Didymo forced authorities to start protecting Te Waikoropupū Springs, iwi tells Environment Court

Thursday, 26 May 2022

South Island iwi Ngāti Tama is urging the nation to get behind the Water Conservation Order to help protect Te Waikoropupū Springs in Golden Bay.

Ngāti Tama have taken to the stand to protect their sacred springs, saying it was didymo that finally pushed local authorities to stop the human desecration of Te Waikoropupū Springs.

On the third day of the Environment Court’s two-week hearing into whether the taonga and connected waterways should receive a water conservation order, the highest level of protection for a waterway, Ngāti Tama described how difficult it had been to protect the mauri (life force) of the springs.

The order application was lodged by Ngāti Tama and local resident Andrew Yuill following degradation in water quality and a lack of faith in the Tasman District Council to protect one of the largest, clearest springs in the southern hemisphere.

Fish Springs are in the same reserve and are fed by the same aquifers as the Te Waikoropupū Springs which boasts some of the clearest waters in the world.

WhenNgāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust began presenting evidence on Wednesday afternoon, trustee Margie Little explained that the wellbeing of Te Waikoropupū Springs was connected to the wellbeing of mana whenua.

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As far as iwi were concerned the springs were always off limits – no swimming, no contact with the water – with some exceptions for rongoā Māori (traditional Māori medicine) following strict protocols.

From left, then environment minister Nick Smith stands with Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust kaumātua John Ward-Holmes (since deceased) and trustee Margie Little. (File photo)

Despite Ngāti Tama kaumātua voicing their fears with the Tasman District Council and government departments about the impacts of recreational activities in the springs, the economic benefits were overpowering.

“They wanted to put glass bottom boats in the puna [springs] which would have been terrible,” Little said.

It was only once the invasive freshwater algae didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) became a threat to the springs that activities stopped.

“Tasman District Council have got jurisdiction over the water and [the Department of Conservation] have jurisdiction over the reserve, so people were still swimming and diving, and this went on for years and years and years. Thank goodness for didymo, that was the best thing that could have happened in our view,” said Little.

Fellow trustee Leanne Manson explained that even after the iwi’s Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement in 2013 which achieved statutory acknowledgements to the cultural sites and waterways, Ngāti Tama’s views on protecting their taonga were still difficult for those authorities to get their heads around.

Manson said the aspirations to protect Te Waikoropupū Springs from external contaminants, be it people or otherwise, required mana whenua to work with the council, but creating that relationship had been slow.

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“We were having to educate and support government departments to understand,” Manson said.

“We’ve had to resort to expensive litigation to assert our mana whenua role. These costs have not been just with economic costs, but also time and resources in trying to protect our wāhi tapu [sacred places].

“This is one of the reasons it's so important to have the water conservation order, because it gives greater recognition of mana whenua involvement in the decision-making and in the management.”

In the draft of the order, Ngāti Tama included a clause that partnership opportunities be offered by the council to iwi to ensure they did not fall back into a consultation relationship.

“We want to be actively involved in protecting our puna waiora,” Manson said.

The hearing continues.