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Nothing Gold Can Stay
BY ROBERT FROST
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
This month we’ve gone absolutely lagoony in our dedication to working with communities to restore their precious wetlands. Robson, Tomahawk, Albert Town, Tuakitoto … we’ve got a lotta love for lagoons and the wonderful creatures who live beside, above, and within.
There’s nothing but doom and gloom for spiny broom – our Pest of the Month, and we introduce a new feature called Ask an ORC Scientist, with this edition’s spotlight on soil science. As Holmes would say,“It's sedimentary, my dear Watson”. Read on …
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ORC ABC
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F is for Fen
Fens are peat-forming wetlands that rely on groundwater input, require thousands of years to develop and cannot easily be restored once destroyed. Fens are also hotspots of biodiversity, often home to rare plants, insects, and birdlife.
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A fen on the Otago Peninsula
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Did you know …
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… there are five different kinds of wetlands?
Wetlands can be bogs, swamps, fens, shallow water and salt marshes, found from the coast to the high country.
90% of New Zealand’s wetlands have been cleared and drained in the last 150 years, making the ones that remain super-duper special, as they support a huge range of biodiversity.
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What’s on
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Learn about two significant wetland projects happening in your backyard.
If you live near Tomohaka / Tomahawk Lagoon or Roto-nui-a-Whatu / Lake Tuakitoto, we have two events coming up that may interest you. Find out more about our projects to restore and enrich these treasured wetlands, meet our catchment advisors, and have a natter over a cuppa.
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Tomohaka / Tomahawk Lagoon Open Day
Saturday, 27 May 2023
9:30am–11:30am
Ocean Grove Domain Hall
307 Tomahawk Road, Dunedin
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Roto-nui-a-Whatu / Lake Tuakitoto Open Day
Sunday, 28 May 2023
2:00pm–4:00pm
Kaitangata Community Centre
16 Exmouth Street, Kaitangata
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Roto-nui-a-Whatu / Lake Tuakitoto
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Is your business involved in earthworks?
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Our Compliance team has put together a new guide to residential earthworks for developers, landowners, contractors and service providers.
The guide provides context to ORC’s residential earthworks provisions, consenting information and ongoing consent compliance requirements. Along with the guide, we’ve created some easy-to-use forms that you can download and submit by email.
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Enviroschools news
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What’s the collective noun for a group of Enviroschools facilitators? Enviro-gurus?
The Otago Enviroschools team meets together once a term to connect, develop skills and share how we support schools and connect to the wider community.
A shout out to all of the councils across Otago that fund Enviroschools; Central Otago REAP (Rural Education and Activity Programmes) and Wānaka Wastebusters, who hold the contracts for delivering Enviroschools in their districts; and Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (formerly South Otago Kindergarten Association). This means there are facilitators right across the region supporting the 100 Enviroschools in Otago, helping them to create a healthy, peaceful, sustainable region.
Check out the Otago newsletters to find out how students in this region are making a difference:
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Back, L–R: Nicky Gray (Queenstown), Lucy Francke (Central Otago), Lucianne White (Waitaki), Tess MacKay (Dunedin), Madeline Enright (ORC)
Front, L–R: Jolene Barclay (Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens), Jennie Upton (Dunedin), Robyn Zink (ORC), Scott Martin (Clutha)
Absent: Damian Foster (Wānaka)
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Pest of the Month is … spiny broom
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Spiny broom
Photo: Kirk Robertson, ORC Biosecurity Officer — Coastal Otago
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Why is spiny broom a pest?
Spiny broom is an invasive plant that can quickly take over farmland or disrupt indigenous ecosystems. A spiny shrub with a lot of branches up to 3m tall, it has ridged stems, sharp spines and dark or grey-green leaves. It also has bright yellow flowers followed by flattened seedpods.
If you think you have spotted spiny broom, please call us on 0800 474 082 or email biosecurity@orc.govt.nz.
Visit our Pest Hub for more information about spiny broom, and let's eliminate this pest plant once and for all!
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Ask an ORC Scientist
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This month’s scientist is Erik Button, a soil scientist.
Erik was born in Luxembourg and grew up in Italy. He came to Aotearoa New Zealand in August — freshly graduated from his PhD — with his partner, who is also a soil scientist — you could say they really dig it. Travelling around the country for a few months, they ended up in Dunedin. So, yay for us!
Erik’s background is in experimental soil science. This means he looks at how soil is affected by management and environment factors, using the results to understand how soil health can change. The study of the earth beneath our feet, soil science is the canary in the coalmine — it can be an early warning sign if things are going wrong.
Otago’s diverse landscapes have formed a variety of soils, from coastal, volcanic-based soils around Dunedin and Waitaki to inland, semi-arid soils in Central Otago and acidic podzols and carbon-rich organic soils in rainy areas.
NZ’s soil classification system has 15 different soil orders, and 10 of them can be found in Otago — lucky us! Young soils are thousands of years old, while old soils can be millions of years old. Most of Otago’s soils formed since the last Ice Age about 14,000 years ago, meaning most of our soils are babies.
“It’s really fascinating how soils form,” says Erik.
“The geological scale of time is hard to comprehend, but when you dig a hole, you can travel back in time and learn about past and current landscapes.”
Fav thing about the job?
“The chance to get out into the beautiful region and work with lots of different amazing people, from farmers to consultants and other scientists. Also, as a keen landscape artist, the environment I’m working in often inspires a watercolour or ink drawing.
“What I love most about working for Council is that I am contributing to a long-term vision for the environment. We’re monitoring different soils across the region every 3-5 years to understand how their health might be changing with things like land use, management, and climate change.
