Clive River at Boat Ramp
The Clive River is a large body of relatively calm water popular for a wide range of recreation and sports - rowing, waka ama, kayaking, kite surfing, water skiing and jetskiing. This river is generally not suitable for swimming.
This river site is monitored weekly and water quality sampling indicates it often has poor water quality.
Boats are launched here, and freedom camping for self-contained vehicles only is permitted. There are toilets and picnic tables. The HB Trails run through the car park, and a horse-riding trail starts here.
This part of the river catchment - which includes the Karamu and its tributaries, Hastings city and drains in a large rural area - has a number of challenges. Water quality at this lower end can suffer as a result.
The catchment features pastoral, horticultural, viticultural, industrial and urban land use, and is the main receiving environment of Hastings and Havelock North stormwater.
It is included in the TANK Plan - standing for the Tutaekuri, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamu catchments on the wider Heretaunga Plains - which is well underway in looking at new policies for managing land and water.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council is working with marae, companies, local councils and volunteers on a planting programme to enhance the Clive and Karamu Stream. This riparian project will help reduce soil and nutrients getting into the water.
Because of the nutrients in the river, weed growth can hinder water flow upstream during warm summer months. Hawke's Bay Regional Council uses a weed boat to cut weed, and this can drift into the Clive River area before flushing out to sea. HBRC aims its work to avoid major sporting events.
The river mouth can close over during Easterly/Southeasterly wind and current conditions. This may have to be opened by a digger, when conditions on the coast are safe and when river flows are strong enough to push through the cutting.
Elevated levels of bacteria are generally found after heavy or prolonged periods of rain during which increased surface runoff enters the river from the surrounding catchment.
