News and Resources
Check out this page for an update of news and resources related to the Catchment Solutions Project. See below for some informative resources on how to take water samples from your farm streams and tile drains, as well as learning more about opportunities for solutions to water quality issues at Catchment scale. Keep checking back here as we add more content over the next year.
Catchment Solutions project takes masterclasses to the regions
CSP’s second round of masterclasses were held in different regions of the country.
The Constructed Wetlands course was held at NIWA in Hamilton, 27 and 28 February. The 28 who attended this course were primarily from the upper North Island. The attendees included; catchment group coordinators and leaders, farmers, kaitiaki, farm environmental advisors, Regional Council and Local Council representatives, and representatives from the Ministry for Primary Industries and NIWA. The course was again instructed by Dr Chris Tanner and Dr Brandon Goeller from NIWA and included a visit to the constructed wetland at Owl farm, St Peter’s Cambridge.
The Detainment BundPS120 course had online lectures and quizzes from 31st March through to 2nd May, with a two day in-person workshop on the 8th & 9th April held in Rotorua. Fourteen people attended the full course. The attendeesincluded; catchment group coordinators, farmers, farm environmental advisors, Regional Council and Local Council representatives, representatives from the Ministry for Primary Industries and DairyNZ, and a university student. The course was led by John Paterson and Natalie North of Detainment BundPS120 Consultancy, with additional content from CSP’s Ranvir Singh, Fernando Avendano, and Ross Gray. As part of the in-person course, the attendees visited different types of detainment bund structures on Cairns farm and C + J Paterson Farm.
Innovative Farm Drainage Management Technologies masterclass also was a mix of online and in person classes and exercises. The online tutorials and exercises were held 14 April to 1 May and the in-person presentations and field visits were held in Palmerston North. There was a large amount of interest in the course, and 21 attended the in-peron days. including a visitor from Brisbane.
Click through the images above to see photos from the Wetlands, Detainment Bund P120, Sources and Pathways, and Drainage Masterclasses held in the regions.
The attendees consisted of catchment group coordinators, farmers, a farm cadet, farm environmental advisors, Regional Council and Local Council representatives, and a representative from Queensland Department of Primary Industries. CSP’s Ranvir Singh and Fernando Avendano led the course, with CSP’s Ross Gray and David Horne, and DairyNZ’s Lee Burbery contributing. The course included site visits to pilot woodchip bioreactors in Kiwitea and Bulls.
CSP’s final masterclass, Sources & pathways of contaminants, was held 21 and 22 May in Upper Takaka, the first one to be held in the South Island. This was held with excellent liaison with Tasman District Council. There were 27 participants, half of whom were farmers from the region. The other attendees included catchment group coordinators, farm environmental advisors, Regional Council and Local Council representatives, and a staff member from the University of Canterbury. Senior Scientist Dr Katrina Macintosh (DairyNZ) again joined CSP’s Fernando Avendano and David Horne in providing engaging and informative sessions and group exercises, including a farm visit to a local farm to discuss mitigation options for surface flow pathways.
Enviroschools planting day 23 May 2025
Around 30 year 6-8 students from Kimbolton and Kiwitea Schools came out to a farm in Kiwitea on Friday 23 May 2025, to plant 780 plants and trees. Also involved in the planting were Enviroschools Facilitator Heidi Morton, teachers and teacher aides from Kimbolton and Kiwitea schools, parents, Alastair Cole and Brad Beatson from MPI’s On Farm Support Team , Senior Environmental Educator Sarah Williams and Community Engagement Advisor Christina Haynes from Horizons Regional Council, the landowner, and Fiona Burke, Catchments coordinator at Manawatu River Catchments Collective
Students involved in this activity assisted with planting trees downstream of the woodchip bioreactor at a farm site in Kiwitea built by the Catchment Solutions Project. The aim was for the students to learn about water quality and mitigation methods to protect and enhance water quality. They learned about the type of trees used in this planting, learned more about biodiversity, and also learned for which organisms this area will be a habitat. The group successfully planted all 780 plants and trees over the day. Alastair Cole from MPI’s On Farm Support team brought along Wellington Green, Rough and Duvaucels Gecko (lizards) to showcase forgotten fauna, enhance student learning about biodiversity and to encourage the creation of habitat corridors.
Click through the images above to see photos from the planting day.
Fiona Burke from Manawatū River Catchments Collective hosted a learning table with pictures of what can be found in the stream, with samples of bugs from the stream for the kids to identify using the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (https://www.lawa.org.nz/learn/glossary/m/macroinvertebrate-community-index-mci). The students were also able to see the progress in growth of a planting site on farm done by children from Kiwitea and Kimbolton schools in May 2014.
Thanks also to Lucy Ferguson, Freshwater Team Leader at Horizons Regional Council who advised on the types and numbers of plants and arranged the order, and thanks to Paige Mey, Nursery Manager at Kawakawa Nursery Manawatū District Council and Sonya Shortt, Freshwater Advisor at Horizons Regional Council for dropping off the plants on site. Thanks to Will Brown, landowner, for spraying the spots where the children would be planting.
Enviroschools is an environmental action-based programme where young people are empowered to design and lead sustainability projects in their schools, neighbourhoods and country (from https://enviroschools.org.nz/). The programme involves early childhood centres and schools, where students are empowered to take action in local places in collaboration with their communities. they do this through connecting with and exploring the environment and committing to a long-term sustainability journey.
How to collect a water sample from a stream
Collecting regular water samples from your farm stream can provide invaluable data for discovering what contaminants might be affecting the waterways over time. Follow the steps in the video to learn how to take an accurate water sample.
How to collect a water sample from a drain
Preparing to take a tile drain water sample requires a few items to make the collection process easier. Monitoring the water quality over time from tile drains can provide valuable before and after data as mitigation solutions are found. Watch the video to learn how to take a water sample from a tile drain.
Opportunities for solutions at catchment scale – panel discussion
Watch the panel discussion from the 2024 FLRC conference held at Massey University on Catchment Groups – the panel discusses the challenges, opportunities and collaboration experiences of Catchment Groups in New Zealand.
The panel team includes Mark Chrystal a Rangitaiki farmer – (Spring Lambs), Ian Strahan a Haynes Creek catchment farmer and President of Federated Farmers in the Manawatū; Adam Duker – the leader for Sustainable Dairy at DairyNZ; Brian Henderson (Rabobank Area Manager) for Agribusiness and Alistair Cole from MPI (Project Leader for Extension Services to the Lower North Island).
CSP advise farmers tackling cow cress
The Catchment Solutions team have been helping farmers in the Hawkes Bay catchment collective Tukituki Land Care (TLC) to mitigate the effects of steam bank erosion and cow cress in the area which are both affecting the catchment’s waterways.
Image credit: Tukituki Land Care
CSP deliver first constructed wetlands masterclass
Click through the images above to see photos from the Constructed Wetland Masterclass and a visit to the site.
CSP deliver first Detainment Bund PS120 masterclass
This masterclass started on the 18th of November 2024, with online content, made available until the 31st of January 2025. The content was delivered online, led by John Paterson and Natalie North of Detainment BundPS120 Consultancy, aimed to provide the most essential information to understand all the concepts involved in the design, construction and implementation of a DB.
Content delivered after the in-person day, led by CSP’s Research Officer Fernando Avendaño, was considered a complementary part of the course, aimed at participants who wanted to learn advanced skills in the use of GIS software. The presentation and field day, held on the 10th of December 2024, involved participants taking part in further exercises and visiting the Mangaone River Detainment Bund P120 (Eketahuna), where CSP technician Ross Gray presented information about the materials and challenges involved in the construction of the DB.
Participants were a mixture of catchment coordinators, farmers, kaitiaki, farm environmental advisors, current Massey students and Regional/Local Council reps.
Click through the images above to see photos from the Detainment Bund P120 Masterclass and a visit to the site.
