RESOURCE CONSENT MONITORING

WEST COAST LANDFILL MONITORING
Service Areas: Resource Consent Monitoring, Aquatic Sample Processing, Ecosystem Health Assessment

With numerous small landfills in the region, many adjacent waterways of the South Island’s West Coast have the potential to be adversely affected by the landfill content leaching out or boundaries eroding. The West Coast Regional Council has set resource consent conditions for these landfills and EOS Ecology have been commissioned to undertake ongoing aquatic surveys of the adjacent streams.

Involving upstream and downstream comparisons for potential leachate effects on water quality, sediment quality, and at some sites, aquatic invertebrates, our reports will assist the Westland District Council to best manage their landfills.

EAST RANGIORA STORMWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM MONITORING
Service Areas: Resource Consent Monitoring, Aquatic Sample Processing, Ecosystem Health Assessment, Urban Ecology

The installation of a new stormwater treatment system for a proposed urban development on the eastern edge of Rangiora required a detailed, cost-effective monitoring programme to determine if resource consent conditions are being met.

EOS Ecology designed a programme which would monitor the impact of the stormwater treatment system; designed to service future stormwater runoff from 72 hectares of new development; on the receiving stream environment. With construction of the system scheduled for summer 2010/2011 EOS Ecology has already conducted pre-construction monitoring to take a snapshot of the instream habitat, water quality, and aquatic invertebrates in the North Brook. Once the system is up and running, the EOS team will return for ongoing annual sampling that will monitor for any potential impacts of the stormwater system on the North Brook.

OCEAN OUTFALL MONITORING
Service Areas: Resource Consent Monitoring

Christchurch’s new pipeline for discharging treated effluent off the New Brighton coastline is now complete, and with any project of this size and nature, there are resource consent conditions to check that the outfall is not affecting the city’s coastline. EOS Ecology has been commissioned by the Christchurch City Council to carry out a shellfish monitoring programme which involves collecting the popular eating shellfish, tuatua, from along the coast line for six years to check on viral levels.

With the two years of pre-pipeline monitoring completed, the EOS team are into the next phase of monitoring now that the pipeline is in use. And while this kind of monitoring programme can provide a welcome escape from the office on a hot summer’s day, our scientists require dedication and a lot of backbone to brave Christchurch’s freezing waters mid-winter!