An initiative led by Auckland Council and funded by Local Boards has been created to provide education and awareness of the impacts we all have on water quality. In particular the quality of the receiving environment. The project is based on the themes of:
Restore: taking action, including ecological restoration
Connect: making people aware of their impacts on water quality
Celebrate: engaging the community and raising awareness
The primary focus of the project is to educate through consultation and demonstration of potential small scale interventions to improve visibility of water and to connect people with water in the urban environment.
The initial project entailed locating a community with a willingness to take part. Then identifying issues through education of potential possibilities, and implementation of small scale retrofits of low impact options such as alternative downpipes, stormwater planters and rain barrels.
This paper presents several projects from the inception, through to the installation and follows up with the community as to the actual benefits of the project from a community perspective.