The Pōrangahau group's "Taurekaitai ki Te Paerahi" project will take a co-ordinated kotahitanga approach with landowners and community to deliver improved water health and biodiversity outcomes for the Pōrangahau Catchment.
The Pōrangahau River has one of the highest rates of sediment contamination in New Zealand, impacting heavily on water and ecosystem health.
The project will include the development of a Catchment Management Plan, accelerating efforts to address soil erosion and the protection and revegetation of priority catchment waterways through a targeted riparian planting programme.
Pōrangahau Catchment Group chairwoman Gretchen King said securing the funding enables the group to "fast-track the journey we've begun".
"We are lucky enough to have an amazing community who are passionate about our little slice of paradise and the health of our catchment," she said.
The project will also include workshops to promote industry best practice and planning sessions to prioritise on-farm actions for improving water health and biodiversity, including the Pōrangahau estuary and dune ecosystems.
Tukipo Catchment Care Group chairman Colin Tyler said the funding will help to ease pressure on farmers.
"To be able to have some practical work done on the ground will be well received and we're extremely grateful," he said.
"The majority of the funding will be used to provide practical advice to farmers and get on-farm actions. We want to make sure land owners are getting advice around what to plant, where, how to look after those."
The recent funding forms part of the wider Jobs for Nature scheme – a $1.24b programme that manages funding across government agencies to benefit the environment, people and the regions and is part of the Covid-19 recovery package.
Other areas set to benefit from the funding include the Gisborne, Bay of Plenty, Rangitikei, Canterbury, Nelson, Northland, Taranaki and Otago.
