Waingongoro River

It has taken 50 years, but finally the Waingongoro River once again flows past the Waimarama Marae, restoring the life force to the hapu.

A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on Saturday (October 31).

It was the culmination of a long story which started with a flood more than half a century ago.

The then Catchment Board, now the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, installed a culvert to protect the marae from flooding but then a second flood flood about 10 years later blocked the culvert and the river cut its own path out to sea, away from the marae.

While the intention to protect the marae was good, the impact was huge at a spiritual and practical level.

Traditionally the river had been used for christenings, spiritual cleansing, washing, and to provide a cool store for food and drink – and it was the water supply.

A bore was sunk to provide a water supply but without the river to recharge the aquifer it did not work.

Robert MacDonald remembers watching, as a 10-year-old, the earthworks that changed the course of the next 50 years.

Now 65, he speaks for his elders, including those who have passed on, about the significance of the rejoining of the Waingongoro River.

“The life force is back again and so will return the customary practices and life patterns around the river that are important to the life of the marae and hapu.”

The drive and passion by the hapu to return the river to its original course did not wane over the decades.

Finally, in 1997, in the wake of a failed application by the Hastings District Council to draw water from the river in a time of drought, the council, the regional council and the Waimarama Marae committee reached an agreement through the Environment court that the parties would work together to get water back into the old water course.

It was not straightforward as all the land owners needed to agree, and some property owners had effectively moved on in terms of their thinking, and some had arguably benefited from diversion.

There was also the issue of cost, as the stream was much lower than it had been, requiring substantial work to be undertaken to return the river to its original path.

Once an agreement to reinstate the original water way was reached, the two councils and the marae committee came up with solution that meant both the original and the current northern waterway would run, given that over the 50 years an ecosystem had developed within the new route.

Regional council engineers investigated historical flow data and completed hydrological modelling to decide there was sufficient mean flow to split between the two courses. The regional council built a new weir, with a culvert and a channel splitting the flow between the current channel and the restored old channel.

During low flows in summer, the restored water course past the marae will be the preferred channel to the sea.

Finally, on Saturday 31 October 2015, 50 years after it was blocked, the river once again flowed past the marae within the original river bed.

Mayor Lawrence Yule, who spoke at the ceremony, was overwhelmed at the history, the grievance and the rejoicing of the people on the day the river was reinstated.

He said to the gathering: “At first I had no appreciation of the importance of the issue to the hapu – now I do. I am hugely impressed by the importance of the river to you and your community. I can only wonder why it took us so long to achieve what has occurred today. Many of you have worked for years to assist council in many ways, as advisors, governors, and participants in our many projects. May that continue. Thank you.”

ENDS

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