Marae's water of life flows once more

The Waingongoro River is back on course towards the Waimarama Marae.

Local hapu are rejoicing as the Waingongoro River is back on its rightful course after a 50-year detour.

A ceremony to mark the occasion at Waimarama Marae was held recently.

It was the culmination of a long story which started with a flood more than half a century ago.

The then Catchment Board, now the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, installed a culvert to protect the marae from flooding but a second flood about 10 years later blocked the culvert and the river cut its own path to sea, away from the marae.

While the intention to protect the marae was good, the impact was huge at a spiritual and practical level.

Traditionally the river had been used for christenings, spiritual cleansing, washing, to provide a coolstore for food and drink - and it was the water supply.

A bore was sunk to provide a new water supply but without the river to recharge the aquifer it did not work.

Robert MacDonald remembers watching, as a 10-year-old, the earthworks that changed the course of the next 50 years. Now 65, he speaks for his elders, including those who have passed on, about the significance of the rejoining of the Waingongoro River.

"The life force is back again and so will return the customary practices and life patterns around the river that are important to the life of the marae and hapu."

The drive and passion of the hapu to return the river to its original course did not wane over the decades.

There was also the issue of cost, as the stream was much lower than it had been, requiring substantial work to return the river to its original path.

Regional council engineers investigated historical flow data and completed hydrological modelling to decide there was sufficient mean flow to split between the two courses.

The regional council built a new weir, with a culvert and a channel splitting the flow between the existing channel and the restored old channel.

During low flows in summer, the restored water course past the marae will be the preferred channel to the sea.

Fifty years after it was blocked, the river once again flowed past the marae within the original river bed.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who spoke at the ceremony, was overwhelmed at the history, the grievance and the rejoicing: "At first I had no appreciation of the importance of the issue to the hapu - now I do. I am hugely impressed by the importance of the river to you and your community."