Earlier this year, Rooms 22 and 23, comprising about 63 students, chose the creek’s section from the Queenstown Recreation Ground, near their school, which runs to Lake Whakatipu, for their project-based learning.
Year 5 student Lincoln Moore, 10, says after they did some water testing of the creek at the Rec Ground, they found "it’s not in great condition — there’s a lot of erosion and stuff, so we need to help fix it".
As to what’s causing the issues?
"When you wash your car, all the soapy water comes down through the drains — there’s a stormwater pipe, and that all runs into the river," Lincoln says.
"There are also some farms around here, and all the poo from the animals washes down and then it comes through the drains into the creek."
He also suspects construction work above Horne Creek, along Gorge Rd, may be another factor, bringing dirt and dust into the waterway, which is in such poor health "sometimes it can even kill ducks".
"Also, all the microinvertebrates aren’t healthy — the only micro-invertebrates there are made for polluted waters, there are none for a healthy stream."
Concerned at what they found, the kids wrote to Queenstown’s council informing them of the issues and giving them some solutions to help restore the creek’s health.
To their delight, mayor Glyn Lewers responded, congratulating them on their initiative and mahi, and encouraged them to keep going.
And council heard them loud and clear.
Parks community and volunteers officer Yvette Ridley says they were "stoked" to receive the letters from QPS, with most students asking council to support their efforts to improve the area by providing them with native plants.
Council’s since come up with a replanting plan, which the children will lead.
Tomorrow, the first 100 riparian plants will be planted along the edge of the creek, between Queenstown Library and the Rec Ground, in conjunction with the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust and Enviroschools.
Ridley says carex secta, to help stabilise the sides of the creek, will go in tomorrow, with flaxes and other native shrubs being planted next autumn to improve biodiversity and water quality.
"We would usually just plant in spring and autumn, but the request from the school came in just after the spring planting season," she says.
"We did not want the students losing enthusiasm, which is why we are doing a small planting this Friday to get them started and will do a bigger planting in autumn, 2024."
Lincoln says the students are already looking forward to future water testing results to monitor the impact their work’s having on the overall health of the creek.
