Orauea River Catchment Group

Read our Catchment Group Summary

Your Catchment Group Coordinator

Ginny Kennedy
021914765
ginny@thrivingsouthland.co.nz

Catchment Group Contact

Jacqui Chamberlain
027 225 5100

About Us

The Orauea River Catchment Group was formed in mid-2021 and focuses on the Orauea River, a tributary of the Waiau River. The group brings together local landowners and community members to understand and manage environmental challenges in the catchment, particularly water quality and land use impacts. Since forming, the Orauea Catchment Group has engaged the community through events and meetings to build understanding and support for local water quality projects.

Catchment Area

The Orauea Catchment is unique in Southland, with approximately 42% of the area containing mudstone geology. This geology makes the landscape particularly sensitive to land use and has a strong influence on sediment and E. coli levels in waterways. The catchment includes high-country farmland, pastoral areas, and surrounding rural communities.

Recent Events

High Soil Resolution Mapping for Supporting Farm Productivity and Profitability field day at West Range Station.
Hosted the Thriving Southland Catchment Group Forum, featuring the Manawatu River Catchment Collective as guest speakers and highlighting pole planting within the catchment.

Projects

The Group undertook a project and engaged Land and Water Science to complete a high-resolution stocktake of environmental data and map layers using radiometric and satellite data. From this a catchment prioritisation map was created and catchment group members carried out the ground truthing. Mitigation options were collated into an online resource and the learnings shared with the catchment group members.

The Orauea Catchment Group is part of a multi-catchment project aimed at updating and improving soil information across the agricultural areas of the Waiau Catchment. The project is developing high-resolution Soil Management Units (SMUs) for the Te Anau Basin, as well as the Orauea and Lower Waiau catchments.

This detailed soil and landscape information helps farmers understand land variability, identify opportunities and risks, and make informed decisions. The data supports optimised fertiliser use, improved soil health, and better environmental outcomes, providing a holistic approach to sustainable farm management across the catchment.

A Committee is working with Land and Water Science to showcase the outputs of the project to the wider Waiau Catchment.