Ted Talks – August 2024
Hear from Kaikōura Water Zone Committee chair Ted Howard about the latest in local water management.
Kia ora koutou. To start, on behalf of the committee I want to acknowledge that the last few months have been particularly hard on many in our rural community as they battle drought conditions, tough economic conditions and changing regulations.
With the outlook still looking fairly dry, it seems likely that these pressures will continue over summer and our thoughts are with farmers as they plan ahead for continuing challenges. We encourage farmers to reach out to services like their local Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Farm Support worker or the Rural Support Trust to find out about the support available.
Apply for funding for your environmental project
The Kaikōura Water Zone Committee has continued to meet and plan for the next round of funding recommendations for environmental projects in our region, to keep up-to-date with regional policy changes affecting local water resources and to track progress with our ongoing biodiversity projects such as the Waiau Toa/Clarence River.
Canterbury’s water zone committees are allocated funds each year to recommend support for local environmental projects that help towards our region’s Canterbury Water Management Strategy. This year, each committee has $50,000 to go towards projects in their zones.
If you are working on a local environmental initiative that meets one or more of the goals in the zone committee’s Action Plan for 2021-24, you can apply for a portion of this funding.
For more information email our committee facilitator Jodie Hoggard: jodie.hoggard@ecan.govt.nz
Beating back boneseed
Our region continues its fight against this pesky invasive weed. Boneseed, like many other invasive weeds, was first introduced into Aotearoa from South Africa as an ornamental species.
Its bright yellow flowers (able to be seen now) and bushy foliage made it a popular choice for backyards. Unfortunately, it soon ‘jumped the fence’ and rapidly began blending into coastal areas, creating dense cover and outcompeting native species. It’s also particularly flammable and can increase fire risk when populations begin to build.
If you find boneseed on your property, please remove it as soon as possible by hand pulling the seedlings and small plants or, cut larger plants at ground level and paint the stump with a glyphosate-based gel.
Boneseed. Photo credit: Trevor James
Make sure you dispose of the plants, including the seeds, at Innovative Waste Kaikōura as seeds will not break down in a home composting system. Now’s the perfect time to spot them, as they flower between August – November.
Waiau Toa/Clarence River
Recently, we had the opportunity to provide a case study for the New Zealand Water Review publication on our decade-long project in the Waiau Toa/Clarence River.
Since 2014, we’ve contributed to a range of projects that have been carried out as part of the Waiau Toa/Clarence Pest and Weed Management Strategy.
The water zone committee and the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) are two of several stakeholders involved — Boffa Miskell, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, Te Rūnanga O Kaikōura, Department of Conservation, Marlborough District Council, as well as landowners, station managers and their workers have all been partners in the project. Together, we’ve contributed more than one million in funds to catchment protection and enhancement measures.
A big focus has been the targeted control of weeds such as gorse, broom, crack willow and buddleia. Broom and gorse leach nitrogen into waterways, and willows suck up large volumes of water. They can also jeopardise the local ecosystem by displacing native vegetation and increasing cover for predators such as cats and stoats, reducing the amount of native nesting habitat for braided river birds.
As well as the recreational, landscape and water quality benefits of controlling weeds in the Waiau Toa, the reduced level agricultural weeds is also a bonus for neighbouring farms. It’s win-win all around.
If you’re keen to learn more or get involved, keep an eye on our events page for a community hui we plan to run in the next few months, or email Jodie Hoggard to go on our contact list.
Waiau Toa/Clarence River
Have your say
Since communities engaging with councils has been in the media lately, I thought it might be timely for me to bring Te Kōrari, the People's Panel to your attention. Te Kōrari is an opportunity to share your views on a range of current topics and issues in Canterbury.
Joining the panel means you’ll be sent five to eight short surveys a year that you can choose to complete — most only take five to ten minutes, so it’s not a big time investment. The overall feedback is used as a ‘temperature check’ to help inform council decisions.
Future plans
Our committee will soon be heading out on a field trip to Mouse Point in Culverden to learn about a large-scale and hugely successful biodiversity project by a private landowner. We’ll document our trip and consider what we can learn and take back to the biodiversity projects in our own region.
We're also continuing our work with the Wai Connection on our focus catchment map series for the ‘Kaikōura Flats’ which we hope will be a great tool for informing local environmental initiatives going forward.
The next meeting for our committee will be on Friday 30 August. You are welcome to come along and join us.