Catchment area
Regions: Southland, Southland
We are a group of farmers in the Wendonside/Waipounamu area. Our catchment area is 27,000 hectares and spans east to west between Dome Burn Creek and the Mataura River. The southern boundary is the confluence of the Waikaia and Mataura Rivers.
About
Members: 46
Properties in our group are mainly flat land to moderate rolling and we have several hill
country properties included along our northern catchment boundary.
Our group formed in June 2019 when our community came together with a combined desire
to further understand groundwater and surface water quality in our catchment.
We are an incorporated society that has established a funding model to collect funds from
its members to finance approved initiatives which includes a water testing programme to better understand the water quality in the catchment area.
Our community is heavily invested in our society and supports our purposes.
We have a growing membership that currently includes 46 properties. These properties
over 82% of the total area of our catchment.
Ultimately, we want to ensure our members have the ability to farm sustainably, in a
thriving community and environment, that is not socially divided on the basis of nutrient
allocation.
We wish to promote the role of farming in managing local water quality. We want to
provide support to ensure good environmental farm management practices are in place. It
is our intent to demonstrate, support and promote sound environmental stewardship
amongst our members.
We aim to undertake initiatives that will provide our members with sound technical
information and give them opportunities to increase our knowledge of water quality and
wider environmental topics.