MCC’s sediment event in Tapawera a success
There was a very interesting gathering of minds at the MCC Sediment Event a few weeks ago in Tapawera.
The Event was designed to give community members some ideas & understanding about how sediment moves from forests, paddocks & river banks into the Motueka River & beyond & how they might mitigate sediment loss from their properties.
Shannon Parker, MCC Coordinator, had gathered a dazzling array of experts for this event including locals Trevor James & Dr Charlotte Sunde from TDC, Dan Montgomery from Tasman Pine, Dr Les Basher from Landcare Research, Mike Fahey from Taylors Contracting & Dr Sean Handley from NIWA alongside Andrew Swales from NIWA Auckland & Dr Tom Mackay Smith from Verdantia Research in New Plymouth.
There were 30 attendees, some community members with questions & others representing stakeholders around the catchment who saw it is a great chance to network with the assembled experts. There was even a representative from Hawkes Bay looking to glean information to take back to his catchment.
The speakers were very interesting & varied & you will be able to find recordings of their presentations on the MCC website soon.
The key takeaways from the event:
· Riparian planting is essential to hold banks together to prevent sediment loss. Very important for stream banks in tributaries of Motueka River.
· Mapping sediment load can identify high risk areas for priority action by Council.
· Forestry is using a selection of ‘good practices’ to mitigate sediment loss however harvesting does create additional sediment.
· Sediment from the Motueka River contributes 41% of the total load in Golden Bay/Tasman area. The majority of this comes from streambank erosion.
· Excessive sediment loads in the river are associated with storm/flood events and take time to reduce back to ‘normal’.
There are many more MCC Events planned for 2025, why not join us?
Big Weeding Event #3 March 16th Haycocks Bush 9.30 – 12.30
Big Weeding Event #4 April 13th Haycocks Bush 9.30 – 12.30
New Technology For Farmers Thursday April 17th, Moutere Hill Community Centre 9.30 – 3.30pm.