Discovery puts fears to bed

LOW FLOW: A bag of lamb tails blocking the Raupare Stream metering station had council scientists concerned last week.PHOTO/DUNCAN BROWN

Hawke's Bay Regional Council senior hydrologist Thomas Wilding has a "tail" to tell after concerns of possible irrigation bans for growers.

On Tuesday the Raupare Stream water level was reading low. The stream originates in Twyford and runs through the Pakowhai Country Park and into the Karamu Stream/Clive River. It is surrounded by growers. Should the stream level fall irrigation restrictions would be put in place on surrounding properties.

Irrigation bans on Twyford properties during the 2013 drought precipitated a successful campaign to remove sitting Hawke's Bay Regional councillors, despite a report saying the irrigation bans likely prevented the Ngaruroro River from drying up.

When Mr Wilding visited the Ormond Rd metering station he found plenty of water and a bag of "pretty stinky" lamb tails wrapped in sacking that was blocking the intake.

"I would guess somebody was berleying for eels," he said. "We keep a close eye on it."

The stream was kept well above minimum flow levels during the 2013 drought thanks to co-ordinated measures of growers and augmentation from deeper bore water. The Raupare Stream bed at the Chesterhope Bridge belonged to the Ngaruroro River until 1969, when a man-made diversion moved the channel to the north, leaving the Karamu and Raupare streams to feed the new Clive River.