The ecological state of wadeable streams in the Waikato region 2021-2023

This report presents updated results from the Waikato Regional Council’s (WRC’s) Regional Ecological Monitoring of wadeable Streams (REMS) programme for 2021-2023.

The REMS programme involves annual surveys in summer of aquatic invertebrate macroinvertebrates, fish and instream habitat to document the state and trend of the ecological condition (state) of streams. Standardised surveys of stream macroinvertebrates, fish, and habitat (including instream plant cover, deposited fine sediment, and shade) are undertaken on wadeable streams. The composition of macroinvertebrate and fish communities, and habitat measures, can be condensed into indices to provide integrated measures of a stream’s ecological health which can then be compared across sites regionally.

As with previous reports average condition for wadeable streams on developed land remains within the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (2020; NPS-FM) C band for the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) and Average Score Per Metric (ASPM), and D Band for Quantitative MCI (QMCI).

Report: TR 2024/15

Authors: Mark Hamer (e3Scientific), Michael Pingram, Nicole Squires, Josh Smith & Flavian Ember (Waikato Regional Council)