Taiorahi Creek assessment
Summary of report findings
Real development of the Taiorahi Creek catchment occurred following the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959 and during the early 1970s. The catchment is now largely developed to capacity and land use is predominantly low density residential. The Taiorahi Creek while typical of many urban streams located on the North Shore, with numerous stormwater inputs, lined channels and degraded habitats, also exhibits many attributes associated with less degraded watercourses, including excellent native bush cover in the upper catchment, a good variety of fish species, and excellent water clarity.
Documents
Taiorahi Creek report PDF 
(704KB)
Taiorahi Creek maps (PDFs)
Links
North Shore stream assessments overview page
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| Length | 2.2km | |
| Size Of Catchment | 139ha |
|
| Vegetation Cover | 19% (27ha), surrounding the upper main channel. |
|
| Imperviousness | 37% |
|
| District Plan Land Use | Business | 0.3% |
| Recreation | 6% | |
| Residential | 79% | |
| Road | 15% | |
| Recreational Use | Medium, some known public use of the stream locality. | |
| Receiving Environment | Murrays Bay Beach, Hauraki Gulf. | |
| Substrate | Silt/mud, concrete and gravel throughout. | |
| Natural Wetlands | 2 | |
| Artificial Wetlands | 1 | |
| Periphyton | Below nuisance levels except for the lower main channel with poor/nuisance diatomaceous algae present as a likely result of limited overhead cover causing higher temperatures. | |
| Macrophytes | No management issues. | |
| Macroinvertebrates | MCI & EPT taxa range from low to high compared to other North Shore streams. | |
| Fish | 5 species of native fish + koura. | |
| Potential Man-Made Barriers to Fish Passage to Upstream Habitat | 8 (+ 1 natural potential barrier). | |
| Channel Modification | Unmodified except for Tributaries 1, 1A, 1B and 2. | |
| Erosion around Structures | Significant modification, mainly within the lower catchment. | |
| Bank Erosion | Slight to nil (within modified sections). | |
| Temperature | April 1999 20.8 ° C, potential to cause mortality of sensitive macroinvertebrates. | |
| Suspended Solids, Turbidity And Visual Clarity | 4 - 13g/m3 suspended solids, very good clarity up to 0.8 metre. | |
| Oxygen and Oxygen Demand | 6.8g/m3. | |
| Nutrients | No data | |
| Contaminants | No data |
|
| Bacteria and Pathogens | Levels of indicator bacteria indicate the stream is not suitable for contact recreation.. | |
| Sediment Quality | No data | |
| Debris | No significant debris. | |
| Stream Grouping | Group 2, High value low disturbance | - |
| Group 3a, Urban semi-modified | 28% | |
| Group 3b, Urban modified | 36% | |
| Group 4, Concrete lined channel | 11% | |
| Group 5, Piped section | 23% | |