River Styles Assessment of the Hamilton Gullies

Report: TR 2024/22

Authors: Jack Clothier and Nicole Wheeler, Hydrobiology Pty Ltd 2025

Waikato Regional Council (WRC) commissioned a Stage One River Styles Assessment of the Hamilton Gully Catchments which feed into the Waikato River within Hamilton City. The aim of the assessment was to provide geomorphic baseline information for five main gully systems and to inform high level river management decisions / strategies within the catchments.

The gully systems investigated in this study included:

• Te Awa O Katapaki
• Kirikiriroa
• Waitawhiriwhiri
• Mangakotukutuku
• Mangaonua / Mangaone

The River Styles Framework, used to provide a baseline assessment of the aforementioned gully systems, provides a coherent set of procedures throughout 4 distinct stages which integrate catchment-scale geomorphic understandings of river forms, processes, and linkages. Collectively, the application of these principles presents a physical basis with which to describe and explain the distribution of river forms and processes and predict likely future river behaviour and how it may change over time. Application of Stage One of the River Styles Framework provides a catchment-wide understanding of geomorphic diversity, as well as the controls on river character and behaviour providing insights into the physical template of the waterway, and underpinning interrelationships with ecosystem health.