In TRM’s blog in response to a recent complaint, this compensation package was referred to as being more worthy of complaining about and of far more importance and critical to the future of the Tongariro River trout fishing. So – no surprise – other fishy readers requested more info. Trout anglers are always so perceptive when considering fishing issues… This is all about being fair.
This was being saved for your Easter reading but anglers want answers now… so you might make a strong cup of tea to absorb it all over the weekend.
This major complaint from anglers has been festering for over twenty years – as long as we have been here. It is way past time the various authorities acknowledged it but they could not find a solution. Now that Tongariro anglers have identified it for them, it is time they acted responsibly and got off their butts.
This compensation proposal was discussed with various influential Council and other people last year but nothing more has happened. i.e. The Taupo Council CEO played “pass the parcel” and handed it on to their Waikato Regional Council representative on Taupo Council late last year. He and all others approached agreed with the basis and are fully sympathetic, but do not understand the importance as they are not river anglers. Anywhere else in NZ the Fishing Managers (F&G) would have sorted this years ago but the Taupo fishery is managed by DOC… This should be a DOC initiative but they will not risk anything that might upset their treaty partners… This should be their most important project to enhance and protect the future of their fishery.
This solution was offered to these local politicians as a new challenge, asking if they could advise who could be appointed as a project manager to prepare a compensation claim against the Crown and the power company (Genesis) responsible for the deteriorating condition of the lower Tongariro River. Or we were hoping they may be able to recommend an alternative way of achieving the same result in election year?
A compensation claim would generate sufficient publicity to expose and encourage DOC (and their treaty partners?) and Councils (both District and Regional Councils) and Government (whichever department is responsible?) and fishing clubs (both Taupo and TALTAC) and any other groups (Advocates for the Tongariro River) to acknowledge the importance of the issues and take responsibility for the loss of a major portion of the Tongariro River fishery, to support this initiative for suitable compensation to replace the loss.
The basic claim could go something like this…
Prior to the Tongariro Hydro Power project when the river flowed naturally – usually at around 50 cumecs – most of the recreational fishing was below Turangi. i.e. Before they raised the lake there was a fishing camp at the delta to cope with the demand. Every bend in the lower river had a “pool” name and was fished just as intensively as the pools above the town.
Then in the 1960’s along came the hydro power project which effectively halved the flow – to around 24 cumecs – redirecting the other half (plus the flow from Lake Moawhango) into canals over to Lake Rotoaira and through the tunnel to spin the turbines in the Tokannu Power Station. Now, fifty years later, the long term permanent damage is evident. The lower river beyond Turangi is a complete mess.
The major problem is aggradation – the raising of the river bed due to sediment settling on the river bed and increasing the risk of flooding. The reduced volume and power of the river has been proved to be insufficient to carry all the sediment out into the lake to extend the delta. Instead it is all deposited in the lower river which raises the river bed and increases flood risk. More importantly, the pumice and ash sediment covered all the spawning gravels, destroyed the biggest brown trout nursery in Lake Taupo as it ruined the fishing opportunities. For a small tourist town that was originally established on the world-wide reputation of the great trout fishing over one hundred years ago, this is a critical issue that must be solved in the interests of securing the future prospects of Turangi.
If Taupo Council were serious about projects for boosting tourism, they should be all over this. They (or their consultants) recently reviewed the flood risk in Turangi township and adjusted levels to include many more properties as now being subject to flood risk. An example is this motel – after 60 years it has never flooded but is now listed as being in a flood zone.
But this suggested compensation claim is about a much more serious problem than just flooding – the loss of recreational river trout fishing opportunities in the lower river could result in economic disaster for Turangi!
Time has now proven the long term effects from hydro power scheme of the 1960’s have destroyed much of the best trout fishing and spawning beds in the lower river. Therefore anglers (and Turangi) deserve compensation – not necessarily in $ terms but in either restoring the lower river (a waste of effort?) or by creating new river bank fishing access in the upper river – above the Fence Pool.
That is the basis of the compensation claim.
The upper river is still in its natural state. It is not accessible but there are plenty of fly fishing opportunities – ask any raft operator – to justify developing a loop track up to the Poutu Dam and back down to Red Hut bridge. The photos below illustrate the river fishing from when we trespass across the prison farm. Needless to say, the fishing is superb.
The development of a loop track up there could be mainly paid by MBIE who have funded most of the other more remote bike trails around NZ. They were advertising for “innovative ideas” or projects to attract tourists.
If it is supported this proposal would easily qualify, but the application should come from the combination of Council together with DOC and Iwi and bike clubs and fishing clubs. Then it would be unstoppable.
It needs more political grunt than just a grumpy old motel blogger’s complaint on behalf of anglers, but a serious formal submission claiming compensation is overdue – which would coincidentally equate to the same $ cost as a new loop trail up to the Poutu Dam might be interpreted as an appropriate compromise package… It would make a great story?
