Leeston School pitch to clean up stream

Nearly 70 Leeston School students were put to work last week helping to restore a stream in the Selwyn.
Snake Creek, a tributary of the Silverstream River, is an important trout spawning stream and home to native species, such as the endangered long fin eel.
Above Right: Ruby Moroney, Runy Templeton and Maddie Long, aged 11, year 6 Leeston School.

Ruby Templeton, Amelia McConnochie, Maddie Long and Ruby Moroney aged 11, year 6 Leeston School
The stream becomes choked every year with water weeds which means it has to be cleared out with a digger.
The weeds also lead to the build up of sediment on the streambed which is not good for stream life.
This was the problem the Leeston students were tasked with solving.
To do this they visited the site and made a plan to create shade that would supress the weeds.
The plan involved reshaping the banks which were too steep to plant on, designing a planting plan and also the addition of features in the stream, such as boulders and wood for habitat.
Fulton Hogan donated the earthmoving equipment and operators, and, armed with the students’ plan reshaped the bank as they had designed it.
The students returned last week to do the planting and position the boulders.
Don Chittock, Fulton Hogan’s South Island Resource and Sustainability Manager said they were happy to be part of a restoration project that involved the local school and would lead to improvements downstream in the Selwyn/ Waikirirki River.
The students were guided by Matt Stanford from Enviroschools, who said the project was a great opportunity to connect young people to a local waterway so they could learn the issues around them and how to care for then.

Fulton Hogan donated their resources to help restore the stream including reshaping the over-steepened banks
“What was particularly great about this project was the students were involved right from the beginning with all the planning and design and then they got to see it to fruition,” said Mr Stanford.
Background:
Snake Creek is a tributary of Silverstream which flows into the Silverstream River and then into the Selwyn/ Waikirikiri River just upstream of Coes Ford.
The project is part of a wider project being carried out in Snake Creek by the Water & Wildlife Habitat Trust in conjunction with landowners and multiple funding partners to restore approximately 3km of the waterway.
There are also other projects in the catchment on Silverstream and McGraths streams.
A crowd funding campaign is being run to help restore an 875m section of Silverstream.
Visit the Million Metres Stream Project website: millionmetres.org.nz/open-project/restoring-a-tributary-of-the-selwyn-waikirikiri-river to find out more.
Groups involved in project funding are: Rata Foundation, Living Waters – DOC/Fonterra, Environment Canterbury, Fulton Hogan, The Selwyn District Council, The Pub Charity, Fish & Game and the Ministry for the Environment.
Categories
Archive
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- December 2013
- March 2013
- September 2012
- July 2012