Horizons Regional Council environmental scientist Harold Barnett has been contributing to the rivers in Rangitīkei for 55 years, predating Horizons itself. Photo / Horizons Regional Council
Horizons Regional Council environmental scientist Harold Barnett has been contributing to the rivers in Rangitīkei for 55 years, predating Horizons itself. Photo / Horizons Regional Council
Harold Barnett is 55 years into his tenure as an environmental scientist in Rangitīkei and he is not quite done yet.
The Manawatū-Whanganui (now Horizons) Regional Council was established in 1989 - 19 years after Barnett started work for the Rangitīkei River Catchment Board (RRCB).
The 78-year-old was present forthe amalgamations of various catchment boards which evolved into Horizons Regional Council.
Barnett was born in New Delhi, India, and is of Anglo-Indian heritage.
His father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army, which meant Barnett and his family moved a lot, including stints in Mumbai, Anla, Jabalpur and Dehu Road, just outside Pune.
“In those days, you didn’t need a piece of paper; as long as you could add up and write your name, you got a job,” Barnett said.
Barnett was transferred to the head office in Wellington where he met RRCB’s chief engineer, Don Spence, while completing a course.
Spence encouraged Barnett to apply for a job as a water resource officer, which he got and relocated to Marton.
He has predominantly been based in Marton as an environmental scientist ever since.
Horizons Regional Council environmental scientist Harold Barnett (far left) pictured in the 1990s collecting data from a river in Rangitīkei.
In 1997, he formed a two-person science team at Horizons with Lindsay Jung where they were called up to analyse data and share their opinions on various council plans. There is now a larger science team at Horizons.
Barnett said a lot had changed during his working life.
“There’s been a huge change. What I say to the younger people is ‘the more you collect, the more you find’.
“When I first joined, our main concerns were sediment running off the hillsides into rivers.
“Perceptions change and people started thinking that there is more to the environment than just sediment and soil, and people start worrying about pollution, total suspended solids, nitrates and things like that.
“Things are still evolving, we are getting nano-plastics and all sorts of pharmaceuticals in the water and they are emerging contaminants.
“People’s perceptions on the environment are getting stronger.”
He said the way experts collect and analyse data had changed dramatically.
Barnett used to spend more than an hour physically in the water collecting data then return to the office to calculate manually.
He said nowadays the hydrological surveyors do not get into water but instead use a raft with machines onboard that sense the depth and speed of the river within 30 minutes.
In 2026, Barnett will have worked for 60 years and said he continued working because he enjoyed it.
“I’ve been quite lucky with health so my mind is quite good, I think,” he said.
“I still enjoy work - every day is different, I just do what I do.”
Outside work, Barnett is president of Marton Hockey Club and Marton Saracens Cricket Club. He has been in those roles for 50 years.
Barnett said Rangitīkei’s current environmental status was ambiguous, with arguments for and against it being worse now than it was during the 1900s.
“People are saying the environment has got worse. Yes, we have got more and more contaminants but I can remember measuring the river flow at Ōruoa River in Feilding - there used to be a big meat factory just upstream of the road bridge.
“Every now and then you’d have to stop your gating because a slug of blood would come through from the meat works or you’d have to clean your meter because meat would be stuck in it.”
He said dairy farms used to take water from the rivers and discharge milk waste back into the river.
