Good river management protects and restores property and land from damage, providing habitat for indigenous species and allows natural processes to occur.
Waikato Regional Council and landowners have responsibilities to maintain and protect the region’s waterways. Working together ensures our rivers are healthy and well managed.
Good river management guidelines
River management activities contribute to flood and erosion risk management by supporting and improving the natural capacity of rivers to retain and move water, reduce the frequency and impacts of damage.
Waikato Regional Council can work with you to deliver erosion protection (hard and soft engineering), in-stream capacity works (e.g gravel management and obstruction removal), removal of trees that are at risk of falling and causing obstructions and erosion, planting of natives and willow poles to stabilise banks and improve biodiversity.
These works increase ecological outcomes, ensure capacity within channels to cope in high rainfall events, keeps streambanks stable and reduces flooding impacts protecting people and property.
Together we can build resilience of our river systems quickly and give works time to bed in ahead of the next weather event.
Landowner responsibilities
You can help look after the health of our rivers by:
- Managing stock to keep them out of rivers and other waterways.
- Planting vegetation to protect and stabilise river banks.
- Maintaining vegetation to prevent waterway obstruction.
- Managing animal and plant pests.
River management and improvement
Landowners have the primary responsibility for maintaining the riverbanks on their property. The main objectives of river management and improvement are to maintain river channel capacity, to ensure stability of riverbanks, to provide and enhance fish passage and habitat. This can be achieved through:
- Information and advice.
- Annual inspections of the main rivers and streams and responding to enquiries.
- Removal of obstructions within the channel that are causing or could increase the flood and erosion risk.
- Assisting with fencing off (for stock exclusion) eroding portions of channels.
- Planting and maintaining vegetation to help prevent erosion.
- Undertaking erosion control work within channels.
You can protect riverbanks from erosion by:
- Stock management – for example, fencing to keep stock out of rivers and other waterways.
- Planting the riverbank – for example, with natives.
Funding
Waikato Regional Council can provide funding assistance for river management and river improvement activities.
Funding assistance may not be available where the waterway does not have full stock exclusion.
For funding of river management activities, the landowner is expected to provide in-kind contributions such as dropping/reinstating fences to provide access and disposing of material removed from a channel.
For funding of river improvement activities, the landowner contributes financially and in-kind.
Benefits of good river management
Good river management practice helps protect your property and land from damage.
Effective river management
- Reduces erosion - protecting your valuable soil.
- Reduces sedimentation – improving water quality.
- Reduces damage from flooding – saving you money.
- Reduces contaminants.
- Improves ecological outcomes.
- Enhances biodiversity.
- Builds future resilience.
Good river management also improves recreational opportunities, for example: swimming and habitat for aquatic plants and animals such as whitebait.
Rivers also hold cultural, recreational, and aesthetic value. They are a source of water and are home to a variety of aquatic animals and plants. By managing rivers and streams we help protect our quality of life.
Working together
In partnership with our local communities, Waikato Regional Council manages our region’s catchments.
Landowners are responsible for normal maintenance of rivers and streams on and around their property.
By working together, Waikato Regional Council and landowners can ensure all responsibilities are met and our rivers are healthy and well managed.
How we can help you
Information, advice and co-ordination
Waikato Regional Council can provide advice and information to landowners on good river management practices, and can co-ordinate activities of contracted work.
Financial assistance
Waikato Regional Council has a number of river and catchment schemes, which can provide funding and assistance for river management.
The removal of obstructions
Waikato Regional Council can undertake the removal of major blockages and obstructions beyond normal landowner maintenance.
Erosion control
Waikato Regional Council can assist with the control of significant erosion in the Region where it involves a number of landowner properties and stakeholders.
Free advice and information is available to help landowners manage river bank erosion on individual properties. Funding of works is dependent on a number of conditions, contact your local river management officer to discuss.
Gravel management
Waikato Regional Council can assist with the removal of gravel that has built up in a channel after a flood event or from normal river deposits where appropriate.
Catchment management zones
Find advice, contacts, assistance and what is happening in your local catchment area.
River management and improvement examples
To ask for help or report a problem, contact us
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