Rakitata River revival strategy consultation
Introduction
Help shape a new strategy to revive the Rakitata River in Canterbury from its alpine headwaters to coastal hāpua. Consultation now closed.The draft Rakitata (Rangitata) River revival strategy sets a vision for a healthy river and thriving communities. It is based on scientific research and mātauraka Māori and has been brought to life with inspiring illustrations of vibrant, restored ecosystems.
Specific actions are proposed to revive six distinct reaches (sections) along the river’s length.
Note: Rakitata is our preferred name for the Rangitata River as it recognises the local Kāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu) dialect, which replaces ‘ng’ with ‘k’. So ‘taonga’ becomes ‘taoka’ for example.
Image gallery
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Vision of what a restored foothill reach would look like Image: Mark Neilson ©
![Colourful illustration of a foothills reach with birds and fish.]( "Colourful illustration of a foothills reach with birds and fish.")
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Imagining of a wrybill/ngutu pare on the river's edge Image: Mark Neilson ©
![Imagining of a wrybill/ngutu pare on the river's edge]( "Imagining of a wrybill/ngutu pare on the river's edge")
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Illustration of a coastal reach Image: Mark Neilson ©
![Colourful illustration of a coastal reach with kingfisher, eels and plant life.]( "Colourful illustration of a coastal reach with kingfisher, eels and plant life.")
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Illustration visualising wildlife at the water's edge Image: Mark Neilson ©
![Illustration visualising wildlife at the water's edge, with skink and butterfly]( "Illustration visualising wildlife at the water's edge, with skink and butterfly")
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Vision of what a restored coastal lagoon would look like. Image: Mark Neilson ©
![Colourful illustration of a coastal lagoon with birds, seals and aquatic life.]( "Colourful illustration of a coastal lagoon with birds, seals and aquatic life.")
Summary of feedback
Read a summary of the submissions Rakitata River revival strategy consultation (PDF, 786K) received in this consultation.
This consultation was open from 4 September to 2 October 2023.
Subscribe to the community newsletter to stay up-to-date with this project.
Email RakitataAwa@doc.govt.nz if you have any feedback, questions or if you want to get involved.
Read more about the draft strategy below.
The need for revival
The mighty Rakitata River was once an area of incredible abundance, home to unique plants, animals, habitats and ecosystems. Today it also supports many people who live and work in its catchment.
Human activities have caused a decline in the mauri (life force) of the river. These include:
- water takes
- pollution
- modified flows
- river protection works
- gravel extraction
- predators
- weed invasion
- climate change.
Many threatened species – like birds, plants, lizards, fish – need safe places in or beside the river to live and reproduce. Communities of people need to be protected from flooding. They also need to be able to use it for recreation and to gather food from this river and its catchment. A healthy river environment ki uta ki tai, from mountains to sea, will continue to support these important values.
Description of mauri
Mauri is an important part of the spiritual relationship of Kāi Tahu with the river. It embodies the physical and spiritual elements that make up the life force of all things. All elements of the natural environment have a life force, and all forms of life are connected. Rivers carry their own mauri and have their own mana (status). Our vision is to see the mauri of the Rakitata River valued, protected and restored from its source to the sea.
About the strategy
A draft strategy has been prepared by partners of Ko te Whakahaumanu o te Rakitata Awa – the Rakitata River revival programme.
The strategy proposes actions that can contribute to reviving the mauri of the river. The actions are short and longer term and involve everyone who lives, works and plays along its length. While the strategy is non-statutory (not legally binding), it is intended to be a partnership with the community to prioritise actions to revive the river.
The strategy is in two parts:
- Part 1 describes the kaupapa (approach) that guides our work.
- Part 2 describes each reach and lists opportunities and actions that could be taken to revive the river.
Whakahaumanu o te Rakitata revival strategy - Part 1: Kaupapa (PDF, 834K)
Whakahaumanu o te Rakitata revival strategy - Part 2: Actions - River reaches (PDF, 5,259K)
Read more about the Rakitata River revival programme.
