[7] The stream cuts through late Cretaceous-Tertiary sedimentary and igneous rocks and Quaternary floodplain conglomerate and colluvium.

In the area of Kaikorai Valley College the bedrock is the Altonian (Lower Miocene) (c.17 Ma millions years ago) Caversham Sandstone.

[10] From here the stream flows mainly through culverts below Bishopscourt -- a group of playing fields used by the Kaikorai Rugby Football Club -- and an intermediate school.

A pond and areas of swamp and forest and a community garden have been developed here in a wetland conservation project of the Dunedin Environment Centre Trust.

It continues partly in open stream but mainly in pipes up to 100 years old maintained by Dunedin City Council through private residential property.

[15] This spilling has taken place since the mid 1970s, providing a source of cool, clear water of high quality that would otherwise not be available in the Kaikorai catchment.

[17] At Burnside the river turns west through Green Island, mainly in a channel lined with concrete alongside the Dunedin Southern Motorway.

"[20] The pollution was, to a large extent, the result of the heavy industrialisation of the lower course of the stream, particularly around Burnside, which was the site of a freezing works and cement factory.

[22] Macroinvertebrates found in the estuary indicate the water is degraded, while more sensitive species exist near Kaikorai Valley College and the situation improves further upstream.

[22] Major pollution events include an accidental spill of lime from the Dunedin City Council water treatment plant at Mount Grand in 2000 which "killed all aquatic life" including 1,000 trout[23] for which the council was fined NZD14,000,[24] and a discharge of cooking oil from a KFC restaurant in 2011[25] for which Restaurant Brands was fined NZD15,000.