Stormwater adding to sewage spill blues

Kowhai Park was awash with wastewater on July 29. Mahurangi oyster farmers and Warkworth residents fear there is much more than just a too-small wastewater pipe behind the increasingly frequent sewage spills into the Mahurangi River. They maintain there is something major wrong with the entire drainage network north of Elizabeth Street that causes flooding and sewage at Kowhai Park. Last week’s heavy rain was a classic example, with wastewater bubbling up through manhole covers and filling the grassed area of the park. Matakana Oysters owner Tom Walters, who has been monitoring the overflows f...