Fish & Game already represent most anglers who visit the Tongariro. They would have been all over this. The approval for the Tongariro Hydro Scheme was conditional upon the lower Tongariro River access being retained and the fishing pools unaffected. They, the Crown and the power company, failed to keep their promises. Now, sixty years later, they should have to pay. This proposed compensation package, by recreating more access trails and fishing opportunties, would be one way to reward very patient Turangi residents and visiting anglers who have suffered from the Crown’s neglect.
That is a brief summary of the situation. Photos below illustrate the upper river fishing – if access tracks were available for anglers it would be comparable to discovering a new river at least as good as that portion of the Tongariro River that is open now.
But the initiative has to come from bikers (rather than anglers – who have already proven the viability of the Tongariro River Trail and many other tourist trails throughout NZ. Any new bike trail would need to have little secondary links leading down to the Tongariro River.
So this is where our story changes gear, from fishing opportunities to biking opportunities.
The biking opportunities, to extend the 10 km Tongariro River Trail loop by another 20 km alone, would justify the exercise. If linked with the Poutu Dam then there are already existing roads and trails to link with the Pillars of Hercules through to Tree Trunk Gorge (both bike trails managed by DOC) which would provide an all-day biking experience to rival and exceed anything that Rotorua or Taupo Bike Club have provided. It would be the saviour of tourism for Turangi.
Up river, off Kaimanawa Road, there are established DOC camping grounds and shelters and facilities waiting to be discovered by tourists. These include the Urchins Camp and Umukarikari camps linking with various tramping tracks into the Kaimanawas.
This extension loop of the Tongariro River Trail was originally investigated and proposed by the Advocates for the Tongariro River many years ago. The photo below is Taupo’s MP Louise Upston inspecting the route back in 2007.
Stage 1 loop up to Red Hut was completed and has proved to be an outstanding success. DOC took full credit for the Advocates initiative and now manage the trail. During negotiations for the stages 2 & 3, to link up to and back from the Poutu Dam, meetings were also held with the other DoC – Department of Corrections (Glenn Brough) – Lake Taupo Forest Management (Geoff Thorp) and NZ Forest Managers (Chas Hutton) as the proposed route was through their land. All supported the proposal.
Indeed, the Corrections Department was so positively enthusiastic, they offered not only to build the track using prison labour, but to maintain it in the future. This was following their original precedent as the first anglers’ access track had been developed by prison labour teams over one hundred years ago and is still maintained by them. The new track route was surveyed and even quotes for bridges etc had been received by the Advocates who then produced a video presentation for the previous council Mayor, Rick Cooper. At that stage it appeared unstoppable but nothing further was achieved. Their reasons for the continued delays were mainly to do with affecting Treaty Settlements so everyone backed off. But now, so many years later, they have been settled so there is no excuse.
The most effective promotion of this project – to link the existing DOC-managed tracks with a loop trail above the Tongariro River Trail and below their network of tracks up to Tree Trunk Gorge – was to include it in the devious plot of TRM’s “mockumentary”, Tongariro Skulduggery, published over three years ago. That story is one of the reasons so many anglers and bikers have continued to ask more about it and when it is likely to happen? The book should be compulsory study for all Councils and DOC and Genesis officials.
Taupo Council even confirmed their support to link with the Tongariro River Trail when they published their own brochure including the T2T (Taupo to Turangi) extending up to Poutu Dam as part of a submission to DOC to develop the links to qualify as one of NZ’s Great Walks. SInce then they have invented various new excuses why it cannot proceed. Other bike trails have since been built while this has been ignored.
Over this same 12 year period Taupo Bike Club (with Government and Council’s financial assistance) were involved in extending several tracks around Kinloch and opening the remote bike trail at Waihaha – 50 km west of Taupo. Their latest involvement is promoted as the “Kaimanawa Experience” even further south down the Desert Road closer to Waiouru.
That more commercial development was quite different from any other local bike trails involving Sika Helicopters to fly bikes and riders to the start at the top of the Kaimanawas – for $350 per rider. This trail was planned with Lake Rotoaira Forest Trust who held public meetings in Turangi to announce how they were planning to become the “Tourist Hub” of the central North Island. The trail and helicopter landing pads etc. were funded by the MBIE – Ministry of Everything.
Meanwhile, Turangi’s requests to link up the existing trails above the Tongariro River Trail were shelved and ignored. So sad… To satisfy the demand from TRM inmates, about five years ago a 40km bike trail was surveyed from Tree Trunk Gorge linking up various tracks back to TRM. The popularity and feedback from riders confirm the viability of the proposal. For a council seeking viable tourist opportunities, it should be a “no-brainer”.
We hope that answers some of TRM’s readers’ questions and complaints about the deterioration of the lower river. and the urgent need for a compensation package solution. But do not hold your breath…
