Source: Environment Canterbury Regional Council
Restoring Te Wharau catchment ki uta ki tai
The Whaka-Ora Healthy Harbour programme recently approved $46,000 of funding for a Te Wharau fish passage project which will remove a collapsed ford and replace it with a pre-fabricated slab bridge, allowing free and easy access for fish through the stream.
Environment Canterbury staff and volunteers will help Orton Bradley Park manage the safe catch and release of fish in the stream while the work is undertaken.
Co-governors have also approved a $115,000 three-year project with Orton Bradley Park and landowners to convert what is currently a bull paddock near the Orton Bradley Park entrance into a coastal wetland.
Whaka-Ora partners Christchurch City Council and Ngāti Wheke will both play a key role in this project, with Ngāti Wheke having engaged their field-work crew, Tiaki Taiao, who have already begun planting this winter.
Sarah says these projects are significant for the Te Wharau catchment.
“The ford improvements and especially the construction of the wetland will complete the ki uta ki tai vision for the catchment, connecting the flow of wai from the mountains to the sea. This is great news for our native fish and all sorts of other critters that we want to see thriving.”
Learn how the
Whaka-Ora Healthy Harbour programme is restoring waterways, wetlands and biodiversity across Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour.
Related resources
- Orton Bradley Park – Walking tracks, native bush, heritage, recreation and conservation in Charteris Bay
- Whaka-Ora Healthy Harbour – Discover the long-term partnership restoring the ecological and cultural health of Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour.
- Tiaki Taiao – Community-led environmental restoration and sustainability initiatives
- Rāpaki Rūnanga – Official website of Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke (Rāpaki), with information about the marae, iwi, history and environmental work
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/07/30/te-wharau-streams-native-fish-survive-major-flood/