Success story

Hauarahi Stream

Access to Experts (A2E) was approached by the Western Firth Catchment Group, who have been working to restore the Hauarahi Stream, which has high ecological value due to the presence of At Risk freshwater fish species.

The Hauarahi Stream is located within the Hunua Ecological District in the Miranda/Pūkorokoro area, Firth of Thames. The catchment has potential to be a hive of biodiversity, due to its connection with the ocean. Native fish need access to both freshwater and sea water to complete their life cycle, and the Hauarahi Stream can provide this.

Access to Experts was asked to help assess the issues and recommendations for restoration of a priority section of the stream between the coast at Kaiaua and Toft Road. To undertake the assessment, A2E expert Emily Fensham worked alongside Ric Balfour, Waikato Catchments Coordinator for Landcare Trust. She gathered information from a variety of sources such as a desk top study to review visual changes, past reports, and working with the local catchment group to form a picture of what has contributed to the current ecological state of the stream. She also worked closely with stakeholders, local farmers, and the community who have great interest in the stream condition.

The Access to Experts assessment found that the main challenges for the Hauarahi Stream include erosion hotspots and sediment loading, stock access, poor or absent riparian vegetation, fish passage barriers, degradation of inanga spawning habitat and flooding. It was evident that a lack of funding provided a significant barrier to stream improvement.

Emily was able to recommend a suite of restoration activities and level of priority of each, to help the catchment group plan next stages for the catchment. The report was able to provide the catchment group a basis for the local council or catchment groups to undertake future stream management plans or funding applications using the basis provided in the A2E report.

The work also highlighted a number of challenges for small catchments, including difficulty finding historical data or lack of formal data to support decision making, and limited resource to make significant changes to stream conditions. It also showed the benefit of utilising rich local knowledge as a resource for historical information and the benefit of strong local resources and commitment to drive improvements for small local streams.