Freshwater Ecology for Waiū Dairy

Waiū Dairy Ltd contracted LDE in April 2022 to provide an Ecological Monitoring Plan (EMP) and baseline ecological survey for a watercourse adjacent to their irrigation site to ensure consent compliance and prioritise freshwater ecology for their site. Services were provided in collaboration with Riverlake and included:

• Development of an EMP to meet the dairy’s resource consent requirements.
• A habitat assessment: width, depth, velocity, substrate size.
• Measurement of water quality variables (dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, electrical conductivity).
• Assessment of Macrophyte cover.
• Assessment of Periphyton cover.
• Collection of aquatic macroinvertebrate samples for identification to the taxonomic resolution level.
• Completion of a baseline ecological survey report.

In collaboration with Riverlake, LDE provided freshwater ecology services to Waiū Dairy to ensure resource consent compliance. LDE propose to complete a subsequent baseline ecological survey for 2023.