Kaikarae Wai te Awa!

We hosted students from Balmacewan Intermediate School for a fun-filled water quality day! AKV partnered with the Araiteuru Marare, the Otago Regional Council, and the Otago Catchment Communities to deliver an amazing day of learning for the tamariki.

The day began with a pōwhiri and introduction at the marae. Pupils then split into four groups to learn about:

• trapping

• turbidity and water clarity

• conductivity

• dissolved oxygen and temperature

In the afternoon, the students split into two groups. One went to the urban farm at Kaikorai Valley College and found a 50-year old eel in the water. The other group went to Frasers Gully and found all kinds of living things in the stream, including koura!

Our invertebrate hunt gave the following results. The numbers following the names are environmental sensitivity scores:

Flat Mayfly Deleatidium 8

Flat Mayfly Nesameletus 8

Stonefly nymph 5

Oligochaete worm 1

Potamopyrgus snail 3

Amphipod 5

Flatworm (Koura pincers) 3

Koura 5

Gives an MCI close to 100

The day was a blazing success and the kids were pumped.

The Balmac teachers were grateful.

Both Staff and Students had a wonderful time and raved about their experiences.  Thank you for your time and effort for making this happen.

Thank you to everyone involved, especially those from the Araiteuru Marae and of course the Balmacewan students! We hope it fostered a love of our beautiful stream.