B-7 – Area 7 - Assessment of Environmental Effects 29 The freshwater ecological values across the rest of the Ruahorehore Stream catchment are varied with a mixture of permanent waterways, vegetated drains and water collection ponds. Boffa Miskell (2022a) identifies the tributary of Ruahorehore Stream which connects it to the headwaters described above as having medium to high ecological value. Longfin eel, shortfin eel and freshwater crayfish have been recorded in this waterbody. Where it emerges from the ridge into the cleared portion of the TSF3 footprint, the Ruahorehore tributary is 0.17 m to 1.48 m wide with >1m high, almost vertical stream banks. The bed is predominantly smooth clay and silt/sand, with some smaller gravels. Water clarity was good at a mean depth of 0.28 m. Macrophyte species were rare, with small patches of watercress and starwort (Callitriche sp.) present. Large areas of bank collapse have resulted in large patches of pasture grass species growing in the channel and riparian vegetation consists of overgrown pasture grasses with occasional fern, gorse and other groundcover weed species. Figure 20: Ruahorehore tributary within TSF3 footprint (Boffa Miskell 2022a).
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