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Identifying Resource Management Conflicts: Stakeholder Study Regarding Flood Protection in Wairarapa Moana

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Identifying Resource Management Conflicts: Stakeholder Study Regarding Flood Protection in Wairarapa Moana Identifying Resource Management Conflicts: Stakeholder Study Regarding Flood Protection in Wairarapa Moana Sponsored By: Breanne Happell René Jacques Elizabeth van Zyl Elizabeth Walfield Identifying Resource Management Conflicts: Stakeholder Study Regarding Flood Protection in Wairarapa Moana An Interactive Qualifying Project Submitted to the Faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science In cooperation with The Greater Wellington Regional Council Submitted on March 1st, 2016 Submitted By: Breanne Happell René Jacques Elizabeth van Zyl Elizabeth Walfield Project Advisors: Bethel Eddy Robert Kinicki This report represents work of WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its web site without editorial or peer review. For more information about the projects program at WPI, see http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Projects i Abstract This project aided the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) in gathering the opinions of stakeholders in regards to two flood protection methods in the Lower Wairarapa Valley of New Zealand: the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates and the Ruamahanga River Cutoff. These methods regulate water levels in Lake Wairarapa. The team conducted 25 interviews with flood protection managers, farmers that live in the valley, and members of Ngāti Kahungunu, a Māori iwi (tribe). Our analysis found that fish passage through the gates, lake water levels, and whether the GWRC incorporated stakeholder opinions fairly were areas of concern to the stakeholder groups. This information will help to facilitate further communication between the stakeholder groups and the GWRC. ii Executive Summary This project evaluated the various views on the management of the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates and the Ruamahanga River Cutoff, two flood protection methods implemented in Wairarapa Moana. Located on the southeast section of New Zealand’s north island, Wairarapa Moana consists of Lake Wairarapa, Lake Onoke, the surrounding wetlands, and the Ruamahanga River as shown in Figure 0.1. The team focused on gathering the viewpoints of three main stakeholder groups, the managers of the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme, the farmers affected by the scheme, and one tribe of New Zealand’s indigenous people (Māori), Ngāti Kahungunu. This report documents the opinions and views of these stakeholder groups. FIGURE 0.1 MAP OF THE LOWER WAIRARAPA VALLEY DEVELOPMENT SCHEME, [PHOTOGRAPH GWRC, N.D.] The Lower Wairarapa Valley, made up of flat plains, is often subject to heavy rain which has led to a long history of flooding. In 1983, in order to reduce flooding, the Greater Wellington Regional Council constructed the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme. The scheme consists of the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates, the Ruamahanga River Cutoff and various stopbanks. This study focuses on the barrage gates (shown in Figure 0.2), a dam-like structure that controls the flow of water in and out of Lake Wairarapa. iii FIGURE 0.2 THE GEOFFREY BLUNDELL BARRAGE GATES, [PHOTOGRAPH GWRC, N.D.] The gates have greatly reduced flooding in the region and have increased the land available for farming. The Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme has helped to protect 31,500 hectares of land from annual flooding (Gunn, 2012), as seen in the map in Figure 0.3. FIGURE 0.3 THE EXTENT OF FLOODING BEFORE AND AFTER THE LOWER WAIRARAPA VALLEY DEVELOPMENT SCHEME, [PHOTOGRAPH GWRC, N.D.] Wairarapa Moana serves as a home for a variety of different species, and is one of the most biodiverse areas in the country. The Crown considers many of these species to be nationally critical, endangered, or vulnerable (Wairarapa Moana Wetlands Project, 2015d). However, the environmental impacts caused by the barrage gates and Ruamahanga River Cutoff have provided challenges for the native fish and eel populations (Wairarapa Moana Wetlands Project, 2015e). The Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme has affected not only the environment, but the people surrounding Lake Wairarapa as well. The difficulties that arise when balancing efficient flood protection with environmental awareness have led to many different opinions on the management of the barrage gates. iv FIGURE 0.4 SHORTFIN EELS, [PHOTOGRAPH DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION, N.D] The Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates operate under a resource consent, a document required for any structure that alters the natural environment, which is set to expire in 2019. The consent outlines the management methods as well as any environmental and cultural impacts