Watercare disappoints oyster farmers

At a packed meeting held in Snells Beach on May 26, Watercare heard the concerns of around 25 oyster farmers, who expressed their anger and frustration over ongoing raw sewage spills into the Mahurangi River.

These overflows have regularly contaminated areas where oysters are grown and harvested forcing the closures of their oyster farms and businesses (MM, May 26).

Several senior leaders from Watercare attended the meeting, including board chair Geoff Hunt and incoming chief executive Jamie Sinclair, as well as Kaipara ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk, Councillor Greg Sayers and representatives from Aquaculture NZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Rodney Coastal Oysters owner Rod Cranwell says the meeting was very disappointing.

“Watercare spent the whole time deflecting and not answering questions,” he says.

“They had promised to put a temporary pipe in across the Elizabeth Bridge, which we’ve been waiting for since 2021, but they announced that they’re not going to start it now until August or September.

“We’ve got norovirus in our oysters right now, so we’re closed.

“If you go down to Elizabeth Street today (May 27), sewage is pouring into the river, which goes through the whole of the Mahurangi Harbour. It’s not pumping, it’s pouring out. We went there last night and it absolutely stinks.”

Cranwell says because the overflow points in the town basin are classified as Class 3 for recreation (unlikely to be used for things like swimming) “this is how Watercare has been able to get away with discharging into the river”.

“If it were Class One (a recreational receiving environment used regularly for swimming or collecting shellfish), which our oyster farms and beaches are, Watercare would be forced to fix it instantly and that’s how they get around it. Apart from the oyster farms, the actual environment is getting trashed.”He adds that the town basin should have been reclassified years ago.

Cranwell says at the meeting the oyster farmers demanded a letter of apology and compensation for the closures.

“But Watercare wouldn’t answer us. It’s just pathetic.”

Watercare chief strategy and planning officer Priyan Perera says Watercare sympathises with the oyster farmers.

“This is an undeniably difficult situation for them and we are doing everything we can to reduce the number of overflows to the Mahurangi River that occur in wet weather,” he says.

“This includes installing a larger wastewater pipe along three sections of Elizabeth Street in the town centre.” 

In February, Watercare carried out potholing investigations to identify and locate the existing underground infrastructure that needed to be factored into the project’s design.

“We received consent for this project in May and have confirmed a contractor will start work as soon as we have all the materials we need. We expect this to be in August.

“This should help to reduce the frequency and volume of overflows from the Elizabeth St overflow point that occur in wet weather.”

Perera says Watercare is also focused on finding where excessive amounts of stormwater is getting into the wastewater network so it can be addressed.

This includes inspecting private properties and the network itself. 

“Last year we completed a $5.9m project that involved rehabilitating 75 manholes and relining 5.9 kilometres of wastewater pipes in Warkworth. This sought to minimise the level of stormwater infiltration into the pipes and reduce the occurrences of wet weather overflows.

“We recently installed 16 manhole level sensors in the local wastewater network to support these investigations and work out where further maintenance may be needed.” 

Perera says typically, as a public utility, Watercare does not pay compensation.

“But we are looking at other ways we can support the oyster farmers between now and when our long-term solution is delivered.”

Namely the Warkworth wastewater pipeline, which is expected to open in 2028.