Tourist anglers continue to ask SWMBO about fishing at Lake Rotoaira and all the other issues existing between the need to generate electricity and cultural and environmental issues, so it is time for an update on the massive continuing long-term detrimental effects from the Tongariro Hydro Power Scheme on trout fishing in the region.
Following pinched from Wikipedia:
The Tongariro Power Scheme is a 360 MW hydroelectricity scheme in the central North Island of New Zealand. The scheme diverts water from tributaries of the Rangitikei, Whangaehu, Whanganui, and Tongariro rivers. These rivers drain a 2,600-square-kilometre (1,000 sq mi) area including Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and the western Kaimanawa Ranges. The water diverted from these rivers is sent through canals and tunnels to generate electricity at three hydro power stations, Rangipo (120 MW), Tokaanu (240 MW) and Mangaio (2 MW). The water is then discharged into Lake Taupō where it adds to the water storage in the lake and enables additional electricity generation in the succession of power stations down the Waikato River.
The scheme generates approximately 1350 GWh of electricity annually, and contributes 4 percent of New Zealand’s electricity generation. It is currently operated by electricity generation company Genesis Energy.
From its inception to the current day tensions have existed between the need to generate electricity and cultural and environmental issues.
Environmental and cultural issues
Water from over 60 rivers and streams flowing from the Tongariro National Park catchment were taken into the scheme. Changes in river flows can cause silt build-up, changes in water velocity, temperature and water purity which in turn affects trout spawning and fishing, and the habitats of native species such as eels. This gave rise to conflicts between environmental and cultural issues and the need to generate electricity. Desmond Bovey’s book on the Tongariro National Park put it this way:
Depending on your sensibilities, the scheme can be viewed as either a bold and ingenious feat of engineering, or alternatively as a high-handed grab of the headwaters of almost every river on the volcanic plateau. The truth, in my opinion, is that it is both – technically brilliant and morally brazen.
The Tongariro Power Scheme was conceived and commissioned at a time when Māori values were either not considered or dismissed. The Ministry of Works met with Ngāti Tūwharetoa in 1955 to discuss land rights and fishing but the other iwi with interests in the diversion of the Whanganui River and its headwaters were not consulted before or during construction. These included Ngāti Rangi (the iwi south of Mt Ruapehu stretching from the Whanganui River to the Whangaehu River and the Moawhango River), Tamahaki and Whanganui iwi.
For the iwi the rivers and streams are tūpuna awa and are accorded ancestral heritage. The well-being of people cannot be separated from the well-being of the natural world as the spiritual and physical worlds are inter-connected. Tūpuna awa include the river beds, catchment areas, the habitats, fish and other biodiversity. Ngati Rangi maintain that the flow of water from the mountains to the sea must not be broken. It is also an offence to Māori to mix waters from different tribal areas, or catchments. The rivers and springs were important sources of food. Eels lived in the tributaries of the Whangaehu River and would have had to pass through the river to migrate to the sea. Ngati Rangi also bathed in the Whangaehu for its healing properties. Fishing also took place on the Moawhango River where the dam is now and the river was a key waterway used for east-west travel and trade with east coast iwi Ngāti Whitikaupeka.
The Planning Tribunal/Environment Court and High Court hearings in the late 1980s and early 1990s began a process of including Māori perspectives and values and consultation on the use of rivers. Genesis Energy signed an agreement with Ngāti Tūwharetoa to mitigate the effects of the scheme creating the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Genesis Energy Committee which distributes funds for educational, cultural and environmental purposes. Genesis continues to meet with iwi and relevant fishery, recreational and environmental groups, and the Defence Force to mitigate the effects of the scheme on the environment.
Effects on the Tongariro River
As far back as 1955 concerns were raised about the effects of the scheme on trout fisheries in the Tongariro River, in particular maintaining water flow for trout spawning, the effect on the feeding grounds in Lake Taupo and Lake Rotoaira, the access to fishing pools on the river, the removal of sediment from the river and the effect of the Rangipō power station on trout. The Environmental Impact Report on the Rangipō project was submitted to the Commission for the Environment in 1973.
(Anglers complain that after 50 years of neglect, the major detrimental effects on the Tongariro River fishing are more apparent – it is time Genesis and the Government were held to account!)
Effects on the Western Diversion
Protests against the scheme arose as early as 1955 from the Waimarino Acclimatisation Society who opposed the Whanganui River diversion into Lake Rotoaira; this was followed in the early 1960s by concerns about the effects on the Whanganui River and the Whanganui harbour. In 1964 the Taumarunui Borough Council raised concerns that reduction of the flow of water in the river would affect the operation of the Piriaka power station but an agreement was reached to maintain water flows. Also in 1964 the artist Peter McIntyre, who had a holiday house at Kakahi on the Whanganui River stated that water should not be taken when rivers belong to all New Zealanders and that by interrupting and reducing the flow of water there would be pollution and loss of trout fishing. He was supported by zoologist John Salmon who called for research into the long-term environmental effects of the scheme. Once the Western Diversion had been commissioned in 1971 opposition continued from the New Zealand Canoeing Association who called for higher flow in the Whanganui River and the National Water Conservation Organisation requesting that desirable minimum flows be fixed. In 1987 water flowing from the Whakapapa Intake back into the river was about 5% of the normal flow.
