Wharekahika River

Land cover is mainly indigenous scrub and forest with some extensive farming near the mouth and limited areas of exotic pine forest.

Native fish species that inhabit the Wharekahika are a key value and water quality is generally maintained due to a lack of erosion prone soils in the catchment and the minimal modification that has taken place from intensive landuse. Native fish in the Wharekahika have been ranked as nationally significant by the River Values Assessment System (RiVAS).

The Wharekahika has a permanent monitoring site near the wharf bridge, approximately 1km inland from the river mouth. Data is available from 1995.