile, the Kaipara Moana Remediation (KMR) programme, set up in August last year to administer $100 million of Government money allocated to clean up the Kaipara Harbour, says the Hoteo River is a high priority.
KMR spokesperson Ben Hope says KMR field advisors work with landowners to develop plans to protect waterways through fencing and planting, with KMR funding half the costs of the work through grants.
Grants for interested landowners became available from September last year. Information on how to apply for them is available on the KMR website, www.kmr.org.nz.
