University Research on Te Waihora/Lake

Ellesmere and its Catchment

2011-2013

• Understanding the Processes at Work

• Remediation & Restoration

• Catchment Management

• Imminent Research Initiatives

Monitoring and Analysis of Water Quality in Relation to Water Levels Monitoring and Analysis of Water Quality

in Relation to Water Levels

Stuart McCready & Michael Paine Final Year Projects, 2013 Civil and Natural Resources Engineering

(Supervisors: Brian Caruso & Tom Cochrane)

• Understanding the Processes at Work

• Using ECan WQ and lake level data

• Augmented by sampling 5 sites, 5 times in 2013

• Kaituna Lagoon generally best water quality

• Some relationship of temperature, salinity, and TP with level

• Multiple linear regression model developed for water quality

• Water quality (TLI) generally decreased after opening

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Comparative Phosphate Contributions of Drains, Streams and Rivers to Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere

WATR 402 students LU & UC Masters classes, 2012 and 2013

August 2012: High Flow April 2013: Base Flow

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Phosphorous and sediment loads from the drains of Te Waihora, and the influence of riparian state Hannah Mitchell UC Masters Water Resource Management, 2013 (Supervisors: Jenny Webster-Brown & Rebecca Campbell)

A taxonomic and ecological study of periphytic cyanboacteria in Kaituna River and its tributaries,

Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

Faradina Merican UC School of Biological Sciences completed & submitted 2013

(Supervisor: Paul Broady)

• Rare and poorly known morphotypes occur upstream where the catchment = native vegetation

• Light, substratum and conductivity influence spatial distribution

• 56 morphospecies in visible mats, crusts and gelatinous colonies in the one river system.

• 29 of these are new records for New Zealand

• First detailed account of cyanobacterial diversity in a NZ catchment - base line for monitoring

Periphyton proliferation and cyanotoxin production Francine Harland (nee Smith) UC PhD thesis, Dept of Chemistry and School of Biological Sciences (completed 2012) (Supervisors: Sally Gaw & Paul Broady (UC), Wendy Williamson (ESR), Susie Wood (Cawthron))

• Some mat-forming Phormidium strains produce neuro-

toxins

• First report of saxitoxin production by freshwater benthic bacterium

• Toxin concentrations can change over the growth cycle

Wood, S.A., Smith, F.M.J., Heath, M.W., Palfroy, T., Gaw, S., Young, R.G., Ryan, K.G. Within-mat variability in anatoxin-a and homoanatoxin-a production among benthic phormidium (cyanobacteria) strains. Toxins 4, 900-912. Smith, F.M.J., Wood, S.A., Wilks, T., Kelly, D., Broady, P.A., Williamson, W. and Gaw, S. (2012) Survey of Scytonema (Cyanobacteria) and associated saxitoxins in the littoral zone of recreational lakes in Canterbury, New Zealand. Phycologia 51, 542-551 Smith, F.M.J., Wood, S.A., van Ginkel, R., Broady, P.A. and Gaw, S. (2011) First report of saxitoxin production by a species of the freshwater benthic cyanobacterium, Scytonema Agardh. Toxicon 57, 566-573

Effects of Habitat Loss, Sediment and Riparian Shading on Stream Ecology in Canterbury

Frances Burdon, Jon O’Brien, Theresa Burrell et al, UC Freshwater Ecology Research Group (Supervisors: Angus McIntosh and Jon Harding)

• Boggy Creek included in study of how aquatic plants alter nutrient cycling and metabolism in lowland streams.

• Large impact on stream trophic state, but little on dissolved nutrient concentrations.

O’Brien J. M., Lessard J.L., Plew D., Graham E.S. & McIntosh A.R. (2013). Aquatic macrophytes alter metabolism and nutrient cycling in lowland streams (submitted).

• Survey of 21 streams in Canterbury (includes lake tributaries)

• Gross primary production and respiration more affected by riparian shading, than by agricultural land use.

Burrell T.K., O’Brien J.M., Graham E.S., Simon K.S., Harding J.S. and McIntosh A.R. (2013) Riparian shading mitigates stream eutrophication in agricultural streams. (submitted)

• Survey of 30 agricultural streams in Canterbury (includes lake tributaries)

• Strong influence of sediment on pollution - sensitive macroinvertebrates (%EPT). Threshold = 15-30% surficial sediment.

Burdon F.J., McIntosh A.R. & Harding J.S. (2013) Habitat loss drives threshold response of benthic invertebrate communities to deposited sediment in agricultural streams. Ecological Applications 23 (5), 1036-1047.

Naomi Wells LU/GNS PhD thesis, Agriculture and Life Sciences. (Submitted 2013) (Supervisors: Tim Clough, Troy Baisden, and Rob Sherlock)

• Hart’s Creek sampled for 2 years

• Mean NO3--N = 6 mg L-1

• NO3

--N concentrations in lower reaches reflect pasture N inputs (fertiliser & urine), in excess of attenuation rates.

• Attenuation rates highly dependent on rainfall events

Measuring Source and Fate of Agricultural Nitrate: A dual-isotope approach

Sean Waters, Jordan Miller, Neil Berry & Rosemary Parry UC PhD and summer scholarship students (supervisors: Jenny Webster-Brown, Ian Hawes, Sally Gaw, Tom Cochrane, Mark Milke ...etc)

• Phosphate dynamics in the lake: release mechanisms and cycling

Summer scholarships • Sediment and phosphate input to Lake

Forsyth/Waiwera from SE loess slopes • Trace metal content of the sediments

• A summer hydrological budget for Lake

Forsyth/Wairewa

e.g., Parry R. (2012) Trace Elements in the Sediments of Lake Forsyth/Wairewa. WCFM Report 2012-003 , 23pp.

