“I wanted to do my bit and to tidy up a drain with road frontage as well,” he explains. “We were spending $1000 a year cleaning the drains out and I felt that if riparian zones do what they’re supposed to do, like creating a nice flowing waterway, I thought I would be able to reduce what I spend and help the environment.”

The area Mr Stock is targeting is along Boundary Drain, which is a spring fed system that has been made part of Environment Canterbury’s Living Streams programme.  Most of its water comes from unconfined aquifers, with the balance coming from the extensive drainage network and irrigation waters in the area.  The catchment size is estimated at 2800 hectares, and Boundary Drain is considered significant as it is one of the only systems in the area with a permanent opening to the sea.

Investigations have shown, that like many streams in the area, Boundary Drain has an excess of fine sediment entering the catchment and one of the sources of this is stock access to waterways.  The Living Streams project identified that it is necessary to remove stock access to the river to maintain a healthy state, and that a riparian planting programme would significantly help water quality.

The area Mr Stock has targeted covers about one kilometre of the drain, with both sides being fenced and planted to a depth of between 2 to 3 metres wide. He says in the first year they carried out major planting, and were disappointed to lose many plants, thanks to a dry season. “The second year we replanted with the varieties that had survived and we had lots of rain and that’s kept them going.  A dry season can make it pretty difficult.”

“Getting the planting done and keeping up with the spraying is a lot of work and it coincides with our busy time of the year.” Despite the effort involved on his part, Mr Stock is keen on the work of the project.  “I still think it’s a great thing and I will continue doing it.” He says it is important to set out a manageable project for your first attempt, so you get a feel for what is involved, as the first few years do require a fair amount of work.

His second stage of planting has been much more successful, thanks to rain, extra labour input and sticking the plant species that survived well during the first year. The work on his sharemilker property on the Boundary Drain has also inspired him to get planting on the nearby property that his and wife have bought in Mid Canterbury.

If you would like to know more about this project or the Living Streams programme, please contact Environment Canterbury and ask for a Resource Management Coordination team member for your district.