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Healthy Streams | freshwater improvement programme

Healthy Streams is Nelson City Council’s major freshwater improvement programme. It brings together all the work we do to protect, restore, and enhance the health of the city’s rivers, streams, wetlands, and catchments.

The programme supports the outcomes of the Freshwater Plan Change through on‑the‑ground restoration, community partnerships, scientific monitoring, and land‑management initiatives, including community projects such as Project Maitai/Mahitahi and Wakapuaka Bursting into Life. It also incorporates work supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Hill Country Erosion Fund, which helps reduce sediment entering waterways.

Healthy Streams provides a coordinated, catchment‑wide approach to improving the mauri and ecological health of freshwater across Whakatū Nelson.

Healthy Streams Matter

Healthy rivers and streams are essential for:

  • native fish and invertebrate species
  • safe swimming and recreation
  • clean water flowing into estuaries and the coast
  • reducing sediment and pollution
  • supporting mahinga kai and cultural values
  • the wellbeing of our communities
  • resilience to storms, droughts, and climate change

Many of Nelson’s waterways are small, steep, and sensitive to what happens on the land around them. Restoring freshwater requires action across entire catchments, from hill country and forests to farms, parks, urban drains, and estuaries.

Healthy Streams ensures work happens in the right places, at the right scale, with both Council and community working together.

What Healthy Streams focuses on and How the Programme works

Healthy Streams takes a catchment‑wide approach to improving freshwater health, recognising that what happens on the land affects the rivers, streams, wetlands and estuaries downstream. The programme combines restoration, monitoring, partnerships, and community action to deliver long‑term improvements across Whakatū Nelson.

  • Water quality: reduce sediment, nutrients, and stormwater pollutants
  • Habitat restoration: riparian planting, weed control, bank stability
  • Native species: protect inanga spawning sites; improve habitat for tuna, kōaro, and kōura
  • Erosion control: hill‑country and slip-prone projects, supported by MPI
  • Fish passage: fix barriers such as perched culverts
  • Community action: volunteer groups, planting days, citizen science, education
  • Monitoring: water quality, stream life, and catchment trends

Community Mulching Day at the Mahitahi Groom Creek Wetland 2024

Key Projects within Healthy Streams

  • Project Maitai/Mahitahi - Restoring the Maitai/Mahitahi River and its tributaries through community planting, monitoring, and habitat enhancement.
  • Wakapuaka Bursting into Life - Supporting stream health and biodiversity in the Wakapuaka catchment through restoration and community partnerships.
  • Inanga Spawning Protection - Protecting known inanga/whitebait spawning sites through restoration, monitoring, and public education.
  • Sediment Reduction Projects - Work funded through the MPI Hill Country Erosion Fund to stabilise erosion‑prone areas and reduce sediment entering waterways.
  • Riparian Planting & Weed Control - Large‑scale planting efforts across key catchments, including the Brook, York, Maitai/Mahitahi, and Wakapuaka.
  • Fish Passage Improvement Programme - Identifying fish barriers and working with landowners and engineers to reconnect aquatic habitats.
  • Todd Valley Wetland Project

Wakapuaka River - Wakapuaka Bursting into Life Event- Hira reserve ready for planting 2025

What You Can Do

Everyone can play a role in keeping our streams healthy:

  • Plant native species along streams
  • Keep pollutants and chemicals out of stormwater
  • Manage erosion on your property
  • Avoid dumping green waste into streams or gullies
  • Join a restoration or trapping group
  • Take part in community planting days
  • Record wildlife in waterways on iNaturalist
  • Support wetland and riparian protection work
  • Clean gear between waterways to prevent freshwater pests spreading
  • Report pollution or sediment issues to Council - 0800 NO POLLUTE (0800 667 655883)

Small actions make a big difference across the catchment.

Watch Our Healthy Streams Videos

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