Lake Horowhenua weed harvesting gets the go-ahead, but doubts raised after delays

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

A long-touted plan to use a weed harvester to fix Lake Horowhenua's pollution woes has once again been given the go-ahead, angering advocates for the lake.

A Horizons regional councillor also doubts the plan will happen, betting $5000 against it starting on time.

The lake to the west of Levin has been in an atrocious state for years, with runoff from farms, factories and stormwater drains all heading into the shallow body of water.

It was also used as the discharge point for the town's sewerage, angering Muaūpoko iwi members whose ancestors rest on the lake bed after being slaughtered there in the 1820s by Te Rauparaha, of Ngāti Toa, and his forces.

Lake Horowhenua is one of New Zealand's worst lakes, with water so bad a scientist once said it could kill a dog or small child.

* Phil Taueki plans to fight consents for stormwater discharge into Lake Horowhenua

* Lake Horowhenua advocate Philip Taueki stands for Horizons Regional Council**

Horizons has for years planned to use a weed harvester, similar to the ones used on lakes near Rotorua, at the lake.

The theory was mowing the weeds, along with cleaning up the waterways heading into the lake, would help prevent a cycle of algal blooms that turn the water surface into something resembling a sponge each summer.

There have been legal challenges and many debates along the way, but the council's strategy and policy committee voted on Tuesday to get the harvester going.

Weed harvesting would not start until 2021, because a ramp needed to be built to accommodate the harvester.

Philip Taueki talks through the struggle to restore Lake Horowhenua to its former healthy state. (First published December, 2019)

It took about two hours and 20 minutes to make the decision during a meeting item that included public speaking, debate and a lengthy presentation.

Dr Jonathan Procter, of Muaūpoko and Ngāi Tahu, and who had served as a lake trustee, told the council it had repeatedly failed in its duty to clean up the lake.

The Waitangi Tribunal had ruled Horizons was complicit in the pollution of the lake, making it the only regional council in New Zealand guilty of breaching Te Tiriti o Waitangi, he said.

The lake trust – currently subject to a court challenge due to problems with its election – had decided it wanted the harvesting to go ahead.

'The majority of the owners elected us and told us to get on and fix the lake.'

But Anne Hunt, who spoke on behalf of lake kaitiaki Phil Taueki, said there had been inadequate consultation with the lake's beneficial owners about weed harvesting.

The risk of damaging Muaūpoko remains on the lake bed from the harvester or installing a concrete boat ramp was too great, and damaging taonga, fisheries and native plants was a breach of the second article of Te Tiriti, she said.

Horizons freshwater and partnerships manager Logan Brown said the pollution could not be fixed without using the harvester, because the weeds would keep seeding on to the lake bed even with minimal nutrients.

The pollution was killing juvenile kākahi, making the lake 'more of a rest home', he said.

'They hang out until they pass away and then there are no more in the lake.'

Whanganui-based councillor David Cotton doubted the harvesting would start on time, because the date had been moved each year from 2016 for various reasons, including court challenges,

He pledged to donate $5000 to the Lake Horowhenua Accord if it started on time, such was his confidence it would not go ahead.

'I hope I write the cheque out.'