Leading from the front issuu

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL:
THE AHURIRI ESTUARY PROTECTION AND
ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
• The Ahuriri Protection and Enhancement Project is
focused on improving the overall health and water
quality of Ahuriri Estuary by working with landowners
in the catchment to reduce the high sediment and
nutrient loads entering the estuary; and increasing
indigenous habitats.
• Over the past 3 years the project has funded the
completion of 16km of fencing to exclude stock from
waterways, installed over 45,000 native plants and
1300 poplar poles for erosion control and biodiversity
enhancement within the catchment.
• The long term management of Ahuriri Estuary
is complex as it includes multiple management
agencies and stakeholders with varying mandated
responsibilities. In addition, there are also multiple
values and uses which may at times be in conflict
(e.g. ability to move stormwater away from
infrastructure vs. contaminants affecting ecological
values, and recreational values Vs. wildlife refuge for
protection of animals).
• There should be confidence that a common vision
can be developed to promote and facilitate a
coordinated approach across the multiple agencies
and stakeholders for the management and protection
of Ahuriri Estuary into the future.
Thomas Petrie
Program Manager Environmental Protection and
Enhancement Project
AHURIRI PROTECTION AND
ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME
– THERE’S NO QUICK FIX
• Large parts of Napier lie at, below, or only slightly
over sea level. Drainage/pumping is needed to
protect houses and infrastructure.
• Pumping/drainage can carry contaminants into the
estuary.
• The estuary is highly modified and has too many
contaminants (bacteria etc), nutrients and sediment
entering it.
• The stormwater entering the estuary is an important
source of freshwater to the system but we need to
make sure that it is as clean as it can be, so that one
day we would feel comfortable collecting food from
the estuary again.
• A marine invasive tubeworm (Ficopomatus
enigmaticus) has boomed in recent years, causing
issues to the hydrology of the estuary.
• The problem is in the catchment in its entirety — we
need to resolve issues relating to both urban and
rural runoff. There is no ‘quick fix’.
• Since 2017 Council’s Ahuriri Protection and
Enhancement programme has worked to support;
– Removal of invasive tubeworm restricting estuary flow
– Fencing of waterways entering the estuary
– Planting of riparian margins and erodible land to
prevent sediment entering the estuary
– Modelling to understand water and contaminant
pathways into the estuary
• Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is also working with
Napier City Council to understand contaminants
coming into the estuary from the urban stream
network with the aim to reduce contaminant loads
entering the estuary.
Anna Madarasz-Smith
Napier City Council, Team Leader Marine & Coasts
The long term management of Ahuriri Estuary is complex and requires that a common vision is developed between stakeholders.
Image by Helen Morgan.
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The Environment – Pat walks his talk in his own hood