Council secures WRA funding for landowners to help clean-up rivers’ catchments

Waikato Regional Council has secured $681,760.75 in the Waikato River Authority’s (WRA) latest funding round to help landowners with ‘clean-up’ projects in the Waikato River and Waipā River catchments.

This takes the total amount of WRA funding the council has received to date, on behalf of landowners, to $12.2 million across 38 applications.

The latest funding includes $90,878.75 for a partnership project to help restore Mangakara Stream (South Waikato), $61,209 towards the restoration of Opuatia Wetland (Waikato) and $529,673 towards year three of the Lower Waikato hill country and stream erosion protection and remediation programme of works. The council is also partnering with Waikato RiverCare, which secured $95,505.80 from the WRA, on a project to help restore the Mangatea Stream (Waikato).

The council applies for funding on behalf of, or in partnership with, landowners, iwi or community groups, and for ongoing catchment-scale programmes.

Integrated Catchment Management Committee Chair (North) Stu Husband says the partnerships work well, give security of multi-year funding and provide incentives for landowners to go above and beyond the environmental work they would normally otherwise do.

“Not all landowners are confident or would even think of making an application themselves, so us being able to step in and do this on behalf of up to 100 individuals means that more farmers are able to do works, and with significantly less administration required than for a large number of separate small applications.

“Having the support of the WRA also enables us to secure significant internal and central government funding for river and catchment restoration works.

“For the Waipā catchment, for example, our programme of works used to be $200,000 per annum back around 2014. Now we have a $2m annual programme going on thanks to leveraging council funding and funding from the WRA, MPI’s Hill Country Erosion Fund and MPI’s 1 Billion Trees programme.”

In the Waipā catchment, this has meant:

• 264km of fencing to keep stock out waterways and retire land
• 741,737 native plants and 11,785 poplar/willow poles have been planted to help address sedimentation and erosion
• 349 rock and vegetation structures have been incorporated in streams and rivers to stabilise banks, reduce erosion and provide habitat for native fish.

Waikato River Authority is the custodian of Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato – the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River, the primary direction-setting document for the restoration and protection of the Waikato River. It is also the sole trustee of the Waikato Clean-up Trust which provides the funding for projects to clean up the river.

The council plays a significant role in giving effect to Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato.