It’s certainly no cause to celebrate – the Parkvale Stream is one of the more polluted streams in the Wairarapa, with high nutrient and e-coli levels. But the news is great for anyone who cares about the quality of water in the catchment because now you can be part of the solution.

The Parkvale Catchment Group has recently been formed and has held its first workshop, where it was agreed that they would meet together in a series of facilitated workshops and develop a vision for the catchment and a plan for making it happen. This will start in early February 2021 and everyone with a link to the catchment is welcome. A diverse group of people is needed so that a wide range of needs and solutions can be considered.

“It’s becoming clear that either the community comes together and starts working on solutions, or we will be regulated”, says Andrew Watters, landowner and a local member of the newly-formed group. “This is taking the initiative into our own hands, rather than sitting back while things get worse, and waiting for rules to be applied.”

The Parkvale catchment area is large and complex, with about 300km of water races as well as many streams and tributaries. The land use is also varied with farming in the area and various types of industries and a large number of lifestyle blocks. The group is looking at organising field trips and technical workshops to learn more about the catchment, as well as holding the planning workshops.

The workshops will kick off with a ‘technical’ workshop on Wednesday the 3rd of February, venue TBC. At this workshop Greater Wellington Regional Council staff will share some of the background information on the Parkvale catchment, in particular on water quality.

Please contact Esther Dijkstra (the facilitator of the group) at estherdijkstra@waip2k.org.nz, if you would like to attend or receive further information about the Parkvale Catchment Group.

Parkvale Catchment