Otago Regional Council, NZ
Regional Council in New Zealand
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ Native Planting Guide promotes biodiversity and climate resilience
The interactive resource assists landowners with species selection for landscaping and planting projects. Users click on the map or enter their addresses for location-specific ecosystem reports. Each PDF report includes a list of native species with details such as maximum height, growth rate, and environmental tolerances. Additional resources in the Native Planting Guide include guides for shrubland or coastal planting and native planting principles.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ monitors real-time water conditions with Environmental Data Portal
The interactive dashboard presents environmental data from 250 monitoring stations near local waterways. Dashboard users filter data by 12 parameters such as dissolved oxygen concentration, rainfall, and nitrate nitrogen. Map pinpoints show filtered data over seven intervals including the past day, week, and month. The Environmental Data Portal can generate reports back to each station's installation with some stations dating back eight decades.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ deploys Limnotrack buoys for real-time water quality monitoring
Limnotrack's solar-powered buoys drop water sensors up to 120 meters deep multiple times per day. Quality metrics like algae growth, oxygen levels, and clarity are sent to a public dashboard. Each buoy includes a weather sensor for the collection of air temperature and humidity data. Otago Regional Council began its water monitoring project with a pilot at Lake Hayes in 2019 before adding permanent buoys to Lake Wanaka and Lake Whakatipu in 2022.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ supports intensive winter grazing plans with improved consent map
Changes to national resource consent rules will impact how farmers handle winter grazing. An updated Consents in Otago map helps farmers as they research potential consent requirements. Property searches by address, consent number, or description show nearby critical source areas and waterways. The interactive map includes drawing and measuring features useful when developing grazing plans. Otago Regional Council created a detailed plan template to complement this updated mapping tool.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ anticipates future public transit needs with electric bus pilot
Four Orbus routes in Dunedin were served by a 35-seat Global Bus Ventures electric bus during the one-month pilot. The system's social media account promoted the program by asking for bus sightings and commuting experiences. Riders were surveyed throughout the pilot with respondents entered into drawings for Bee Card credits. This trial run provided valuable data for transit officials as they comply with a national requirement to replace all diesel buses by 2035.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ is conducting a trial of real-time bus tracking for its Orbus service
Otago Regional Council is conducting a trial of real-time bus tracking for its Orbus service in Queenstown. The tracking, provided by TrackAbus, shows the GPS locations of buses in real-time along with the estimated time until they reach upcoming stops. This real-time information is available on the Council's website; residents can also access their estimated wait-time at a bus stop via text.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand
Otago Regional Council, NZ provides free public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Orbus public transportation services in the Otago Regional Council have been made free in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This temporary policy was adopted to facilitate social distancing between passengers and drivers. To provide further protection to the community, passengers are encouraged to only enter and exit buses from the rear door and to register the details of their trips online with the Ministry of Health.
Otago Regional Council, NZ
New Zealand