Can Franz Josef be saved?

Saturday, 18 November 2023

The tourist town of Franz Josef is slated as the next Esk Valley - at risk of being swept away by a catastrophic flood in a river rising so alarmingly it is now higher than the town, held in only by stopbanks. Residents face a dilemma: pull down the Waiho river’s southern stop banks and sacrifice some homes and farm land, or accept the town’s ultimate demise. JOANNE NAISH reports.

The land is in Kelley Eatwell’s blood. She’s the fifth generation of her family to work the rich, fertile ground that lies south of the Waiho River flowing from the Franz Josef glacier on the West Coast.

Now she, and other Waiho flat landowners, are being asked to abandon it to save the town of Franz Josef from that river.

It’s a decision made even more difficult by the fact no-one knows if the Government will help compensate them or if the next big flood will take the land anyway.

“My great, great-grandfather broke the land in,” says Eatwell. “So we've been here forever. My grandfather sold up because the Waiho was eating at the land then, but he kept a small block because he thought that would be safe,” she said.

The reality is far from safe. Franz Josef sits directly on the Alpine Fault and could be taken out by a major landslide or, more pressingly, flooding from the Waiho River, which meanders through mounds of gravel hemmed in by manmade rockwalls or stopbanks.

The riverbed now sits 15 metres above the land either side of it, confined by these stopbanks.

The glacier is the main drawcard for the 700,000 tourists who, pre-Covid, spent about $40 million a year in the town. But as the warming climate melts the ice, the retreating glacier is releasing millions of cubic metres of gravel and sediment.

The riverbed has been building up at a rate of about 20cm a year. River experts say that rate is accelerating and in an area of high rainfall this creates a critical risk of catastrophic flooding.

In 2016, a hotel was destroyed and hundreds evacuated when a channel of the river broke its banks. In 2019, the Waiho bridge collapsed and the Eatwell’s property was inundated.

They lost fences, troughs and all the crops for wintering their dairy cows.

“The flood went through and it just silted it all. And so we lost most of it. It nearly broke us,” she said.

The stopbank aimed at protecting the Waiho Flat was rebuilt after the 2019 flood and the Eatwells repaired their farm.

Stopbanks, either funded by Government departments or ratepayers, surround the river banks. They have names like Milton & Others and the Havill wall, which sparked a reprimand from the Auditor General to former mayor Bruce Smith and councillor Durham Havill who had the wall built without the backing of the full council, consulting experts, or a proper procurement process.

A report written by six of the country’s leading river experts, presented to the community in October, warned some of the “ad-hoc” stopbanks were not built to best industry practice, while the river was building up quicker than ever - so fast it was beginning to carve a new path into the Tatare Stream exacerbating the risks of flooding to the township. It said if the stopbanks were retained, there was a high chance a storm would create a catastrophic loss of life, livestock and property at any time.

They recommended the only viable but “drastic option” was to allow the river to fan out to the south, easing pressure on the northern stopbanks for the next 60 years. Everything in the river’s path would have to be moved in stages over 10 years: homes, farms, an aerodrome and an old rubbish dump.

Eatwell’s farm is also in the firing line, meaning she would have to sacrifice the family land she bought and her parents, who live there, would have to leave the home they have lived in for most of their lives.

She’s OK with saying goodbye to save the town. But she doesn’t want to lose everything she has worked for.

West Coast Regional Council chief executive Darryl Lew said the report said the same as experts in at least three previous studies.

A Government commissioned report by Tonkin + Taylor in 2017 warned that stopbanks were not a long-term solution and estimated it would cost almost $300m to move the town and $67m to allow the river to fan out to the south.

Lew said the river system was on a par with the Esk Valley where two people lost their lives during Cyclone Gabrielle.

It could destroy the town’s sewage ponds within three to five years.

“This is probably one of the most riskiest rivers to people in the whole of New Zealand,” he said.

The town is also at risk from the Alpine Fault with experts forecasting a major earthquake within 50 years.

The council had secured $24m in 2020 for stopbanks from the previous Government’s “shovel ready” fund aimed at helping the economy recover from Covid-19. The Government released the money to upgrade the northern stopbanks, but held back almost $9m and told the council it needed to come up with a longer-term solution for the south side.

Council chairman Peter Haddock said if the community was on board, the council would ask the Government for money and for Waka Kotahi to move the state highway. The cost is estimated to be anything from an eye-watering $200m upwards.

“It will become unaffordable and unsustainable to keep building stopbanks higher and higher. The community faces loss of livelihoods, their homes and loss of life. It’s a unique river,” Haddock said.

“The river bed is higher than the township in places. It’s quite frightening. I hate to think what could happen. We can’t put our heads in the sand we have got to do something.”

Jen Williams lives with her husband and two children, aged 11 and 8, on a 100ha farm on the south side. The couple use the property to raise calves, graze cows over winter and run an Airbnb, beehives, honey shop and a concrete and contracting business. The children go to school in Franz Josef and spend hours in the horse arena set up in their backyard.

“For us, everything is here. To do what we've got here anywhere else, it's just not feasible,” she said.

She said a group of south side property owners had formed to work with the council in approaching the Government for a fair market value payout. So far she believed there were about 45 who wanted the council to lobby on their behalf.

“We are keen to work with it and try and get something because effectively now the land is worth nothing.”

Everyone has their own ideas about what to do with the Waiho, but when the chips are down they rally together, she says.

“When we had the floods the Waiho Bridge was gone and we were cut off here. We would all go and move cattle together or do musters or help people fix fences and have barbecues,” she said.

When Williams helped organise a working bee for a homeowner whose husband died last year, about 20 community members turned up with trailers, chainsaws and food for the barbecue.