CSP will deliver a second round of this materclass in early 2025. https://catchmentsolutions.co.nz/detainment-bunds-masterclass/
CSP deliver first drainage management masterclass
Click through the images above to see photos from the Drainage Management Masterclass and a visit to various sites.
CSP will deliver a second round of this masterclass in early 2025. https://catchmentsolutions.co.nz/farm-drainage-masterclass/
This masterclass began with online content from 25th November to 6th December 2024, and with two in-person days 11 & 12 December 2024.
The in-person days for the masterclass included an overview of the theory behind controlling drainage in farms, and then scenarios and exercises using contour lines and GIS software. CSP’s Ranvir Singh and Fernando Avendano presented about woodchip bioreactors and a newly developed tool to identify suitable sites to implement woodchip bioreactors and their effect on flow pathways. CSP Technician Ross Gray presented on the practicalities and challenges of building woodchip bioreactors, Lee Burbery (DairyNZ) covered denitrification and regulatory compliance, and CSP’s David Horne covered drainage water recycling. The second in-person day featured a visit to a practical demonstration at Waitatapia farm.
The participants were a mixture of catchment coordinators, farmers, kaitiaki, farm environmental advisors, current Massey staff and Regional/Local Council reps.
CSP deliver first sources and flow pathways of contaminants on farms masterclass
Click through the images above to see photos from the Sources and Flow Pathways Masterclass.
CSP aims to deliver a second round of this masterclass before the end of June 2025.
https://catchmentsolutions.co.nz/contaminant-loss-masterclass/
The masterclass was held at Massey University from 13-14 February 2025, and was well attended by participants from catchment groups, farmers, kaitiaki, farm environmental advisors, regional councils, and Ministry for Primary Industries. 26 people attended the course, some travelling from as far away as New Plymouth, Piopio, Whangarei, and Kerikeri. Senior Scientist Dr Katrina Macintosh (DairyNZ) joined CSP’s Research Officer Dr Fernando Avendano and Professor Dave Horne in providing engaging and informative sessions and group exercises.
The workshop delved into the major contaminants impacting water quality, how water moves through soils, and the tools used to quantify drainage and the concentration of contaminants.
The workshop included a walk up Massey’s No.4 Dairy farm with Dr Callum Rees, to look over the Turitea valley and the different types of soil in the area, then down to Turitea Stream.
Ministerial visit to the Catchment Solutions project
The Catchment Solutions Project were delighted to welcome the honourable Mark Patterson, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture, and his team to visit the pilot woodchip bioreactor on Massey University’s Manawatū campus.
During his visit, Minister Patterson learned more about the latest progress in the Catchment Solutions Tiaki Wai – Caring for Land and Water project. This initiative is focused on enhancing the rural sector’s ability to improve the freshwater quality on their land, bringing together local communities, iwi, experts and farmers to identify key water quality issues and collaborate on practical solutions to reduce agricultural runoff, such as sediment or nitrogen.
Minister Patterson visited the pilot woodchip bioreactor, where Professor Ranvir Singh shared information on this new method designed to mitigate nitrate loss in agricultural drainage water from grazing animals.
Professor Singh says it was great to show Minister Patterson firsthand the research and progress being made in this area.
“The Minister’s visit meant we could showcase the collaborative work being done to improve water quality on farms and highlight the importance of ongoing support and collaboration between farmers, river catchment communities and researchers to achieve long-term environmental sustainability.”
Click through the images above to see photos from the Ministerial visit from the honourable Mark Patterson and his team.
Professor Singh highlighted the crucial approach of working together with river catchment groups in creating shared knowledge to enhance rural capability and capacity. The project is literally ‘putting science in the hands of farmers’ for development of targeted and effective water quality measures across our pastoral land. Massey is also holding practical masterclass trainings to help support these initiatives in the rural sector.
Find out more about the Catchment Solution project and its masterclass trainings here: https://lnkd.in/dZG6bGTi
The Catchment Solutions Project is funded through the Ministry for the Environment | Manatū mō te Taiao, in collaboration with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, DairyNZ and Massey University Farmed Landscapes Research Centre.