Sediment has been an issue at the pool since the 1970s. Photo / Bevan Conley
William Birch Reserve and its long-disused pool have come under the microscope, with various groups agreeing to collaborate on possible upgrades.
Opened in the 1930s on the Ototoka Stream, the pool near Pākaraka, north of Whanganui, hasn’t been fit for swimming for years due to sediment build-up and water quality.
Representatives from the Whanganui District Council, the Whanganui West Catchment Group, local hapū and Horizons Regional Council spoke about the reserve’s future during a recent Whanganui Community Board meeting.
However, what that could look like is yet to be decided.
The Whanganui West Catchment Group works on improving water quality in five streams, including the Ototoka.
Co-chairman Mike Russell said it was co-ordinating a project “at the pool and on the stream”.
“What we’ve done is ask interested parties to go away and get some information,” he said.
“It’s sort of a situational analysis of where we’re at at the moment - what the geology of the area is, how much fencing has been done on the stream and any water tests that are available.”
Victoria University was already on board to do silt testing, Russell said.
One possible option was to install a sediment trap above State Highway 3.
Horizons’ freshwater co-ordinator Scotty Moore said the amount of sediment being captured in the pool was a symptom of land management challenges.
“It’s really the geology of the area, exacerbated by land use.
“Through our monitoring since 2017, the biggest challenge around human health is the levels of E. coli present in the catchment, meaning its been deemed unfit to swim in by the Ministry of Health.”
Moore said there was “no silver bullet” to improve the Ototoka’s water quality, but working with landowners, the catchment group and the district council on interventions such as stock exclusion, sediment traps and riparian planting would be highly beneficial.
Russell invited the Whanganui District Council to attend the next catchment group meeting on May 30.
“One of the questions is, would Whanganui District Council be able to provide us with some support? Maybe with engineers or something like that,” he said.
“Or, would the council be prepared to have a regular cleaning-out policy [for] the baths so the silt doesn’t build up in there?”
Ngāti Maika representative Raymond Kotuku Hina said all parties needed to work together.
He said he swam in the pool a lot in the 1970s and 1980s.
“It would be premature to continue to move on individually.
“We are developing an environmental plan as well, and we’ve already started planting. We want to create bush all the way from [Pākaraka] Pā to [Ototoka] Stream.”
Some of the silt which ended up in the stream was coming from the road nearby, and having correct plantings would minimise any run-off, Hina said.
“I can speak confidently to say we would be more than happy to be a practical partner with everyone else - landowners, the council, whoever else is available.”
Whanganui-based Horizons councillor Alan Taylor said the pool was the gateway to Whanganui and its current condition was “quite a disgrace”.
Turning it back into a swimming venue would probably be beyond anyone’s financial resources, he said.
“Sediment has to be got out of the stream.
“The locals will tell you one decent wallop, like you’d get with a cyclone or heavy downpour, and the pool will fill with sediment again in a couple of days.
“Bring all these groups together and I look forward to seeing some progress.”
It was “a bit of blot on the district” that the Ototoka was one of the Horizons region’s most polluted streams, Taylor said.
Moore said because the maintenance of the pool had ceased, it had become naturalised.
“That’s allowed the build-up of sediments and aquatic vegetation, which means it’s reverted back to being considered a natural waterway.
“To clear out the William Birch Pool would most likely trigger the need for resource consent.
“It might be in excess of $20,000 for the consent.”
The reserve is under the jurisdiction of the Whanganui District Council.
A recent council report on the history, issues and options of the reserve says silt has been an issue at the pool since the 1970s and it was de-silted and cleaned on an annual basis until approximately 1993.
After that, maintenance was more sporadic.
It was last cleaned of silt approximately eight years ago.
Whanganui District Council property and open spaces general manager Sarah O’Hagan said the council was maintaining the level of service it had signed up for at the reserve.
“There have been a few people involved in the council that have worked with different groups at different times around trying to take the reserve to a different place than it is now,” she said.
For a variety of reasons, they had not been as successful as hoped.
“This is an opportunity to start thinking about the aspirations this group might have.”
Whanganui District Council heritage adviser Scott Flutey said it could be one site considered for inclusion in the District Plan’s heritage inventory.
Whanganui Rural Community Board chairman David Wells said the issue of the pool had come up a lot since he had been on the board, but he was still unclear on exactly what the aspirations for it were.
“Whatever aspirations we settle upon for the actual William Birch Reserve are going to be a relatively small proportion of the whole catchment management.
“It’s all interlinked and critical, and we can’t really progress anything until we have a plan for the whole lot.”
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