Deep Creek Stream assessment
Summary of report findings
Home to a number of permanent Maori residents in the early 1800s, Deep Creek (Waiake) later supported wine making, flax and saw milling, tobacco growing, sheep and cattle farming, and dairying. Most development in the catchment occurred following the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959 and the area is now fully developed. Deep Creek stream has been heavily modified during urbanisation of the catchment and retains little natural character.
Documents
Deep Creek Stream report PDF 
(855KB)
Deep Creek Stream maps (PDFs)
Links
North Shore stream assessments overview page
You will need Acrobat Reader to view some documents on this page, which can be downloaded free from www.adobe.com
| Length | 5km | |
| Size Of Catchment | 254ha | |
| Vegetation Cover | 14% (36ha) | |
| Imperviousness | 35% | |
| District Plan Land Use | Business | <1% |
| Recreation | 4% | |
| Residential | 78% | |
| Road | 17% | |
| Recreational Use | Low, no significant known public use. | |
| Receiving Environment | Waiake Beach, Hauraki Gulf | |
| Substrate | Silt/mud, gravel/mud or concrete (piped) throughout. | |
| Natural Wetlands | Nil | |
| Artificial Wetlands | Nil | |
| Periphyton | Significant densities of diatomaceous algae in the upper main channel. | |
| Macrophytes | Possible management issue in the lower main channel. | |
| Macroinvertebrates | Moderate MCI score, low EPT taxa. | |
| Fish | 7 species of native fish | |
| Potential Man-Made Barriers to Fish Passage to Upstream Habitat | 6 (+ 2 potential natural barriers) | |
| Channel Modification | Piped sections within every tributary except for Tributary 3 with 100% lined banks | |
| Erosion around Structures | One outfall with slight erosion and three outfalls with moderate erosion. | |
| Bank Erosion | Slight to moderate. | |
| Temperature | One measurement taken indicates potential to cause mortality of sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa. | |
| Suspended Solids, Turbidity And Visual Clarity | Suspended solids measured at 7 and 181g/m3, turbidity measured at 9.9 and 24 NTU, clarity average. | |
| Oxygen and Oxygen Demand | Oxygen saturation may be an issue for aquatic life (at 52%), oxygen demand average for North Shore streams. | |
| Nutrients | No data. | |
| Contaminants | Below and above average copper, average and above average lead, and below average and well above average zinc levels relative to North Shore streams. | |
| Bacteria and Pathogens | Levels of indicator bacteria indicate the stream is not suitable for contact recreation. | |
| Sediment Quality | No data. | |
| Debris | No significant inorganic or organic debris. | |
| Stream Grouping | Group 2, High value low disturbance | - |
| Group 3a, Urban semi-modified | 23% | |
| Group 3b, Urban modified | 44% | |
| Group 4, Concrete lined channel | 7% | |
| Group 5, Piped section | 26% | |