Desperate plea on dying lake

By TONY GEE

KAIKOHE - Frustrated trustees of weed-infested Lake Omapere north of Kaikohe say they will start raising the level of the 1200ha lake tomorrow if the region's two councils do not actively support efforts to save the waterway.

The trustees have no resource consents, and acknowledge that surrounding farmland could be flooded.

The chairman of Lake Omapere Trust Board, Wallace Wihongi, said a deadline for the Northland Regional Council and the Far North District Council to be "more pro-active" in seeking a solution expired today.

Trustees want the councils' support in efforts to save Lake Omapere "from imminent demise," and say truckloads of boulders will be used if necessary to raise and strengthen a rock wall barrier at the western outlet to raise the water level.

Mr Wihongi said a large number of "able-bodied supporters" will be on hand tomorrow morning to put the boulders in place.

A meeting of trustees at the outlet earlier in the day will receive "a final direction" from iwi representatives on the course of action to be taken. "It's the only means left open to us."

The trustees are trying to stop the shallow lake from self-destructing under a mass of oxygen weed growth and an algal bloom which scientists fear may turn it into a toxic, smelly soup by the end of this year.

Five years ago the Department of Conservation was asked to sanction the introduction of up to 40,000 weed-eating carp to control weed growth, but talks had stalled.

Trust board agent Gray Jamieson said the delays and recent approval for release of only 31,000 fish had led to a worsening problem and an increase in costs as huge numbers of carp would now be needed.

Mr Jamieson and Mr Wihongi acknowledge that the trustees have no resource consents for blocking the outlet into the Utakura Stream to raise lake levels.

Mr Jamieson said it was possible under the Resource Management Act for a council to waive a consent requirement in cases of immediate or one-off action needed to alleviate an emergency.

The regional council's monitoring officer, Dwane Kokich, said the trustees were responsible for maintaining the outlet barrier and recent work appeared to be in line with past council recommendations to prepare the lake for carp release. He was now writing to the board outlining the need for a resource consent to raise water levels.

Mr Jamieson said the trustees would probably try to raise the level until Conservation Minister Sandra Lee, who has indicated support for carp release, agreed to meet the trustees to discuss a solution.