Calls for regional council to address Kaiapoi River issues
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Waimakariri’s deputy mayor has called on the Canterbury regional council to stop ‘‘side-stepping’’ issues with the Kaiapoi River.
Neville Atkinson has called on Environment Canterbury (ECan) to step up and investigate the causes of pollution levels in the Kaiapoi and Ruataniwha Cam rivers.
Atkinson was addressing community concerns at a Kaiapoi-Tuahiwi Community Board meeting on Monday evening.
Local residents formed a new catchment group last month, following concerns about the degradation on their local rivers, which they blamed on the use of herbicides.
ECan has acknowledged issues with macrophyte (weedbed) dieback and freshwater mussel (kākāhi) deaths, but said it was primarily due to saltwater incursions and also heavy frosts.
But Atkinson rejected ECan’s explanation.
‘‘As is evident, this has been going on for years. It is very evident there is a problem and whether it is a natural problem or a man-made problem, I don’t know. But I want to know what it is.
‘‘We owe it to our community to help ECan to come up with some answers, but ECan needs to stop side-stepping.’’
Atkinson said residents may not like the outcome, but it was important to get some answers.
Councillor Philip Redmond said the issue was complex.
‘‘If there was a simple fix, it would have been fixed a long time ago. It is going to be a long process.’’
Waimakariri District Council water environment adviser Sophie Allen said saltwater could come from other sources, but it was most likely from the sea.
Community members raised similar concerns following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
A 2018 report by ECan principal scientist Adrian Meredith (pictured) concluded there were multiple causes, but found ‘‘increasing episodes of saline water intrusion flowing into the lower Kaiapoi River’’.
The river was historically the north branch of the Waimakariri River and environmental changes following the earthquakes both contributed to the high levels of saltwater intrusion.
Drought conditions and changing farming practices were also factors, the 2018 report found.
The community board asked council staff to work assist ECan to investigate the causes of saltwater incursions, including tides, river flows and salinity data and to monitor water quality and aquatic ecology trends.
Kaiapoi is known as the river town, with the river being a popular spot for boaties and whitebaiters.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
We're talking new year resolutions...
Tidying the house before going to bed each night, meditating upon waking or taking the stairs at work.
What’s something quick, or easy, that you started doing that made a major positive change in your life?
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
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In one word, how would you define 2024?
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