Volunteer group secures new waders to help monitor river

Volunteers will be kept warm in new gear as they wade into their work to help improve the health of the Maitai River.Friends of the Maitai have secured two pairs of new neoprene thigh high waders and one chest-height pair through a council match funding grant scheme. The group received a $2000 grant from the council through Project Maitai-Mahitahi, which it partnered with volunteer labour working in the river.

Monitoring group coordinator Philippa Eberlein said the funds meant the group was able to get the waders, a bathyscope (underwater viewer), head torches for fish surveys, a thermometer and other field gear.

Friend of the Maitai Ami Kennedy said the new waders would make for much more comfortable monitoring over the winter months, when they will “make it a lot more accessible for more people to get into the water and test the water clarity”.

She said the “good strong boots at the bottom” and extra warmth would also come in handy when the group was out in the middle of the night monitoring the fish in the catchment.

Friends of the Maitai monitor the river in two sites, one in the Brook and outside the Riverside Pool.

The river water is checked for temperature, pH level, oxygen, periphyton and E. coli bacteria, amongst other things. The results are submitted to NIWA to be collated along with information gathered by the council.

Kennedy said the Friends of the Maitai had been doing the monitoring for over a year and were working with NIWA and the city council to establish a big picture of the river.

“All the information together is the key to getting a picture of how healthy the river is,” she said.