Constructed Wetland Design for Nutrient Reduction and Biodiversity Enhancement

What we need � We (Te Taumutu Runanga and Environment Canterbury) are looking for a supplier who can design a constructed wetland, to attenuate nutrients and sediment, and improve biodiversity and mahinga kai, in Te Repo o Papatahora which will be constructed on iwi land adjacent to the Ngati Moki and Orariki Ruahikihiki pa site by June 2026.

A bit about us � Te Waikekewai has cultural significance for Te Hapu o Ruahikihiki/Te Taumutu Runanga. Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere is a living hapua of national and international significance. No other site is of greater cultural importance to Te Taumutu Runanga.

Te Waikekewai highlights important whakapapa connection as it flows through Te Pa o Moki (the Pa of Moki II) down through Orariki (Ruahikihiki�s Pa) and Today Ngati Moki Marae is located at Te Pa o Moki, and on Ruahikihiki�s pa stands the Hono Wetere Church, marking both these traditional sites It is important to the whanau of Taumutu that this whakapapa connection is recognised and acknowledged.

The area was previously a great mahinga kai, where the whanau could gather resources to sustain themselves as the stream flowed through rich wetlands before reaching Te Waihora. However, as the landscape was converted to farms during European colonization, the stream was degraded, wetlands disappeared, and the opportunities to gather mahinga kai were all but lost.

Despite the extensive degradation of the stream and landscape, Te Taumutu Runanga never gave up on the vision to restore the cultural and ecological values of the area. Seven years ago, we began to turn the tide.

Through a partnership with the Whakaora Te Waihora programme, the Whakaora Te Waikekewai project was born which has restored the majority of the lower reaches of the stream, including re-creating the Te Repo Orariki wetland.

It is now time to turn our efforts to the middle/upper part of the catchment, because without making a concerted effort to restore this reach, water quality is likely to worsen with continued nutrient and sediment input from land use, and the cultural, mahinga kai, and biodiversity goals will never be realised.

By starting in this next part of the catchment, where restoration of the whole area is possible, we will provide an exemplary �whole of catchment� approach that can be replicated elsewhere in the Selwyn-Waihora Zone and NZ. We will address three problems: