striking features within the landscape which remain strong in the memory
Limited discordant elements disrupt the distinctive pattern of boulders along the river bed channel
Transient values Hangatahua (Stony) River catchment is exposed to some of the heaviest rain in New Zealand with rocks rolling down the river in accelerated river flows
frequently changing its course
At other times the river is recognised for having waters so clear that it appears that it isn’t there, however
hectares (248 ha in the Hihiwera and 69 ha in the Allison Street catchment.
The most upstream extent of the catchment lies only 4.5 km to the northwest of the Opunake
Township with the land falling at a relatively uniform grade over its total length.
The stream channels are therefore not directly affected by rainfall events on Mount Taranaki
but it is clear that the mountain affects the nature of rainfall events.
The catchment is almost exclusively used for dairy farming with very
observations made on each of the
sampling occasions during the period under review are presented in Table 5.
Table 5 Observations at Lake Rotorangi monitoring sites on sampling occasions during 2020-2021
Date Lake level
(m asl) Weather
Wind Lake appearance
L2 L3 L2 L3
16 Oct 2020 76.78 Fine, rain 3
days prior
Light NE
breeze No wind
Turbid, brown-
green; surfaced
rippled
Turbid, green-
brown; surface
rippled
25 Feb 2021 76.65
Fine, dry
weather
preceding
Operations and Regulatory Committee Agenda 18 March 2025
latest survey period was lower than normal in
comparison with historical surveys. The total number of samples falling within the “Alert” or “Action”
categories (39% of samples) across the 16 recognised bathing sites was among the highest recorded.
However, it should be noted that the “Action” category is the only category for which swimming is not
recommended. In the 2018-2019 season, 79% of all samples met the national bathing guideline. Of the 21%
of samples that exceeded the
freshwater quality is good
to excellent, with rivers falling within quality bands A to B as set
out in the NOF. The region’s small number of lakes largely fall
within the bands A to C.
Where the A to C grading is not achieved, the causes are
generally natural and thus exempt from national bottom line
requirements.
In many cases, the Taranaki Regional Council already monitors
waterway health more intensively than is required under the
NOF, and has a very detailed
E.coli/Enterococci samples falling in each band of the MfE contact recreation
guidelines over the 2018-2019 bathing season 21
Figure 15 Do questionnaire respondents check conditions prior to visiting a recreational site? 22
page
iii
Figure 16 Conditions checked by survey respondents prior to visiting a site 22
Figure 17 Websites used when checking site conditions prior to a visit 23
Figure 18 If questionnaire respondents would still visit a recreational site when a …
Councillor B K Raine
Councillor D L Lean (ex officio)
Councillor D N MacLeod (ex officio)
Representative Ms E Bailey (Iwi Representative)
Members Councillor G Boyde (Stratford District Council)
Mr J Hooker (Iwi Representative)
Councillor R Jordan (New Plymouth District Council)
Mr P Muir (Taranaki Federated Farmers)
Councillor P Nixon (South Taranaki District Council)
Mr M Ritai (Iwi Representative)
Apologies Councillor C S Williamson
Notification of Late Items
Executive Audit and Risk Agenda October 2023 web v