Appendix 2: Method and Outcomes of Wetland Delineation Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project: Freshwater Ecological Assessment | Willows Road Farm Tributary gully features Assessment (25/05/2021) Two gully features were inspected at Willows Road Farm on 25 May 2021 Tributary 1. Gully feature 1 is a constructed farm pond created by an embankment/causeway. The embankment has a small-sized outlet pipe located high on the embankment so as to provide for the detention of ponded water. The downstream outlet of the pipe is perched thus preventing the passage of fish upstream. The sizing and location of the outlet pipe shows it has been clearly developed as a farm pond for the purpose of retaining water. Tributary 2. Gully feature 2 occurs as wet pasture wet pasture in a shallow gully encompassing a flow path that emerges from the scrub covered hillslope above. The gully was heavily grazed and trampled by cattle creating compact and impermeable soils. Historical photographs show that clearance for farmland had begun in the area by 1942 and was completely cleared by 1999. Tributary 1 Five 2 x 2 metre vegetation plots were sampled within the gully. Plot one was taken near the toe of gully upstream of the farm pond. Additional plots were taken every 10 m apart in succession up the gully. Spring seepages along the margins of the catchment were evident up the gully. Vegetation cover estimates within plots were used to complete the Dominance Test and calculate a Prevalence Index in accordance with MfE (2020) protocols. Observations of the soils were also undertaken. Plot one showed layering of soils in the soil profile, developing from compact soils to shallow sands indicating hydric soils. Soil profiles in plot five were dark grey clay with a manure smell. Plots where sampled near the middle of cross-section in the prospective wetland features as margins were lined exotic pasture species such as with Kikuyu and rye grass. All plots except the last had clearly dominant species, but species in the FAC, FACW or OBL classes dominated the overall vegetation cover in all plots, and so passed the ‘Dominance’ test. All plots scored a PI < 3 (indicative of a wet-tolerant vegetation community), though most were only marginally below (four plots where above 2.7 and two where above 2.89). All plots were dominated by exotic pasture species (comprising between 50% and 60% of the vegetation cover in these plots). These plots can therefore be excluded from the definition of a ‘Natural Wetland’ under the Improved Pasture exclusion according the NPS-FM. We consider that tributary 1 gully feature is excluded from the definition of a natural wetland as it is an area of improved pasture that, at the commencement date, is dominated by exotic pasture species, does not have permanent surface water, and is subject to temporary rain-derived water pooling. Tributary 2 Two 2 x 2 metre vegetation plots were sampled within the gully feature. Plot one was taken in the toe flow path with the following plot taken approximately 20 meters upstream where the gully becomes a stream. Vegetation cover estimates within plots were used to complete the Dominance Test and calculate a Prevalence Index in accordance with MfE (2020) protocols. Hydric soil samples were taken. All plots passed the ‘Dominance’ test. All plots scored a PI < 3 (indicative of a wet-tolerant vegetation community). Mercer grass dominated this prospective wetland forming a 2 by 5-meter-long patch at the toe of the flow path, lined with Kikuyu and Perennial rye grass at the margins. All plots were dominated by exotic pasture species (comprising of 76% and 100% of the vegetation cover in these plots). These plots can therefore be excluded from the definition of a ‘Natural Wetland’ under the Improved Pasture exclusion according the NPS-FM. We consider that the tributary 2 gully feature is excluded from the definition of a natural wetland as it is an area of improved pasture that, at the commencement date, is dominated by exotic pasture species, does not have permanent surface water, and is subject to temporary rain-derived water pooling.
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