River reaches
The strategy considers the river in six reaches (sections or areas) from the sea to its mountain headwaters.
Each reach has distinct attributes, history and uses. Together they describe a precious, diverse and dynamic series of ecosystems that form the Rakitata River.
Download and view a map of the 6 reaches (PDF, 4,670K)
The Rangitata River water conservation order (2006) protects the river’s outstanding characteristics and features, this includes minimum flow regulation.
Explore an overview of each of the reaches below. Or download Part 2 of the strategy (PDF, 5,259K) for full details.
Description and history
This reach begins at the sea and extends about 1 km inland to the high tide mark.
The hāpua is a long, narrow, shallow coastal estuary. It is partially enclosed by a gravel beach. Hāpua are a distinctive part of the Canterbury coastline but are uncommon globally.
The Rakitata hāpua provides critical breeding habitat for fish and birdlife, including:
- black-billed gull/tarāpuka
- black-fronted tern/tarapiroe
- banded dotterel/tūturiwhatu
- white-fronted tern/tara
- bully fish, flounder
- whitebait/īnaka
- eel/tuna
- lamprey/kanakana
- Stockell’s smelt.
There are many significant sites in this area including kāika nohoaka (settlements), pā tawhito (historic fortified sites) and urupā (burial sites). It is also a significant mahika kai (food gathering) resource for mana whenua.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- support climate change resilience for the river and the community
- support research on the hāpua system and its taoka (treasured) species
- enable our community to connect and work together to revive the river at this focal point
- protect and enhance bank vegetation where īnaka spawn
- control predators to protect mega-colonies of seabirds and fish spawning areas
- remove weeds in tidal wetlands and riverside land
- build the start of a river-long trail to explain the cultural heritage of the river.
Description and history
This reach begins at the high tide mark and ends at Badham Road.
The coastal area was used by mana whenua for campsites and a traditional travel route. It was also significant for mahika kai. The river’s south branch re-enters the main channel in this reach but actions are included in the lower river reach.
Coldstream Reserve is part of this section and rare, spring-fed systems including Ōtakitane/ McKinnon’s Creek run parallel to the river’s southern bank. Ōtakitane supports a salmon hatchery and is surrounded by dairy farms. Higher levels of nitrate and E. coli are present in tributaries here, and restoration work to mitigate some of these effects is underway.
Colonies of native birds including black-billed gulls and black-fronted terns are threatened by predation and a lack of habitat.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- weed control and native planting to support mahika kai, native fish and taoka species, and act as corridors for native habitat recovery
- work with landowners, industry and the community to improve water quality and habitat
- control woody weeds to provide habitat and accommodate flood flows.
Site description and history
This reach is from Badham Road to the Arundel Road bridge, 22km upstream. It includes the State Highway 1 and rail bridges, main trunk power lines, irrigation ponds, flood protection infrastructure and the separation of the south branch from the main river.
Here, river flows are modified by water takes for irrigation that support agriculture across large areas of Canterbury. A water conservation order sets minimum flows to protect the river’s outstanding characteristics and features, and while water taken for irrigation is within these parameters it still results in river flows being halved across sections of the flow regime. This is perhaps the most contentious issue across the river.
Agriculture is a significant part of the regional economy, but farm intensification has reduced water quality across tributaries and groundwater in this reach.
Woody weeds are in the main channel and stop the river moving freely across its full width. The weeds have also reduced the amount of open gravel habitat, which is important for ground-nesting birds like black-fronted terns.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- catalogue and restore traditional mahika kai sites to allow cultural harvest
- research how water takes are affecting river values to help manage it better
- investigate ways to increase the amount of open braided riverbed
- fence and plant areas to improve water quality, fish habitat and support regeneration
- develop a shared vision for managing the river’s south branch.
Site description and history
This reach is from the Arundel Road bridge to the bottom of the Rakitata Gorge 24km upstream. It is steeper, has deeper channels and flows more rapidly.
