Tributary groups
We break our catchment up into smaller tributary group areas which allows to work with local landowners to find solutions applicable to their areas. Here are some of the tributary groups and some of their current focusses.
Upper Waikoikoi
Thanks to funding from Fonterra and the Otago Catchment Community, the Pomahaka Water Care Group is working with a small group of landowners in the upper Waikoikoi tributary to try to find ways to address water quality concerns.
The project began in June 2022 and has continued monitoring water quality with the aim of highlighting and isolating hotspot areas.
Heriot Burn
A major tributary of the Pomahaka River, flowing into the mainstem upstream from Kelso.
The Heriot Burn has known populations of lamprey.
Projects in the past have involved intensive monitoring to identify catchment hotspots.
Crookston Burn
Another large tributary of the Pomahaka, flowing into the mainstem at Kelso.
The Crookston Burn continues to be a significant trout spawning area.
Waipahi River
The largest tributary of the Ppmahaka, entering the Pomahaka downstream from the settlement of Waipahi.
The Waipahi River is home to the longest fishing competition in New Zealand, the Waipahi Gold Medal held each year in November.
Spylaw Burn
The Spylaw Burn is the most upstream of the major tributaries of the Pomahaka. Farms in this catchment are usually large extensive operations.
Water quality monitoring over the 2024-2025 year highlighted water quality concerns, and tried to isolate areas where mitigation could be undertaken.
Otago Regional Council have been electric fishing tributaries to the Spylaw Burn in 2025, to investigate populations of galaxiids and where there are existing fish barriers.
Wairuna
The Wairuna catchment group have been busy building sediment traps in their catchment. Thanks to funding from Otago Catchment Community, they have managed to build nine sediment traps in late 2024 and 2025.
Sediment traps are designed to slow the flow of water and allow time for sediment to fall out of solution and be 'caught' in the trap. Once full, this sediment can be removed from the system.
Taumata and Popotuna
Work had been going on investigating the health of the streams, around Taumata and Popotunoa.
Landowners met to discuss their results in autumn 2024, and sampling has continued to build a better picture of the health of these water bodies since.