of the barrage gates. The opinions and views of the managers of the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme, farmers affected by the scheme, and members of Ngāti Kahungunu are essential when drafting a new resource consent. The managers of the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme control the operation of the barrage gates, while the farmers affected by the scheme are primarily dairy farmers with farmland that would previously flood before the scheme. The farming community elects representatives to an advisory committee that makes recommendations on the flood protection methods to the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme managers. The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, and are members of tribes, or iwi. Ngāti Kahungunu is the largest iwi in Wairarapa Moana. The Māori also have smaller groups called hapū which affiliate with a larger iwi. The team interviewed Māori from Hapū Ngāti Moe and Hapū Ngāti Hinewaka. Our goal was to gather the opinions of the stakeholders in the Lower Wairarapa Valley in regards to the management of the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates and the Ruamahanga River Cutoff. Goals, Objectives, and Methods The team, which consisted of four students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, addressed the goal through four main objectives: To understand the current management methods of the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates and Ruamahanga River Cutoff. To gather stakeholder views in regards to the Geoffrey Blundell Barrage Gates and Ruamahanga River Cutoff. To identify conflicts and opportunities regarding the current resource consent plan. To compile stakeholder views and report the findings to the Greater Wellington Regional Council. To achieve objective 1 and gain perspective on the region, the Greater Wellington Regional Council took the project team on a tour of the Lower Wairarapa Valley. During the site observation the team gathered photographs of the barrage gates and the cutoff. The team also conducted background research that helped to achieve objective 1. To achieve objectives 2 through 4, the team conducted v stakeholder interviews. In order to gather the opinions of the stakeholders the project team conducted semi-structured interviews. The interviews ranged in length from 10 minutes to an hour and 10 minutes. There were some aspects of the resource management situation that the project team did not identify from initial background research. For example, several interviewees informed the team that town water discharge is a major source of pollution in the lake. However, the farmers are often the only ones blamed for the pollution levels in the lake. For this reason, semi-structured interviews were more valuable than structured interviews because they allowed new points to come up throughout the discussion. The project team brought a pre-written list of questions to the interview, while planning on having discussions that diverged from the original questions. The team coded each interview and then summarized the information into seven main categories, each with their own set of subcategories (see Figure 0.5). Demographics Farming Views of the Moana Position Home Dairy Farming Rate Payer Economic Influence Sheep Farming Gender Historical Agriculture Iwi and Hapū Recreation Wildife Flood Protection Environment Fish Methods Water Quality Native vs. Exotic Flooding, Management Pollution Fish Passage Barrage Gates, Cutoff, Onoke Spit Climate Change Eels Diversion, Stop Banks Sedimentation Politics Maori Resource Consents Culture Settlements Influence FIGURE 0. 5 CODING CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES The project team then labeled the coded information from each interview as either positive or negative where appropriate; the team marked all other instances as not applicable. The team then summarized the viewpoints into key points. Between this year and next year there will be three additional teams from Worcester Polytechnic Institute gathering the opinions of other stakeholder groups not included in this study. Findings After coding the qualitative data from the Ngāti Kahungunu interviews the team found that overall the Ngāti Kahungunu interviewees are very concerned with protecting the environment. There is a particular focus on native fish and eel populations that have been drastically decreased. Many of the fish and the eels that live in Lake Wairarapa migrate to the ocean to breed and return to the lake as adults. The barrage gates are a major barrier to this migration. The gates do contain a small tunnel called the fish passage in order to allow the migrating fish to swim through. However, the Māori feel vi that the fish passage is inadequate. One of the major changes they would make to the current management of the barrage gates is to improve fish passage by keeping the gates open more often. On the other hand, the team discovered that farmers are more focused on ensuring
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