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.
Our seasonal team finishes up on Friday after seven weeks of work across the Upper Clutha catchment. During this time, together with our long term crew, they have: planted over 6,000 natives carried out a possum monitoring programme in the Cardrona Valley maintained rabbit fencing across 12 properties removed Nassella tussock (with ORC helping with …
Kia ora koutou katoa! I haven’t had the chance to introduce myself to all of you yet. My name is Matt Shepherd and I have recently taken the project management reins from Megan Williams. Many thanks must go to Megan for the amazing job she has done up till this point and I am excited …
Planting is in full swing and it’s great to see plants going in right throughout the catchment – Matukituki, Cardrona, Luggate, Hawea Flat and Maungawera have all had the WAI teams out planting. Possum monitoring continues up the Cardrona with a chew card system to assess possum distribution since OSPRI stopped control work in 2019. …
Planting season has begun (albeit somewhat drier than desired) and, as well as getting new plants in the ground, the Jobs for Nature crew is helping out with weed competition around previous plantings – pre-spraying prep and spraying. Rabbit control continues – primarily fence checking, maintenance and a lot of new rabbit netting going on …
For the first time, WAI Wānaka and nine other community organisations worked together with the Wānaka A&P Show last weekend to run a space called OUR PLACE. We used interactive and fun activities for the whole family to show how the land, water, flora, fauna, our climate, and us humans, are all connected. We all …
Welcome back to your fortnightly WAI Wānaka Jobs for Nature update! This week we start by introducing our field team, talk about the opportunity to plant non-natives species, and announce the date for our Action Group catch up. This year, WAI Wānaka will be part of the Sustainability Hub ‘Our Place‘ stand at the Wānaka …