Identify impacts

As you travel around your local area, observe how the land is being used. As you travel to the stream you plan to monitor, note any industry or land use that may be impacting on the health of the stream. Observe upstream and downstream from your monitoring site.

Use the following resources to explore impacts on water quality

• Water quality – factors and issues

• Land use – impacts on waterways

• Dairy farming solutions

• Horticultural solutions

• Urban solutions for water quality

• Human impacts on the Waikato river

Transcript

VOICEOVER

There is no doubt that human impacts have altered our environment. When you look at your local area, what do you see? What is your surrounding catchment used for? Is it mostly rural – agriculture or horticulture – or do you live in an urban area? How are the rural and urban areas different? And how does land use affect the quality of water in the streams in your area?

Look at your larger catchment. Compare it to another catchment, maybe in another part of New Zealand. How are they the same or different? What matters to you?

Acknowledgements

Drone footage of McKinnon’s farm and shots of effluent spreader, filmed by AF Productions and Paul Sutherland Photography. Copyright Yardmaster.
Catchment diagram by Phil Jones, New Zealand Landcare Trust