Bay Harbour: October 27, 2021

Bay Harbour News Wednesday October 27 2021
12
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
New test sites set up to improve
understanding of waterways
ELEVEN NEW water quality
monitoring sites are giving
the city council a better
understanding of the state of
rivers and streams.
The Christchurch Surface
Water Quality Report 2021 and
summary brochure have just
been published. The report is
an analysis of monthly data
collected at 51 sites across Banks
Peninsula the city during 2020.
The new monitoring sites are
Aylmers and Balguerie Streams
in Akaroa, Stream Reserve
Drain and Zephyr Stream in
Governors Bay, Avon-Heathcote
Estuary, Cass Bay, Akaroa
Harbour, and Lyttelton Harbour.
Heathcote River at Warren Cres,
Steamwharf Stream (Heathcote
River catchment), Halswell River
at Wroots Rd.
Results for most monitoring
sites have remained steady since
2007, with some sites improving
and some worsening, said city
council waterways ecologist Dr
Belinda Margetts, who leads this
research.
The site recording the best water
quality was the Ōtūkaikino
TESTING TIMES: City council water ecologist Dr Belinda Margetts leads the research into
water quality across the peninsula.
River at the Groynes. The next
best sites (jointly) were Smacks
Creek at Gardiners Rd (Styx River
catchment), Waimairi Stream
(Avon River catchment), Avon
River at Carlton Mill, Wilsons
Stream (Ōtūkaikino River catchment),
followed by Styx River at
Gardiners Rd.
The worst sites were Curletts
Rd Stream at motorway
(Heathcote River catchment),
HEALTH: New water monitoring sites are expected to improve the quality of our rivers
and streams.
Nottingham Stream at Candys
Rd (Halswell River catchment),
Haytons Stream (Heathcote
River catchment), and Addington
Brook (Ōtākaro-Avon River
catchment).
“The Huritini-Halswell River
catchment did not meet many
of the water quality standards
and recorded the poorest water
quality,” Dr Margetts said.
“One of our new monitoring
sites, Nottingham Stream, has
highlighted that this waterway
has poor water quality. This
wasn’t on our radar before and
its poor water quality will be due
to contaminants entering the
waterway from both urban and
rural land use.”
The city council uses this water
quality information, along with
sediment quality and aquatic
insect data to create waterway
report cards for each of the city’s
five main river catchments. The
catchments are then given a
score from ‘A’ (very good health)
to ‘E’ (very poor health).
As in the past three years,
no waterway scored an A and
no waterway scored an E. The
The 2021 surface
water quality report
recommends the city
council:
• Prioritises Curletts
Rd Stream, Nottingham
Stream and Addington
Brook for contaminant
source control and stormwater
treatment
• Prioritises sediment
control, particularly in the
Heathcote River and Cashmere
Stream
• Cements a
whole-of-community
approach to addressing
stormwater contaminants
through the Community
Waterway Partnership
• Investigates faecal
contamination, particularly
from waterfowl, to identify
how best to reduce levels
• Develops an action plan
for achieving the Healthy
Water Bodies Community
Outcome
Ōtūkaikino River catchment
again recorded the highest score
(B), Styx River catchment scored
a C and Avon River, Halswell
River and Heathcote River
catchments all scored a D.
Dr Margetts said that like
most cities, Christchurch waterways
suffer from a condition
known as ‘urban stream syndrome’.
“Our waterways are
contaminated with runoff
from hard surfaces such as
roofs, driveways and roads, and
with faecal contaminants from
waterfowl and dog droppings,”
she said.
“The council, other
organisations and landowners
are working hard to improve
the health of our waterways,
especially through improving
the quality of the water and
carrying out restoration projects,
but it may take many years to
see this work flow through to
a big improvement in water
quality.”