Community effort to restore and revive Timaru’s Waitarakao Washdyke lagoon catchment

It is a hidden treasure that needs to be saved, and the signs are promising that the necessary community effort to restore the Waitarakao Washdyke lagoon catchment will come.

Strong public support is already apparent, following the first of several community drop-in sessions, those behind a project to revive it say.

Our Waitarakao, a multi-agency project to restore and revive the Waitarakao Washdyke lagoon catchment, is now underway on the historical and culturally significant ecosystem in Timaru.

The project is a partnership between the Timaru District Council, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Environment Canterbury.

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It aims to address the future for the area by looking at water quality, wildlife habitat, flooding, erosion and the impact of climate change. A community drop-in session was held in Timaru this week, with the support encouraging to see, Environment Canterbury South Canterbury natural hazards team member Chris Fauth said.

While there have been pop-up sessions at the Timaru Artisan Farmers’ Market, Fauth said the first drop-in session had been well-supported.

“We’ve found people have a great deal of interest in the area and there have been plenty of offers of help,’’ he said.

“It bodes well for the future.’’

The lagoon is one of the country’s earliest gazetted wildlife refuges, and as well as being culturally significant, is ecologically important with more than 65 species of birds recorded at the catchment.

However, the lagoon has become a shadow of its former self and is in poor condition, with estimations it has shrunk by 90%.

Fauth said for many in the community, the lagoon will be something they did not think about, perhaps only driving past on their way in and out of town, while for others the area held feelings of nostalgia.

“Lots of people have different stories about the area – taking their grandkids to the rocky shore, and people who weren’t expecting to be interested are when you start talking to them.

“For a lot of people in Timaru there are a lot of happy memories and nostalgia.

“Other people we’ve been talking to are involved in farming, business or industry and want to know how they can be involved.’’

Fauth described the area as a hidden treasure for a number of reasons.

“It’s really unique environmentally to have this [the lagoon].

“It’s the equivalent of a nature park.’’

He said it was one of New Zealand’s older wildlife refuges, and a “very important habitat’’, and it had a history of cultural use for food gathering.

“It also performs functions like protecting against natural hazards, providing a natural buffer to the sea, and to fresh water flooding in the area, so it performs all kinds of functions that are important for the region.’’

The community engagement will continue to the end of 2023, he said.

“At the moment we’re really just making sure we capture the people that are interested in the lagoon and hearing their ideas and starting to let them know what our process is.

“Right now it’s just about hearing from people, hearing their stories – why they like the lagoon, what they would like to see from it.’’

Targetted workshops would then be held and more discussions about the project, he said.

Another community drop-in session will be held on Monday at 209 Hilton Highway, Washdyke, from 11.30am to 1.30pm.

The community can also contribute their thoughts through a survey on ourwaitarakao.co.nz, or by visiting the project stall at the Timaru Artisan Farmers’ Market on Saturday.