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Lake Whangape, Waikato.
The Waikato Regional Council is getting $1.6 million in state funding to help protect waterways.
The money is some of national grants totalling $44m from the Government.
One of the council’s projects, to lift water quality and enhance the habitat at Lake Whangape, has received $900,000. This $2.8m project is a joint effort by the council, DOC, Waikato-Tainui, Waahi Whaanui Trust and Nga Muka Development Trust.
The other project, getting a $740,000 boost, is a partnership between the regional council and Pūniu River Care Inc to improve water quality on a 16km stretch of the Pūniu River.
“We appreciate this Government funding which will help us greatly at Whangape and for the Pūniu,” said council chair Alan Livingston.
“We have a strong focus on boosting water quality in our region in partnership with others.”
At Lake Whangape, sedimentation and nutrient loading from intensive dairying, coupled with aggressive spread of alligator weed, has led to a decline in the water quality and habitat. The project is aimed at restoring the health of the lake and associated wetlands. Work will include fencing to exclude stock, revegetation of lake margins and wetlands, accelerated alligator weed containment and implementation of a kaitiaki monitoring framework.
Meanwhile the work at the Pūniu River, valued at $2m, is aimed at improving water quality and helping restore indigenous fish habitat and land biodiversity.
Activities include riparian fencing to exclude stock, erosion protection works and the planting of 160,000 native trees.
A bilingual guide for marae-based restoration will be prepared.
Rural Support Waikato is inviting farmers, growers, and rural communities to take a well-earned break and join us for 'Brunch on Us' - a series of all-sector, relaxed drop-in events across the region.
Changes to resource management laws announced last week will spare thousands of farmers from needing an unnecessary resource consent just to keep farming.
Waikato is home to a diverse range of lakes, and experts say they urgently need better management and restoration.
A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.
Convictions and fines totalling $112,500 have been imposed on a logging company for repeated environmental damage on a farm near Wahi between August 2022 and October 2023.
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