Lessons from a near neighbour: Te Roto o Wairewa/Lake Forsyth

www.waterways.ac.nz

Profiles of Priority Riparian Restoration Streams in the Waihora Ellesmere Trust Riparian Restoration Programme

Hamish Rennie Lincoln University, DEM

• Remediation & Restoration

• Outcomes of WET-hosted Riparian Restoration Priorities Meeting

• Criteria used to identify 8 priority catchments for restoration

• Hororata, L2/L1/Liffey, Waikekewai, Kaituna,

Johnsons Road Drain, Wainiwaniwa, Silverstream, and Leeston.

Benefits of riparian planting in lowland streams in the Lake Ellesmere catchment

Katie Collins LU Master of Resource Studies (2011) (Supervisors: Crile Doscher & Hamish Rennie)

Kathryn E. Collins, Crile Doscher, Hamish G. Rennie & James G. Ross (2012) The Effectiveness of Riparian ‘Restoration’ on Water Quality—A Case Study of Lowland Streams in Canterbury, New Zealand. Restoration Ecology

• 4 river reaches to compare restored riparian buffers with upstream controls

• Riparian restoration increased DO and decreased turbidity

• Variable responses for invertebrate community composition

Environmental Attitudes of Lake Ellesmere Communities from 1900 – 2000

Golda Varona LU PhD - completed 2013 (Supervisors: Kevin Moore, Gary Steel & Hamish Rennie)

• Catchment Management

• Environmental attitudes predominantly utilitarian over the course of the twentieth century, although a gradual rise in preservationist attitudes

• Can be re-conceptualised as a non-bipolar, multi-dimensional construct with a structure consisting of the two distinct factors of 'utilisation' and 'preservation'.

Identifying Cultural Service Values of the Lower Selwyn River

Simon Swaffield and Geoff Kerr Lincoln University

Geoffrey N. Kerr & Simon R. Swaffield (2012) Identifying Cultural Service Values of a Small River in the Agricultural Landscape of Canterbury, New Zealand, Using Combined Methods. Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal DOI:10.1080/08941920.2012.676723

• Cultural services = aesthetics, spiritual values, and recreation

• Q method and a choice experiment

• A robust and transparent way to identify important cultural services and to assess their relative values.

Lower Selwyn River

The Management of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere: Co-governance and Community Agreements

Kendrick Chittock LU MNRMEE MSc dissertation (Supervisors: Hamish Rennie and Bryan Jenkins )

• An assessment of the integration of co-governance

and community agreements, into a nested, statutory management plan

• Highlighted issues with engagement

• During 8 month observation period in 2012 there was a shift from open/public engagement, to increased seclusion in committee forums.

Interactive Visualisation to Develop a Shared Understanding between Stakeholders in Natural Resource Decision-Making

Bernard Otinpong LU PhD Student, Department of Applied Computing (Supervisors: Stuart Charters, Alan McKinnon & Bob Gidlow)

B. Otinpong, S. Charters, A. McKinnon, B. Gidlow (2013) Does Interactive Visualisation Increase Stakeholders’ Understanding? A Case Study of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury, New Zealand. To be presented at MODSIM 2013 1-6th December 2013.

• A Case Study of Te Waihora/ Lake Ellesmere

• Does interactive visualisation that allow stakeholders to explore the effects of different lake opening scenarios, help understanding of the impacts on lake values?

Compilation of Lincoln University Water Quality Monitoring Data for Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora Catchment: 1993-2011

Ruth Markham-Short LU Summer scholarship student (Supervisors: Kelvin Nicolle & Jenny Webster-Brown)

Markham-Short R. (2012) Compilation of Lincoln University Water Quality Monitoring Data for Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora Catchment: 1993-2011. WCFM Report 2012-001

• A database of LU WQ monitoring data from 1993-2011.

• Microsoft Excel format

• Examples of data use/trends

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Lantz Wu LU BEMP, WET Summer scholarship student 2012/13 (Supervisor: Ken Hughey)

Quantifying , using Agreed Indicators, the Recreational Use of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere

Jess Rae LU, M Landscape Architecture, WET Summer scholarship student 2012/13

Describing and Quantifying the Cost/Benefits of Riparian Planting with Reference to the Drainage Network of Lower Catchment

• Collated recreational use data • Informal interviews with local experts • Identified & discussed indicators

• Compiled information for numerous sources • Identified costs and wide range of benefits • Results used in WET Booklet: WET-A Guide to Managing Your Drains.

• Imminent Research Initiatives

Meta-database of information on Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora

Annalise Davies LU Summer Scholarship student (supervisors: Jenny W-B & Suellen Knopick)

• Constructing a searchable database for information on the lake

• Similar format to Chch/Selwyn District water resources meta-database constructed by 2012/13 LU summer scholarship student - Michelle Ruske.

Nutrient limit setting regimes: Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere and Chesapeake Bay (USA)

Stacey Swanson LU Master of Applied Science, 2013-2014 (Supervisor: Ronlyn Duncan, DEM)

• A comparative study • Lessons learned and challenges of implementation

Lake Research Centre

LRC

Module I

LRC

Module II

• Proposal currently being discussed ....

• Who? What? Where? How?

• Immediate funding?

• Long term financial viability?