WAI Wānaka is on a roll. 

As well as completing its Community Catchment Plan (CCP) for the Upper Clutha, WAI Wanaka’s submission to the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) Annual Plan for funding was successful, awarding the organisation a community grant of $50,000 in this year’s Annual Plan.

WAI, which stands for Water Action Initiative, is a community group set up to safeguard and improve the quality of the water in and around the broader Upper Clutha catchment.

Ongoing collaboration with project partners, such as the QLDC, has already seen WAI Wānaka coordinate education programmes aimed at visitors and residents to reduce damages and blockages to the wastewater network; reducing trade waste on building sites; managing sediment during residential subdivision development; and minimising stormwater discharges and contaminants into local waterways.

WAI Wānaka manager Julie Perry said they were “incredibly grateful” the QLDC was able to match the funding it provided last year, especially during these tough COVID-19 times, and that the council “recognises the importance of WAI Wānaka’s work....”  

Lake Hāwea.

“Completion of the CCP certainly helped our application as this is very tangible evidence of how much has been achieved to date by the community, supported by significant volunteer effort,” she said. 

The $50,000 grant will cover operational expenses, including communicating with various stakeholders and catchment groups, the co-ordination of more than 5,000 hours by volunteers, scoping key projects, and promoting the CCP and Wai Wānaka’s initiatives through education. 

“As with many charitable organisations, WAI Wānaka makes a small amount of funding go a long way,” Julie said.

WAI Wānaka recently secured the lease of Otago Regional Council premises on Riverbank Road as a base for the new Alpine Lakes Research and Education Centre (ALREC) designed to connect the community to the science world by supporting research and citizen science. It is hoped the centre will get underway later this year.

Māta-au Clutha River.

In its funding submission to the Annual Plan, WAI Wānaka said the conditions influencing Otago’s alpine lakes are currently not adequately measured, monitored, understood or actively managed. 

“We know very little about how our large lakes function and even less about how to manage them in relation to their main threats, which include climate change, land use change and invasive species. 

“A significant research programme is needed to inform the future management and monitoring of these lakes and their catchment areas,” the submission said.

The Upper Clutha water catchment stretches across 4,600km2 covering the headwaters which feed both Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea as well as the Matukituki, Hāwea, Cardrona and Clutha (Māta-au) rivers.

PHOTOS: Wanaka App