Others involved in Waituna

Others involved in the Waituna catchment

Lake Waituna Control Association
Since 1969 the Lake Waituna Control Association has overseen the organising of lagoon openings on behalf of local farmers (and also fishermen in the early days) with the permission of the then Southland Catchment Board. Initially the elected committee consisted of six landowners, plus one co-opted from the Acclimatisation Society. Subsidies towards the costs of lagoon openings were provided in the early days by the Acclimatisation Society and the Catchment Board. With the introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 consent was necessary for the activity of opening the lagoon. The most recent consent for this activity was granted in February 2017.

Waituna Landcare Group
Formed in June 2001 as a result of as a result of local concern being expressed about the health of Waituna Lagoon. To try and understand what the water quality was like in the catchment the group became involved in monthly testing on the contributing streams using the Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit, and also assisted Environment Southland in early years by collecting monthly water samples from the lagoon.
In more recent years with the emergence of other groups, the Landcare Group has been involved in setting up and maintaining riparian planting sites around the catchment, using plants from their own plant nursery; restoring a gravel pit to a wetland; working with Gorge Road School Waituna Ambassadors; and continued promotion of, and awareness of our local environment and its special values, through an annual World Wetlands Day event in February, often involving the whole Gorge Road School.

Waituna Liaison Committee
The Liaison Committee was formed in 2011 following communication between members of the Waituna community and Environment Southland, which identified the need for local input into Council’s management of the Waituna Creek Drainage District, which consists of Waituna Creek and its tributaries. To date the committee has been involved in discussing the bank reconstruction project on Waituna Creek undertaken by Environment Southland from 2013-2015, in terms of the location of the works and the contribution of rates to the works. Annual meetings also discuss drainage maintenance budgets for the upcoming year, and drainage management in the Waituna Creek catchment.

Waituna Lagoon Recreational Users Group Incorporated
This passionate group of hut owners and their friends who have been regularly visiting Waituna Lagoon for years for recreational purposes became incorporated in 2017. They do not represent all hut owners or recreational users of the lagoon. They have 12 huts on the Department of Conservation land at the lagoon between the approximately 20 members.