Your Catchment Group Coordinator
Katie Alderton
021 399 343
katie@thrivingsouthland.co.nz
Catchment Group Contacts
About Us
The Otamita Catchment Group formed in 2022 with farmers and locals keen to work together across the 17,000-hectare catchment. There are 18 farms involved, mostly sheep and beef, with one dairy and one cropping property. It’s been great to see how quickly the group’s come together — everyone’s open to learning, sharing knowledge, and doing what they can to look after their waterways and land.
Catchment Area
The group focuses on the Otamita Stream, which begins 15 km northwest of Gore and drains into the Mataura River. The catchment is mostly steep to rolling hill country within the Bedrock/Hill Country physiographic zone.
Recent Events
Farm Plan Fundamentals
The Otamita Catchment Group hosted a session with Landpro to help farmers understand and implement Farm Environmental Management Plans. The session covered planning, risk mapping, and Appendix N requirements, giving Farmers practical tools and confidence to start or update their own plans.
Projects
The group ran a two-year project exploring how farming koura (freshwater crayfish) in sediment traps could boost biodiversity and water quality. It was a real community effort, with farmers, schools, iwi, and local experts all involved. There were field days, monitoring sessions, and workshops on farm planning and freshwater ecology. While koura seeding didn’t go ahead, the project showed real innovation and gave the group a blueprint for integrating environmental work into productive farming.
Thriving Southland is a community-led group with a vision to create a prosperous Southland, healthy people, healthy environment from the mountains to the sea.
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CONTACT US
25 Don Street,
Invercargill 9810