“While it’s still early days, being part of this project is exciting and will provide valuable information that will be really beneficial in the future.”
Do you have a question for Erik about soil? Perhaps you’re wondering how to tell if the soil in your backyard is healthy? Email askascientist@orc.govt.nz.
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Erik out working in the field
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Meet your ORC Councillors
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Tim Mepham (Dunedin Constituency)
A long-time resident of Dunedin, first-term councillor Tim Mepham is a keen angler and reluctant gardener — “My wife just uses me as brute force in the garden.”
Having spent a lot of time trout fishing on rivers in Otago, our region’s river health is very important to him.
“I catch them, but I’m not hugely successful,” he says, fishing with his son at Loganburn Dam, casting a cicada lure wherever he sees the trout cruising around. Trout are an introduced species known to eat native galaxiids, small migratory freshwater fish.
“Which is why I’m trying to remove them one at a time from our rivers and lakes.”
Tim learnt to fish on the Kakanui River. In the 2000s, the river suffered algael blooms, didymo and low flows because of human activity in the area, and this was a wake-up call for him that the environment needed championing.
“I thought,‘I can’t criticise if I’m not prepared to have a go myself’.”
He met wife Sue at university; they married while they were both still studying and have been together for 40 years now. They have three boys, all of whom work in fields that are somehow immersed in the community: a minister, a social worker and a school teacher.
Tim is a long-standing member of the Flagstaff Community Church and the church’s community choir.
“I sing because I have no choice,” he says, “Sue is the choirmaster.”
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Robson Lagoon
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Last month, ORC’s Engineering team celebrated the completion of infrastructure improvements to Robson Lagoon — part of the Lake Tuakitoto Wetland — with an opening ceremony lakeside at Tuakitoto. The ceremony was attended by ORC councillors and staff as well as some of the nearby landowners and community.
Deputy Chair Lloyd McCall gave a blessing before inviting attendees to join staff in a planting activity. It was great to see everyone get stuck in and help the team breathe new life into the wetland with the planting of native trees and grasses — followed by a hard-earned ice cream!
Read the full story on this exciting project supporting sustainable environmental practices.
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Left: Attendees on the day checking out the new Robson Lagoon floodgate
Right: A successful planting effort near the lake
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Pollution hotline
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Did you know our pollution hotline is run 24/7?
Anyone who sees water, land or air pollution around Otago should contact the 24/7 ORC pollution hotline on 0800 800 033, or email pollution@orc.govt.nz.
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Need help with sediment management?
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Autumn is good time for a reminder about the importance of good sediment management at earthworks sites.
Inadequate controls could lead to harmful pollution of Otago’s environment. If the right controls are not put in place, heavy rain can carry sediment from earthworks into our waterways.
While some sedimentation occurs naturally in high flows, sediment flowing into streams, lakes, and the coastal environment can be harmful for freshwater and marine ecology.
If you’re unsure about the rules around earthworks, contact ORC’s consents team by emailing public.enquiries@orc.govt.nz, or calling 0800 474 082.
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Albert Town Lagoon Open Day
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We recently held an open day at Albert Town Lagoon in conjunction with Queenstown Lakes District Council. It was an opportunity for the local community to learn more about the lagoon and why it’s important for local native plants and wildlife. Albert Town Lagoon is a wetland, but it’s changing because there is now more water going into it.
We had a great turnout, with many locals enjoying chats about wetlands and the wonderful creatures that live there, along with learning about plant restoration and bird watching — we even had Jaylene from WAI Wānaka dressed in an eye-catching tui costume made from 100% recycled material from Wānaka Wastebusters!
A big shout-out the folks who came along and the amazing groups and organisations that joined us: Albert Town Community, Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust, the local harakeke weaving group, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Wanaka Backyard Trapping Page and WAI Wānaka.
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Left: ORC Catchment Advisor Brooke Clark nets some locals
Top right: WAI Wānaka are tui much!
Bottom right: Children use the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s ‘borrow a bino’
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Soil monitoring is what we do — Part 1
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By ORC soil scientist Erik Button (Part 1 of 2)
Soils help grow our food and timber, filter our water and store carbon. Due to Otago’s geological and climatic history, the region’s soils are diverse, and some are comparatively rare in New Zealand. Soils have different characteristics, meaning they are often better suited to certain land uses or management practices. This is partly why primary industry activities in Otago are so wide ranging. Monitoring soils is an obligation on Regional Councils in the Resource Management Act (1991). To address this, the Council has expanded two soil monitoring programmes across Otago.
Where does our data come from? Our soil moisture sensor network.
This network collects baseline environmental data and can be used as a support tool. Landowners can access current soil moisture information in their area and tailor their management accordingly, minimising environmental impacts.
The tool can be used, for example, to determine whether the soil moisture is appropriate for effluent application, or when irrigation timing and the amount can be optimised. The publicly available data can also be used to support stream flow, groundwater recharge, flood forecasting, drought modelling and water allocation studies.
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Environmental Monitoring Network Lead Nick Boyens installing the datalogger and solar power supply for a new rainfall, soil moisture and soil temperature monitoring site in the Minzion Burn catchment
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Soil moisture stations record both moisture in the soil profile and daily rainfall. Data is telemetered and can be accessed in near real-time at Land Monitoring (orc.govt.nz).
Currently, two ORC stations are online near Kelso and Balclutha. Another at Clydevale will soon be operational, and four new stations are being set up in Paradise, Millers Flat, Slopedown and Karitane. This expansion follows the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) review of Otago’s coverage of climate and soil moisture monitoring.
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Check out the June issue of On Stream to read part 2, and find out how we plan to monitor long-term trends in soil health.
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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 or 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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