Students learning to manage a river

MEDIA RELEASE

14 December 2015

Students learning to manage a river

About 30 tertiary and secondary school students from Otago and Southland are camping at Bannockburn in Central Otago this week while they learn about river catchments and how to manage them.

Otago Regional Council (ORC) has teamed up with the Untouched World Charitable Trust to deliver a programme aimed at helping the students understand the water cycle, and what is involved in managing river water sustainably.

ORC manager biosecurity and biodiversity, Jeff Donaldson said the group is studying the Cardrona River, learning about how it is used, what affects its quality, and how the various demands made on it by different sections of the community are managed.

“This is a great opportunity for the students to learn about river ecology, flow monitoring, environmental issues, and how the Resource Management Act operates in practice,” Mr Donaldson said.

The group will learn how the Otago Water Plan applies to the river, and ORC scientists will demonstrate the monitoring processes they use to keep track of how the river is behaving and what is affecting it.

Local farmer Mike Scurr from Hillend Station will share his knowledge of the catchment, and Eric Barnes, Manager infrastructure and operations at Cardrona Alpine Resort, will talk about local waste management options.

The students prepared a report on the future management of the Cardrona River, Mr Donaldson said.

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