January 19, 2007

MEDIA STATEMENT

City rivers – perception versus reality

Environment Canterbury, the University of Canterbury and the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/Ihutai Trust are researching public perceptions versus scientific reality of the health of the city’s two main rivers.

“The project aims to find out if the perceptions about the health of Christchurch’s rivers from river users – people who fish, cycle or walk along the rivers or kayak in them - match what science tells us about the rivers’ health,” says ECan resource care officer Jenny Bond. “Two students will next week be interviewing river users on how healthy they think the river is and water quality students will be taking samples at the same spots to get a comparison.”

“By raising awareness with understanding of our rivers we can work with others to improve river health, which will naturally have flow on benefits for the estuary,” says Alex Drysdale, chairperson of the Trust.

The summer project will also provide valuable baseline information for ECan’s River Guardians project. “If we know how healthy the users think our rivers are, then hopefully we can identify knowledge gaps between perceptions and science, which is an important part of getting people to work together to make an environmental difference,” says Jenny Bond.

The students will be working on the Heathcote and Avon Rivers from January 22 – 26, around Princess Margaret Hospital and Hansens Park, in the Botanical Gardens and at Kerrs Reach. These sites have walking tracks and are popular for rowing and canoeing and there is also long-term city council monitoring data on these sites.

The scientific investigation will measure invertebrates, sediment, E. coli (faecal bacteria, eg from ducks or sewage overflows), clarity and habitat. The summer project is jointly supported by the University of Canterbury, the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/ Ihutai Trust and Environment Canterbury, with results expected early April.

HEATHCOTE RIVER
1) By Princess Margaret Hospital (upstream) - January 22
2) Near Opawa/St Martins along the river near Hansens Park - January 23

AVON RIVER
3) Botanical gardens (cnr Harper Ave and Park Tce) - January 24
4) Kerrs Reach (downstream) - January 25

ENDS

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