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Gravel extraction on the Waipawa River came with its usual balancing act – diggers poised, river levels monitored, and dotterels nesting right on cue.
The work upstream of the Waipawa Bridge, now completed, required pre-extraction nesting surveys, undertaken by qualified ecologists, which identified banded dotterel nests in early November.
Thesurveys also confirmed what the team had expected, with pied stilts and black-fronted dotterels also nesting in the gravel.
The birds were noted, exclusion zones marked out, and work timed to resume once ecologists gave the all-clear.
Nesting right in the middle of the work site at Tikokino, the birds and their four nests were left undisturbed.
Dotterels and their nests put a short halt on gravel extraction work on the Waipawa River in November 2024.
The exact date when nests were laid was not known, as the river-bird nesting season in the region covers spring and summer.
A follow-up survey was undertaken at the end of November, and with suitable exclusion zones in place, extraction was able to continue in December.
Ellen Atkins, a project manager at Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) and part of the team behind the latest round of work, said it was all part of the job, to factor in wildlife.
“This river runs through people’s lives ... We’re just helping to keep things flowing.”
A contractor at the site captured a photo of a dotterel on the Waipawa River near State Highway 50. Photo / Glen Drummond.
Now the birds and the diggers have moved on, and with them, 33,318 cubic metres of gravel extracted from two key sections of the Waipawa River upstream and downstream of the bridge.
The gravel will be used to supply civil project requirements in the region.
This work marks the completion of tranche 4 of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s $8 million programme to manage gravel build-up across the Upper Tukituki catchment – keeping rivers stable through carefully planned extraction.
Atkins said more than 1600 truckloads were removed during the extraction.
“The Waipawa River’s not the easiest to access, so it takes planning, coordination, and great work from local contractors who know the river.”
In Waipawa, Tikokino Contractors and Slick Civil removed 17,000m³ and 16,000m³ respectively from either side of the bridge. A third contractor, CHB Earthmovers, extracted a further 26,500m³ from the nearby Makaretu River.
To date, more than one million cubic metres of gravel have been extracted from rivers in the Upper Tukituki catchment – including the Waipawa, Tukipo, Makaretu and Mangaonuku rivers – as part of this four-year initiative.
Funded through a partnership between Kānoa – the Government’s Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit – and the Upper Tukituki Scheme, the $8 million project includes a $5.12 million contribution from central government and $2.88 million from scheme ratepayers.
“We’re not just pulling material out,” Atkins said.
“This work is about supporting a long-term strategy – keeping our rivers stable, reducing erosion risk, and giving floodwaters more room to move.”
Chris Dolley, HBRC’s group manager of asset management, said the programme is an important part of HBRC’s wider investment in flood resilience across the region and each project supported the next.
“Gravel extraction sits alongside telemetry upgrades, pump station improvements, and significant stopbank works – including a major upgrade just announced for Waipawa."
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
