Led by Ecotago Charitable Trust scientists Andrew Innes and Dr Murray Vickers, pupils of Bayfield High School, Otago Girls’ High School, Tahuna Normal Intermediate and Queen’s and King’s high schools have tackled regular monitoring at Tomahawk Lagoon.
Mr Innes said, after many months of monitoring visits to the lagoon — where pupils have sampled the water at several sites and at two catchment streams, as well as checking biodiversity — it was time to report back to the community.
The Tomahawk Lagoon Citizen Science Reporting Day will be held on Sunday, November 5, from 9am-noon at Ocean Grove Domain Hall. The event is open to the public.
"The first mission of our ongoing citizen science project has always been to raise the profile of Tomahawk Lagoon, in terms of water quality and ecological health," Mr Innes said.
"So the reporting day will be a chance for the local community to come and hear from our young citizen scientists about what they have learned from this year’s monitoring, and to think about where to next for the project," he said.
In general, the results so far showed that the water quality situation was "business as usual", although there were some surprising trends in the biodiversity — including fewer fish and swans in the lagoon.
University of Otago freshwater scientist Dr Marc Schallenberg, a strong advocate for citizen science, will be guest speaker at the reporting day event, sharing his knowledge and passion for healthy wetland ecosystems in New Zealand. He will focus on the recently released report "Ecological assessment of Lake Tuakitoto and Tomahawk Lagoon and options for lake rehabilitation" commissioned by the Otago Regional Council and carried out by the Cawthron Institute.
Mr Innes said this was a good chance to ensure the ORC’s management plan for Tomahawk Lagoon remained "in front of the community and in their minds".
The council had installed a sonde (instrument) to take water quality measurements 24/7, which was helpful, although it only measured the water in one part of the lagoon.
The Ecotago-led citizen science project was able to monitor water quality in other parts of the lagoon, as well as its catchment streams.
"It would be great to be able to combine the two data sets to help make comparisons and draw conclusions about the overall health of the lagoon," he said.
Dr Vickers said the involvement of the young citizen scientists in the monitoring of Tomahawk Lagoon had two major benefits — to spark interest for them and their families in the lagoon’s health, and to give them a taste of environmental science.
"To have good stewards of the lagoon in its local community is very important, and we will hopefully encourage some of the young people to continue their interest in science in the future," he said.
Mr Innes said the fact Ecotago had been unsuccessful in securing funding through this year’s Otago Regional Council Eco Fund grants round meant it had to carefully consider its plans for the future.
• The Tomahawk Lagoon Citizen Science Reporting Day will be held on Sunday, November 5, from 9am to noon, at Ocean Grove Domain Hall. All welcome, morning tea provided. Please RSVP for catering purposes by Thursday, November 2, to Andrew Innes, phone 0210239-1950, or email andrew.innes09@hotmail.com
