River Styles Assessment of the Waipā River Catchment, Waikato, New Zealand

Report: TR 2021/01

Author: Will Marson, Nicole Wheeler, Gary Brierley

About this report

Waikato Regional Council contracted the joint venture of Aerialsmiths New Zealand Ltd, Hydrobiology Qld Pty Ltd and The University of Auckland to finalise a River Styles assessment of the Waipā River catchment. This study uses the River Styles Framework (Brierley & Fryirs, 2005) to present a coherent overview of the controls on river adjustment to support geomorphologically-informed appraisals of targeted river management and restoration strategies. The assessment builds on an initial River Styles assessment carried out by Wheeler (2019) and valley confinement assessment by Marson (2019). The study focuses on the main stem of the Waipā River and five of its sub-catchments: the Moakurarua Stream (228 km2), the Mangapū River (445 km2), the Upper Waipā River (458 km2), the Pūniu River (561 km2), and the Mangapiko River (307 km2). Many of these areas contain priority zones that have been outlined in the Waikato and Waipā Restoration Strategy (Neilson et al., 2018). This report assesses the regional and catchment setting, identifies and maps the diversity of River Styles, and interprets controls on river character and behaviour.