She did not want anyone left behind especially the elderly or other vulnerable people who did not want to go.

“We want to make sure it's fair for everyone.”

Eighty-year-old Anje Kremer does not want to leave her Waiho Flat Rd property where she has planted 1400 tulips, a nod to her Dutch heritage.

“I'm not going anywhere. They can come, bring a box in and cart me out,” she said.

The Government paid to relocate her house from near the Waiho bridge to its current location in 1998. It provided $766,222 in 2003 to buy out or move several properties on the south side of the Waiho River after a report found they were at significant risk from a landslide. A protracted battle with a motel owner meant the final buyout didn’t happen until 2015.

Benjamin Hockey, who owns a backpackers in town but lives on the south side with his wife and two young daughters, agrees it is a drastic solution and cannot see the Government coming up with a huge funding package for such a small community.

The town has a population of about 400, which pre-Covid swelled to 3500 at the height of the tourist season. The south bank is home to about 65 people.

Before the public meeting, he was of the view the town should keep fighting the river with stopbanks. Now he sees the justification of sacrificing his home to save his business.

“The first thing that’s going to go would be the sewage ponds. Without those there's no town. If you can't flush toilet you can't operate a business. So if that goes, we're f***ed.”

Hockey said he wanted to be out of limbo but wanted to know what owners would be paid to move.

“We've only been here, not quite 10 years. But what about the people that have got generation farming here and who have spent their last 56 years building up their property and their farm? Are they supposed to just have it written off and let the river just take it?”

‘We’re in the shit’

Graham Berry bought his 160ha dairy farm on the south side 18 years ago and battled for years for resource consent to build a hydro power scheme on the land.

He realised the south side would have to be sacrificed after the Tonkin + Taylor review in 2017.

That was when Berry stopped investing in his farm and productivity suffered as a result.

“We’re in the shit. We have been for years. When the report came they just said you guys are doomed on the south side. And it was really hard to comprehend back then,” he said.

As a member of the town’s Civil Defence team, he knew the dangers.

He said the money generated from tourism on the north side far outweighed that made on the south side and he believed Franz Josef would always be a destination for tourists, even without the glacier.

He was angry at how the council presented the report to the community at a public meeting when those directly affected should have been given a heads up first.

“I am hoping that everyone gets looked after, everyone gets an even pay out …and no one gets left behind.”

He said the limbo dragging on for years had played havoc with people’s mental health and he was working with the West Coast Rural Support Trust to offer counselling to those affected.

While Whataroa farmer Peter Dennehy acknowledged he was in a different situation to those who lived on the flood plain, he said his dairy support farm on the south side was irreplaceable.

“I won't be able to get a run-off as good as this on the Coast for our dairy farm. So it would be a high price,” he said.

“The council keep hiring so-called experts to do ridiculously expensive reports on the river so they can trot back to the Government for more money.

“The town of Franz has never been better stop banked than what it is right at the moment. It'd be a shame to lose this productive land,” he said.

He said there were too many unknowns and he could not agree to anything without seeing more information first.

Our property is ‘worth nothing’

South side homeowner Craig Goodall said his wife’s wish before she died was for him to complete her dream of a new house on their section.

“To me this is home I've lived here for over half my life in Franz and owned a property for 29 years. Three of my four kids have been basically brought up here. I don't know what I'm going to do,” he said.

He also did not believe there was enough information from the council or the Government to make an informed decision.

“We don't know what we're agreeing to.

“It’s frustrating. There's some pretty upset people around. Basically everyone's property is worth nothing now.”

North side business owner Adam Haugh said there was nothing new in the council’s latest report.

He said if some of the south side residents moved away from Franz Josef it would be a “hell of a hit” for the community including for its playgroup, volunteer groups and fire brigade.

A compassionate solution

Te Runanga o Makaawhio chairperson Paul Madgwick said the Waiho (Waiau) was one of the most complex rivers in New Zealand and the solution was going to be difficult and painful.

“Unfortunately, weak councils have failed us by ignoring report after report that have warned the situation will only get worse as the glacier retreat quickens with climate change,” he said.

A compassionate solution was needed for people who had settled on the flood plain over several generations.

“For Ngāi Tahu, the glacier - Te Tai o Wawe, or to give its more poetic name, Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere - is a taonga and it embodies creation stories, so the river that flows from it is equally a taonga and should be allowed to flow freely,” he said.

Simply dumping more rock was unsustainable.

“It's patently obvious this is way beyond the means of the Franz community let alone the West Coast, and so the Government has to stump up with a fair compo package. Trouble is, West Coast ratepayers then have to co-fund whatever that ends up at and the problem just compounds.”

Waka Kotahi central South Island system manager Mark Pinner said it agreed with the strategy to move the highway because it was no longer sustainable or practical to maintain the stopbanks as the river was now higher than the road.

He said cost, location and the number of new bridges required were still unknown.

A spokesperson said National leader and Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon could not comment until policies and plans were put in place by the new Government.

National’s West Coast electorate MP and former Westland mayor Maureen Pugh said there was no policy decision on the issue, but questioned whether the Government could afford to buy out at risk properties all over New Zealand.

“Reports have been around since I was on the council. So we're going back probably 12 to 15 years … We implemented the severe flood hazard zone for the south side…so the community is under no illusion about the risk for that area.”

Whilst not promising payouts, she said she would be lobbying for the community to get a decision.

“Once a decision is made, even if not everybody likes it, at least then you know where you're heading. This state of limbo is cruel,” she said.

Kelley Eatwell and her husband Richard say they want a decision within two years.

“Emotions aren't going to pay our bills. We've just got to toughen up and hope like hell the government does something for us so we can move on. And is quick about it,” she said.