Riparian management

Evaluating the large scale effects agriculture on physical stream health parameters

Land use practices influence physical stream health parameters variously over spatial scales. The interaction of land use with the variation in landform and local conditions impacts streams in complex direct and indirect ways, which are currently poorly understood. As part of her MSc research, Hannah Franklin aims to determine the ways in which water quality and physical factors, related to stream health, respond to the presence of agriculture at a ‘riverscape’ level. The physical variation throughout the L2 River system (that may lead to trends in certain parameters) is shown below (Fig. 1). This project is part of ongoing research funded by the Mackenzie Charitable Foundation, which focuses on the effectiveness of riparian management to mitigate the impacts of sediments and pollutants.

Figure 1 – Images are of sample site on the L2 River, near Lincoln. Top Left – Near the headwaters of the main tributary, cobbled substrate and native riparian vegetation. Top Right – A site near the outflow into Lake Ellesmere, the river is large, slow flowing and clogged with sediment and macrophytes. Bottom Left –Springs Creek, a small, spring fed tributary flows, fenced, through a dairy farm, to enter the main stem. Bottom Right – A drain flows into the main stem at Lochness, it is unfenced, with much heavy bank erosion and sediment build up.

People involved in this project

University of Canterbury
Hannah Franklin (MSc student)
Angus McIntosh
Tom Cochrane
Michelle Greenwood

Institute of Environmental Science & Research Limited
Brent Gilpin