Monitored sites in the Whareama River catchment
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Whareama River
The Whareama River is located on the Wairarapa coast to the east of Masterton, where it flows in a southeasterly direction for 29 kilometres before discharging into the sea at Castlepoint Beach.
The river and its tributaries support many species of indigenous fish such as the common bully, giant kōkopu, longfin eel, shortfin eel as well as the nationally vulnerable species of lamprey. The river estuary is also an important spawning area for inanga.
The Greater Wellington Regional Council carries out routine monitoring at one site within the Whareama Stream Catchment area. This site is monitored as part of a programme specifically designed to measure the health of rivers in the Wellington Region.
The Whareama River drains a predominantly pastoral catchment. Its naturally soft sedimentary geology and location within a catchment susceptible to soil erosion result in high sediment loads being carried downstream to its estuary.
Water quality is fair to good at this site, but high sediment loads mean water clarity and ecological health indicators are poor. The main pressures on catchment river water quality are hill country sheep and beef farming and forestry.
Greater Wellington Regional Council
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