New monitoring boat to be launched at Lake Horowhenua

Horizons Regional Council’s new boat to monitor water quality at Lake Horowhenua will be launched Tuesday 8 July following a blessing by Lake Horowhenua Trustees.

Excessive lake weed has been identified as one of eight key issues for the Lake. The new boat, named Te Tuna Tapu o Punahau which translates to the ancient eels of Punahau, will be used only for monitoring at Lake Horowhenua to reduce the possibility of transferring aquatic weed.

Chairman of the Lake Horowhenua Accord Matthew Sword says it is fantastic to see progress being made to restore the troubled Lake, with an Action Plan due to be launched by Accord partners early next month.

“The Action Plan outlines the steps we will take to bring this taonga back to health and return the lake as a source of pride for the people of Horowhenua,” Mr Sword says.

“By publically identifying what we will be doing, what the community can do and what the key issues are, we are drawing a line in the sand and making a real commitment to the future of the Lake.

“Ongoing monitoring is a big part of this future, as by understanding what’s happening within our Lake we can determine the best course of action.”

Horizons Regional Council samples lake water quality on a monthly basis. This enables the Council’s science team to assess the trophic level – a measure of lake health.

Continuous monitoring of dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, temperature and chlorophyll a or algae levels is also carried out via the lake buoy. Plans are in place to make this information publically available on Horizons’ website in future.

ENDS

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