Land-based sewerage system may save river

Sewage could soon stop pouring into Hawke's Bay's badly polluted Tukituki River, with officials investigating a new system of disposing of the area's human waste.

Discharges of sewage from oxidation ponds in Waipukurau and Waipawa are seen as the biggest cause of the pollution that has sparked a cleanup campaign by the Hawke's Bay Environmental Water Group.

Now Central Hawke's Bay District Council is looking at a new sewerage system that would eliminate discharges into the popular river and could save ratepayers money.

"We are now looking at land-based options," council chief executive John Freeman said on Friday.

"That could be less expensive than the $8.3-million system that we have in our draft long-term plan."

The council's consent allows it to continue discharges at current levels till 2014, but Mr Freeman said there was a good chance a land-based system would be working before then.

Environmental Water Group spokesman Colin Crombie welcomed the announcement.

"We believe the sewage is the biggest problem," he said.

"The Tukituki is very popular with swimmers, canoeists and fishermen, but it has become slimy and smelly at times in recent years.

"It would be fantastic if the council could achieve something positive before 2014."

Mr Crombie also welcomed a decision by Hawke's Bay Regional Council to start a five-year programme of building wetlands where some of the most important tributaries flow into the Tukituki. The programme, starting later this year, has not yet been costed.

The wetlands will remove or block much of the runoff from farms, especially cattle excrement.

The regional council is also putting more effort into monitoring irrigation takes from the river, insisting that irrigators supply all necessary data required under their consents.

Mr Crombie said his group wanted less water taken from the Tukituki, as low flows in summer concentrated the pollution.

- © Fairfax NZ News