By KATHERINE HOBY
ROTORUA - Mother Nature, it seems, is playing with the residents of Tarewa Rd in Rotorua.
No sooner do they subdue or enclose one of the unpredictable geothermal features in the neighbourhood than another one blows its top.
Yesterday morning, a brand new ngawha - or natural water hole - erupted just metres from a house at number 24, resulting in a 5.30 am visit from the Fire Service.
A few hours earlier its big brother - a thermal pool next door on a Maori reserve at number 22 - vented its spleen again.
Numbers 16, 18, 20, 22 and now 24 have had a taste of geothermal action over the past two years. Eight eruptions in two months early this year led to a meeting between Rotorua District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty staff and landowners from local hapu to discuss safety measures.
In January, a couple moved out of their home, next to the Maori reserve, after five previously dormant hot springs sprang into life.
In 1998, two flats in Tarewa Rd had to be demolished because of geyser damage.
Rotorua's geothermal field is returning to its natural strength after the Government ordered private bores to close in 1986.
Seemingly in defiance of safety work under way for just four days in the hot pool area beside Tarewa Rd, the latest rogue to hit the neighbourhood spat out debris to a distance of 8m.
Rotorua chief fire officer Wayne Bedford problems with rogue bores were ongoing. Considering that the site used to be home to several large open mudpools, it was not surprising that some blew their tops, he said. "This is something that happens when you trifle with Mother Nature."
Volcanologist Brad Scott will make an assessment and recommendation on the new ngawha.
The occupants of the house may have to move out because their new, cheeky geothermal neighbour is just five to 10 metres from their home.
Dr Scott said the new ngawha was passive when he visited.
The water was about 76 degrees and needed to be more than 100 degrees to erupt.
He said the interesting thing about the geothermal activity in Tarewa Rd was that it did not appear on maps from the 1920s to 1930s, meaning it might be a new feature.
It was unlikely that the activity would expand further down the side of the street affected.
"It is a pretty remote possibility that we will see any beyond the existing ones.
"They are all within 5m or so of each other and on quite a narrow band. If you're 50m or 100m away, you're fine."
Rotorua District Council geothermal safety officer Bill McKenna said the group of features, known as Tarewa Springs, had become very active.
It was a council priority to make them safe by fencing them off in the first instance. The new ngawha would be contained until an assessment was completed.
Blocking one up might only cause another "backyard bubbler" to appear.
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