River study Apiti and Awahuri

Palmerston North rangatahi were keen to investigate the ecology of the Ōroua at Awahuri Bridge and at Apiti. Utilising both drone technology and scientific equipment youth set forth to explore our rivers to determine its quality at this moment in time. Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that offer a cost-effective, safe way to monitor our streams. Rangatahi were able to gain an aerial view of the landscape, observe river flows and scoped out the scale of plantings and trees along the waterways.

Comparing water quality at Awahuri and Apiti was very interesting. It is well known that the site at Awahuri has been doing poorly over the last five years. However, rangatahi were interested to learn whether their testing and investigations would confirm this.

Results on the Lawa website for Ōroua at Āpiti Gorge Bridge in May revealed the following. Students compared their findings to these results.

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Rangatahi were fortunate to have our local Horizon Regional Council’s Hydrologist on site during our visit. He was also monitoring river flows, water levels in rivers and collecting water samples for water quality analysis. His insight provided real-time understanding of the value of our indicators in determining the health of our rivers.