30 May 2016

Collaborative water sampling programme in the Mangawhai Harbour

The health and sustainability of the Mangawhai Harbour is the focus of a new water testing programme that is about to get underway in Mangawhai Harbour.

Kaipara District Council is facilitating the joint collaborative project, working with community volunteers, Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust and the Northland Regional Council.

The project has come about in a bid to better understand the health of the harbour, and the effect that inflows have on the water quality of the harbour; the preliminary water testing programme being a first step towards understanding the harbour’s health. The programme involves testing at five selected sites for at least three months, and testing water following significant weather events.

Alongside this, Northland Regional Council will also be placing sondes (water monitoring buoys – photos attached) for water quality monitoring in the harbour at both the North and South causeways on Molesworth Drive and Insley Street from mid-June for a period of around one month. These sondes will monitor water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.

Commissioner Chair John Robertson says the joint project is an excellent example of the community and both councils working in partnership towards a positive goal.

“The harbour is an extremely important part of the Mangawhai environment and as such, we all want to understand it better”.

“Both the preliminary testing programme and the sondes will assist in identifying issues affecting harbour water quality. The group will be reporting back to the community once the results from the preliminary programme are available,” Mr Robertson says.

“Depending on these results, we may then look at further testing and the development of a longer term water quality management plan.”

ENDS

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