Urban and rural stream rehabilitation programme

About the programme

This programme is funded by our Water Quality Targeted Rate. It aims to improve the health of streams and waterways in Auckland.

The programme uses different types of funding to help landowners and foster community involvement. Types of funding include:

• rates
• grants
• co-funding.

We collaborate with various stakeholders to achieve our objectives, including:

• community groups
• private landowners
• public land managers.

Programme objectives

To improve the ecological health of streams and rivers, we need to:

• make sure urban development considers ecological balance
• stabilise streambanks prone to erosion
• reduce sediment levels in harbours
• protect property and infrastructure from potential stream-related damage
• reduce contaminants in natural waterways.

Our current focus

We are running a number of subprogrammes under the urban and rural stream rehabilitation programme, including:

• Regional Waterway Protection Fund
• Wairoa Catchment Rural Waterways Protection.

Regional Waterway Protection Fund

This fund helps protect waterways by funding stock exclusion projects. Stock exclusion means limiting livestock's access to waterways. 

We do this by installing fences and planting on rural lands in:

• Franklin
• Papakura
• Aotea/Great Barrier Island
• Rodney.

In 2022/2023, we supported 48 projects with $700,000. Landowners co-fund the projects and have two years to finish their work.

Next we plan to:

• install 16.5km of fencing
• protect 47.5 hectares of streambanks, floodplains, wetlands and other areas that are next to bodies of water
• conserve 12.5 hectares of wetlands
• plant 160,000 plants.

We work with communities to create habitats for endangered native species such as the inanga (freshwater fish). Strategic planting has brought about significant transformations in these critical ecosystems, including:

• creating or enhancing habitats for native species
• restoring the spawning sites of inanga and other native species
• supporting both environmental wellbeing and cultural heritage.

Wairoa Catchment Rural Waterways Protection

This project aims to improve the health of rural streams through:

• fencing to reduce the impact of erosion from livestock
• funding an alternative water supply to help keep livestock out of streams
• increased riverbank planting.