Our catchment, the mighty Upper Clutha, covers a total area of 4,600 km2.
Our action plan is called the Community Catchment Plan (CCP). It’s yours and it’s mine. It’s also our shared roadmap to improve and maintain the long-term health of the wider Upper Clutha’s freshwater. It identifies risks to the health of our waterways, gaps in our understanding and actions we need to take in order to mitigate the effects of human activity on our aquatic ecosystems.
We have a number of exciting projects on the go, all aimed at helping maintain and improve the quality of our waterways. See below for more information and how you can get involved.
WAI Wānaka has received funding from Sustainable Business Network and the Ministry for Primary Industries to deliver measurable benefits for the environment alongside providing much-needed local employment.
Our spring planting has been completed and we are now into pest control. Click above to find out more.
WAI Wānaka is continuing to ensure that the 60 actions identified in the Community Catchment Plan are completed as well as continuing to fundraise for riparian planting with Million Metres.
Safeguarding the future of our waterways requires a plan that is supported by research, monitoring and data to make evidence-based decisions.
WAI Wānaka’s Alpine Lakes Research & Education Centre (ALREC) works with experts to develop the science and research plans that are needed to understand and protect our catchment.
With funding assistance from RMPP Action Network, WAI Wānaka is supporting Upper Clutha landowners and has helped to establish 6 of the 7 catchment groups operating in the Central Lakes District.
WAI stands for Water Action Initiative; we’re a community group set up to safeguard and improve the quality of the water in and around the broader Upper Clutha catchment.
We share knowledge about our precious alpine waterways and the real impacts of human activity on water quality, and work alongside our community to take action to mediate those impacts.
As we start to wind down and get excited about the upcoming break, we wanted to say a huge thank you to all of our supporters, friends, stakeholders and partners like you who have helped us this year. It’s been a big year for WAI Wānaka with many people behind the scenes working extremely hard …
Melanie Vermeulen did a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Ecology. Her focus at the time was on palaeoecology and the ecological interactions that are lost with species extinction. For her thesis, she used ancient DNA analysis on moa coprolites (fossil dung) to look at diet and gastrointestinal parasites of the Little Bush Moa. How …
Catchment groups across the Upper Clutha have been taking action to improve water and land ecosystems. WAI Wānaka arranged for five high country stations to welcome Reset Summit attendees onto their properties. These visits provided an opportunity for farmers and townsfolk alike to learn about soil health, riparian planting, carbon sequestration, water monitoring and to gain a better …