Freshwater research & reviews

These two reports, produced in 2018 and 2020 by Jowett Consulting Ltd for the Taranaki Regional Council, examine the environmental impacts of different limits on freshwater flows and allowable water takes. The second report looks in detail at whether the effects of stream size need special consideration.

• Review of minimum flows & water allocation in Taranaki (1.8 MB pdf)
• Considerations of Stream Size in Determining Minimum Flows and Water Allocation Limits in Taranaki rivers (2.4 MB pdf)

Water-use data must be sent by consent holders to the Council daily. This can be achieved using telemetry, which is explained in this leaflet.

• Telemetry information for consent holders (346 KB pdf)

The Taranaki Regional Council's October 2019 submission on the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) and National Environmental Standards for Freshwater Management (NES) and the Stock Exclusion Regulations (SER) as outlined in the Ministry for the Environment discussion document Action for Healthy Waterways.

• TRC submission on Action for Health Waterways (5.1 MB pdf)

This booklet celebrates the achievements of the Taranaki Riparian Management Programme, a world-scale ecological restoration project.

• Transforming Taranaki 2019 (4.4 MB pdf)

This Novmeber 2018 report sets regional targets to improve the quality of fresh water in specified rivers and lakes and contribute to achieving the national target to increase proportions of specified rivers and lakes that are suitable for primary contact to at least 80% by 2030, and 90% no later than 2040.

• Regional targets for swimmable rivers and lakes for the Taranaki region (2.4 MB pdf)

This Council-commissioned research report was produced by Aqualinc Research Ltd and MWH NZ Ltd, supported by MPI's Community Irrigation Fund.

• Taranaki Irrigation Study (2.5 MB pdf)

Transforming Taranaki, a booklet published in November 2011, tells how farmers, with the encouragement of the Council and the dairy industry itself, are becoming better guardians of the environment by working to reduce the amount of diffuse-source pollution going into the region’s rivers and streams – the material that is washing off pastures and into waterways. The publication describes the Riparian Management Programme and its successes so far.

• Transforming Taranaki (3.3 MB pdf)

This 2011 report looks at the condition of river channels on the Taranaki ring plain and discusses whether the Council needs to adjust its policies and practices to deal with any build-up of gravel in river channels resulting from erosion on Mt Taranaki.

• Aggradation in rivers & streams of the Taranaki ring plain (468 KB pdf)

This 2010 report assesses the ecological and hydrological values of small streams, the cumulative extent and ecological effects of modification, and implications for policy and practice.

• Small stream modification in Taranaki (2.4 MB pdf)

Invertebrates are a vital part of the freshwater ecosystem and can tell us a great deal about the state of a waterway's health. This Guide introduces all of the major invertebrate groups using microscope images, with a brief description of the habitat preferences of each group. It also explains how waterway health can be assessed by ranking the invertebrates found within it.

• A photographic guide to freshwater invertebrates of Taranaki's rivers and streams (3.2 MB pdf)

The MCI (Macroinvertebrate Community Index) is the formalised method for using macroinvertebrate communities to assess waterway ecological health. This 2009 report, prepared by Stark Environmental Ltd for the Taranaki Regional Council, explores relationships between MCI and two environmental variables - site altitude and distance from source.

• Relationships between MCI, site altitude & distance from source for Taranaki ring plain streams (2.1 MB pdf)

This document has been developed for the Taranaki Regional Council by Rawiri Faulkner of Tutaiao Ltd, to be the basis of discussions with iwi o Taranaki relating to the development of tangata whenua principles and values of relevance to resource management matters and for inclusion in the the Council's resource management plans.

• TRC Cultural Framework - final draft (1008 KB pdf)