Pungarehu Canal Restoration
Native sedge planting along a key Waikato flood management canal
Client:
Waikato Regional Council
Location:
Pungarehu Canal, Te Kauwhata
Services:
Ecosourcing / Native Plant Nursery / Operations & Implementation
Project Overview
The Pungarehu Canal connects Lake Waikare with the internationally significant Whangamarino Wetland and forms part of the region’s flood management scheme.
Scrub restored canal banks through locally sourced seed collection, native sedge production, site preparation and planting. The project required 45,000 native plants to be produced and planted within a short timeframe, followed by three years of maintenance.
Project Scale
45,000
NATIVE PLANTS SUPPLIED AND PLANTED
5.8 km
OF CANAL BANK PLANTED
3 years
OF PLANTING MAINTENANCE
Our role
Scrub delivered the planting programme from local seed collection through to ongoing establishment care.
· Ecosourced seed collection from local sources
· Propagation and supply of native sedges
· Site preparation using a Quikspray handgun unit
· Native planting along the canal banks
· Three-year planting maintenance programme
Producing plants to programme
Seed collection and nursery production were coordinated to meet a short delivery timeframe. Local seed sources provided the native sedges used to revegetate the canal banks.
Maintaining the planting
The planting programme includes three years of follow-up care to support establishment. Maintenance is scheduled to conclude in summer 2026/27, extending Scrub’s involvement beyond the initial planting works.