In 2012 Genesis partnered with local iwi Ngāti Hikairo on an eel restoration programme which enabled eels to maintain the migratory patterns necessary for their life cycle. Since 2011 Genesis has also partnered with the Department of Conservation on a blue duck/whio recovery programme which involves trapping predators on the Whakapapa, Wanganui and Mangatepopo rivers.
Lake Rotoaira and Ngāti Tūwharetoa
(This history lesson is for those asking why Lake Rotoaira has their own fishing licence, etc…)
Lake Rotoaira has cultural and historical significance to local iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa and trout fishing licences, which are managed by the Lake Rotoaira Trust, are an important source of revenue. Ownership of the lake was vested in the Trust in 1956 with the trustees representing the hapu of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. One of the Trust’s roles was “to negotiate with the Crown on the use of the lake for electricity generation”. As a result of construction work on access roads and near spawning streams on the Western Diversion the decline of fish stocks in the Lake was being reported in the late 1960s. During the construction phase the Ministry of Works wanted greater control over, and ownership of, the lake. The iwi would not concede ownership and in a 1972 agreement the Crown was allowed control over the water for electricity generation but discharged from any compensation claims caused by environmental damage or adverse effects on the fishing. In 1991 the Trust lodged a claim, Wai 178, with the Waitangi Tribunal asking that the agreement be renegotiated and that the Trust be paid for the use of the lake. Little study had been done on the effect of the scheme on the Lake’s fisheries before the scheme but by 1997, when the resource consent came up for renewal, the iwi and the Trust were concerned that trout stocks were declining. It was found that the scheme had caused a decline of trout and kōaro and an increase of bullies. Renewal of the resource consent in 2001 required Genesis, under the Resource Management Act 1991, to consult with the Trust to implement a management plan to achieve an increase in the numbers of trout and kōaro. In 2013 the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Crown had not recompensed the iwi for the damage to the Lake and for its use to generate electricity. A 2015 Tribunal report acknowledged the harm that the Scheme had done not just to the Lake but to Ngāti Tūwharetoa’s economic, social, cultural and spiritual well-being which included reduction in income from fishing licences. The Wai 178 claim was finally settled in the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Act 2018.
The History – About the Trust
The Lake Rotoaira Trust was established as a result of an investigation of title of Lake Rotoaira by the Māori Land Court. That investigation followed years of consternation amongst Ngāti Tūwharetoa due to disputes with non-Tūwharetoa recreational anglers over the fishing rights in the lake and the failure of the Department of Internal Affairs to successfully prosecute these recreational anglers for fishing in the lake.
Under an Order in Council from 1922, it was envisaged that only Ngāti Tūwharetoa would have fishing rights in the lake. However, ambiguous phrasing in the Order in Council and related Regulations cast some doubt over the exclusivity of this right. This failure to protect what had long been assumed by Ngāti Tūwharetoa to have been an exclusive right led to much consternation, and a large hui was held in November 1937 to discuss the issue. While Regulations relating to fishing in Lake Rotoaira were tightened in 1938 to confirm the exclusive right of Ngāti Tūwharetoa to fish in the lake, one of the outcomes of the 1937 hui was for Ngāti Tūwharetoa to establish clear ownership of the lake through the Native Land Court process. In November 1937 the application for title investigation of Lake Rotoaira was lodged with the Native Land Court by Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
The Crown opposed this and subsequent applications until 1943, when the objection was withdrawn on the condition that any decisions on Lake Rotoaira should not be taken as a precedent on the ownership of beds of inland waters. No further action in the case occurred until 1946, when Ngāti Tūwharetoa wrote to the Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court asking for the decision in the Lake Rotoaira case. At the Māori Land Court hearings in March and June 1947, Ngāti Tūwharetoa urged that the Lake Rotoaira title investigation commence.
In May 1955 the Whanganui District office of the Māori Land Court noted that it was ready to continue with the title investigation. Between 1955 and 1956, the title of Lake Rotoaira was investigated by the Māori Land Court having hearings at Tokaanu and Whanganui. This investigation was followed by the decision of the Māori Land Court firstly awarding freehold title and then on 6 December 1956 vesting the lake in eleven trustees each of whom represented a hapū of Ngāti Tūwharetoa under section 438 of the Māori Affairs Act 1953.
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