Kia ora, and welcome to On Stream, edition 7.
In this issue we check out the high-tech tools being used to eradicate wallabies in Otago, find out about a North Otago groundwater project and give you tips for winter grazing including a management plan template you can use for your planning.
Plus, what’s ‘Pugging’ when it’s at home? We start the ORC ABC at P.
Read on and get alphabetised… But before we do. Here is a rain charm for our friends in Waitaki, who have had an overabundance of the good stuff recently.
E ua, e te uaua; e mao, e te maomao!
Tihore mai runga, tihore mai i raro,
Koi mate nga tamariki a te ika nui
E kiko! E kiko e.
Rain, O rain, cease raining, fair sky!
Clear away from above, clear away from below,
Lest the offspring of te ika nui be distressed
Bring about a blue, unclouded sky.
Ascribed to Tuta Nihoniho, a 19th-century Ngāti Porou leader. |
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Ever wondered what these words or phrases mean - pugging, scat, lateral spreading, flyovers, groundwater, GTFS, Catchment Advisor, LiDAR? Here at ORC, we use a lot of scientific jargon and acronyms. In every edition of On Stream, we'll tackle a new one and try to explain and demystify what it means and why we use it.
Because of the recent rains, we are starting with a topical one...
 P Pugging
Pugging is what happens when cows get stuck in mud - see more about this in our winter grazing good practice page. Not to be confused with hugging a pug, which is a good thing.
Thanks for Lynda Mclea for this image from her farm, post recent floods.
Got a word or acronym you would like us to clarify? Get in touch with Lisa.Scott@orc.govt.nz.
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Getting to the bottom of the top of Lake Whakatipu
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Thank you to the Glenorchy community for receiving ORC's Natural Hazards Team and Queenstown Lakes District Council in a recent visit.
The team and report author Sjoerd van Ballegooy from Tonkin + Taylor were on site for a recent drop-in session for folks to learn more about flood and earthquake scenarios prepared by our natural hazards team and ask questions about the data.
If you want to learn more about the natural hazards and our adaptation work in Glenorchy, go to: www.orc.govt.nz/holw.
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Grazing? Our plan’s worth gazing!
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We have updated our winter grazing information to help with your planning and consents, including a new downloadable handy 12-page Intensive Winter Grazing management plan template.
Featuring real farmer’s tips, paddock diagrams and areas for your own notes, it is designed to help you action good management practices for any break fed wintering system at the paddock level.
We encourage all farmers to use this to look after their environment, the stock and the people working within the system. It is also a good opportunity to start putting into practice the new wintering regulations (as part of the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) that will come into effect from 1 November 2022.
Read our latest news on this here.
You download an application form and find out about rules and consents in our updated consent page here including a new winter grazing fact sheet with handy flowchart to work out whether you will need a resource consent for the 2023 intensive winter grazing season under the proposed new rules, and application forms.
Remember, you can also always contact us for questions about good practices and consents. For a second opinion on your planning, contact your Catchment Advisor via catchments@orc.govt.nz or ring 0800 474 082. For consents information also call 0800 474 082 or email customerservices@orc.govt.nz
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ORC field technicians are visiting bores in North Otago as part of the upgrade to the groundwater State of Environment (SoE) monitoring network in the Kakanui area and across the Lower Waitaki plains.
A series of new bores are being drilled to monitor groundwater - supplementing those already in existence on private land - to provide a more accurate picture of water levels and quality. Click here to read more.
If you have any questions regarding the drilling program or the broader groundwater monitoring network, please contact Ben Mackey, Team Leader – Land ben.mackey@orc.govt.nz
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The Power of Pūrakau at Waitati School
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 Meet or new Regional Enviroschools Coordinator Support, Madeline Enright, who works in our Dunedin office.
She shares her experience working with Waitati School for a recent lesson on pūrakau of Papatūānuku, Takaroa, Rakinui, and their tamariki.
Pou that tell the creation Te Wai Pounamu pūrakau of Papatūānuku, Takaroa and Rakinui will soon adorn the Orokonui Estuary walkway.
Rua McCallum, the Kaitoko of pūrakau tuku iho ki Puketeraki Marae marae recently taught the students and the staff the pūrakau of Papatūānuku, Takaroa, Rakinui, and their tamariki. Puketeraki has also included this pūrakau in a book produced by the marae.
The students have found interesting ways to share the story, from sand trays to drama and pottery. The pottery studio has been very popular - we were fortunate to have local potter David Milne assist the students who have made tiles to go alongside the Pou that show different aspects of the story. The pou will be placed alongside native trees that former students have planted.
It started with a kiss – creating Te Wai Pounamu, the South Island
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In the past couple weeks, our pollution response team has had more than 30 complaints of sediment discharges to water or stormwater pollution.
The complaints are mainly in Wānaka and Dunedin and cover consented development sites, small residential worksites which are unconsented, roadworks maintenance, oil changes on roads and also from the washing down of concrete pads.
The recent downpour and flooding is an important reminder that water that drains down stormwater drains goes straight to sea. So, please do the right thing!
If you spot something worrying call us on 0800 800 033, anytime. You can find out more about our pollution response here.
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In the last issue we met Toby, pest detective, who is one of our contractor's scat dogs - hunting for wallabies. He's an expensive bit of kit. With the amount of training he’s had, and being the only Department of Conservation-registered scat dog in Otago, he’s worth about 60k - not bad for a rescue dog!
Toby even made the TV1 news recently! Click here to see the news coverage.
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Gotcha! Thanks to a member of the public reporting a sighting, the use of thermal imagery and team work on the ground, the wallaby has been found.
The Otago Regional Council who contract teams such as High Country Contracting (pictured is Blake Clinch) like these are working alongside other councils as part of a national coordinated effort under MPI’s Wallaby Eradication Programme.
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Great turn out at Dunedin Candidates event
Here’s our very own Amanda Vercoe, General Manager Governance, Culture and Customer, animatedly explaining why people should stand for ORC in this year's elections.
Nominations now closed. To learn more about standing in this year's local elections, go to: www.orc.govt.nz/election2022
Photo credit: Otago Daily Times
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From high tech to old school cool
Remember post?
With so much of our life admin now done online, actually physically posting a letter has fallen down the list of things we commonly do. Not so when it comes to local government elections which give people the chance to refresh this time-honoured form of communication. Your forms will arrive in the post soon.
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Find out about monthly Otago Regional Council meetings here.
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Feel free to forward this email to anyone who might like to read it. If you have any story ideas, want to know anything specific about anything in this issue, let us know by emailing lisa.scott@orc.govt.nz. If you have been forwarded this email, you can sign up here. |
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