Tarahaoa/Mt Peel is an ancestral mauka (mountain) and wahi tohu (locating landmark) that guards the entrance to this section. Some native forest remains on the slopes of Tarahaoa. Podocarp, broadleaf and beech forest here is part of a rare, complete sequence of habitats from riverbed to alpine.
While irrigation is used in this reach, a water conservation order (see also lower river reach) sets a minimum flow to protect the area’s outstanding characteristics and features.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- research river processes, impacts and ecosystems to inform river management
- bring together environmental advocates such as the existing conservation work by Project Peel, Jobs for Nature, Arowhenua, the Upper Rangitata Gorge Landcare Group and the Peel Forest Outdoor Centre
- fence and plant river margins with natives to support taoka species, and carry out predator control
- create recovery plans and reintroduce taoka species such as kiwi, whio/blue duck, weka and kanakana
- establish a cultural trail.
Site description and history
This reach is from below the Rangitata Gorge to the confluence of Havelock and Clyde Rivers at Cloudy Peak 38km upstream.
Here, stunning landscapes include sweeping tussock lands, shrublands, beech forest and rock fields that are snow-covered in winter. It includes iconic high-country stations and large areas of public conservation land in Te Kahui Kaupeka and Hakatere Conservation Parks. They are popular for tramping, climbing, fishing and hunting and the Te Araroa Trail crosses this area. Rafters and jetboaters use the river here for recreation and it’s a national hot spot for salmon fishing.
This stretch of river is a protected water in the Water Conservation (Rangitata River) Order 2006.
Traditional Māori trails linked the lowlands to Ōtuwharekai (Hakatere/Ashburton Basin) for seasonal food gathering, then continued upstream to the headwaters and across to the West Coast.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- support for the landcare group to continue its coordination of landscape-scale weed control that protects the braided river system
- fencing protects sensitive mountain spring systems, including those at Black Mountain and Mount Sunday
- predator control protects threatened nesting river birds including ngutu pare/wrybill
- iconic red tussock wetlands are fenced.
Site description and history
This reach extends from the confluence of Havelock and Clyde Rivers to the top of the catchment. It is a remote and sensitive area, containing alpine springs and rock buttresses, glacial fields, tarns, tussock and scrublands, stone fields, beech forest remnant, creeks and active braided river channels.
The headwaters are part of a wānaka (place of learning), where atua (gods) could be communed with. Māori used this area to access the West Coast by crossing a high pass into the headwaters of the Whataroa River.
The Water Conservation (Rangitata River) Order 2006 acknowledges and protects the outstanding and natural state of the waters in this reach.
Opportunities to revive this reach
Proposed actions include:
- protect critical habitats for threatened and non-migrating fish and invertebrates
- protect the dramatic mountain landscapes and values of the water conservation order
- keep a watching brief on the use of vehicles in this area to ensure higher use doesn’t cause damage
- monitor and control weeds to ensure lupin, broom and tamarisk do not become dominant
- explore creating a cultural trail and recognition of a river park in this area.
Next steps
This consultation is open from 4 September to 2 October 2023.
Feedback will be analysed in early October and an overview of proposed changes will be discussed by the steering group on 10 November.
The finalised strategy will be shared via the Rakitata River revival community newsletter and by the project partners in their own communications.
Contact
Subscribe to the community newsletter to stay up-to-date with this project.
If you have any questions about this consultation, or would like to be involved in the programme, contact RakitataAwa@doc.govt.nz.
Privacy
Your submission may be released publicly.
All submissions are subject to the Official Information Act and can be released under this Act. If you have specific reasons for wanting to have your submission withheld, please explain your reasons in the submission. Your reasons will be considered when making any assessment for the release of submissions under the Official Information Act.
Partner agencies may use the feedback you provide for this consultation to inform other programmes of work. This could include district or regional plans. If you do not want your feedback to be used in this way, please note your preference in your survey response or written submission.
