The Te Hoiere area is a Ministry for the Environment “At Risk Catchment” as well as one of the 14 Department of Conservation Ngā Awa rivers systems. It consists of several sub catchments which drain into the lower part of the Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere.
To gain a better understanding of baseline water quality, an extensive network of stream and river locations were monitored between August 2020 and July 2021.
Waterways in native vegetation had low or optimal levels for most parameters monitored. The exception were natural sources of higher phosphorus in waterways within some parts of the Te Hoiere area. Streams in forestry dominated catchments had elevated levels for all parameters monitored, however, water quality was better than in waterways flowing through Te Hoiere/Pelorus pasture.
Rainfall generally resulted in increased concentrations of most contaminants.
Comparing water quality in streams of varying sizes revealed that smaller streams generally had the poorest water quality and should therefore be a focus for improvement actions.
