TONGARIRO POWER SCHEME ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 01.07.12 30.06.13 ENVIRONMENTAL 13 technical reports ordiscuss matters directly withinterested parties. provide asummary ofit.GenesisEnergy ishappyto provide furtherdetails or intention ofthisreport to reproduce orreplicate thisinformation, rather to agreements thathave fed into thisreport. Asstated above, itisnotthe of technical reports, research programmes, environmental initiatives and The report alsoprovides asummaryofkey result areas. There are anumber 2013 (referred to hereafter as‘thereporting period’). summarises thekey outcomes for theoperating period1July 2012to 30June this report to reproduce orreplicate thisinformation inanyway,rather it a vast amountoftechnical information collected. Itisnottheintention of The process to renew resource consents waslengthy andcomplicated, with the Tongariro Power Scheme. through theprocess to renew resource consents for theongoingoperation of This report provides asummaryofkey environmental outcomes developed HIGHLIGHTS 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 02 01 INTRODUCTION 02 1.1 Document Overview Te Maari Eruption Mount Tongariro erupted at the Te Maari Crater erupted on 02 1.2 Resource Consents Process Overview the 6 August and 21 November 2012. Both events posed a significant risk to 02 1.3 How to use this document the Tongariro Power Scheme (TPS) structures. During the August eruption, 02 1.4 Genesis Energy’s Approach which occurred at night, the Rangipo Power Station and Poutu Canal were to Environmental Management closed. The following day a field team went out on site to monitor the tributaries water quality on the TPS. Once it was determined that there was 02 1.4.1 Genesis Energy’s Values no discernable effect on water quality, the Rangipo Power Station and Poutu 03 1.4.2 Environmental Management System Canal were reinstated. The November eruption had less of an impact on the 03 1.4.3 Resource Consents Management System surrounding environment other than to eject a lot of ash into the atmosphere. 03 1.4.4 Hydrology Genesis Energy monitored potential effects on the scheme and determined 03 1.5 Feedback that it was not necessary to stop generation (see Section 7.4).
04 02 TONGARIRO POWER SCHEME Tuna Management Genesis Energy engaged members of Te Runanganui o 05 2.1 Operating the Tongariro Power Scheme Ngati Hikairo ki Tongariro to monitor and salvage tuna stranded at the Wairehu 05 2.2 Climate and Power Generation Drum Screens. Valuable data on the timing and scale of tuna standings was 06 03 EASTERN DIVERSION collected and a total of 29 stranded tuna were recovered, tagged, checked and transferred safely to the Whanganui River headwaters, downstream of TPS 07 3.1 Wahianoa Aqueduct structures. The number of local tuna fishers using the Wairehu site ceased 07 3.1.1 Hydrology during the autumn migration period which has greatly reduced public health 07 3.1.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality and safety issues at the site, an outcome directly attributable to the advocacy 07 3.1.3 Ngati Rangi work of the hapu-based tuna team (see Section 6.1.3). 08 3.1.4 Mangaio Power Station 08 3.2 Lake Moawhango Rotoaira Dredging The Rotoaira Channel was dredged to maintain the flow 08 3.2.1 Hydrology capacity of the Channel for the TPS. Over a five month period, 2.7 kms of the channel was dredged using a slow-moving cutter suction dredge, with 08 3.2.2 Sediment (Erosion, Transport and Deposition) the dredged material piped to a disposal site. Resource consent conditions 09 3.3 Moawhango River required that the turbidity of the water in the Rotoaira Channel be monitored 09 3.3.1 Hydrology and the Lake Rotoaira Trust worked together with Genesis Energy and Heron 12 3.3.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality Construction to undertake this monitoring work. At the completion of the 13 3.3.3 Natural Character and Amenity Issues project, 105,000 m3 of sediment had been dredged from the Channel (see 13 3.3.4 Recreation/Tourism Section 6.1.5). 14 3.3.5 Ngati Whitikaupeka, Ngati Tamakopiri and Ngati Hauiti Moawhango Flushing New concerns were raised about the effects of the 14 3.3.6 Moawhango Community Moawhango flushing flows on the Rangitikei River. In response to these 16 04 TONGARIRO RIVER concerns, Genesis Energy viewed the impacts of the March 2013 flushing flow 17 4.1 Hydrology on the Rangitikei River with a number of residents and held a public meeting 19 4.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality to discuss the issue. Residents were unanimous in wanting to find a solution that doesn’t detract from the benefits to the Moawhango River but helps to 21 4.3 Sediment (Erosion, Transport and Deposition) address the issues on the Rangitikei River. A number of possible ways forward 22 4.4 Recreation and Tourism from the meeting will be assessed over the coming months (see Section 3.3.6). 23 05 WESTERN DIVERSION 25 5.1 Hydrology Whio Forever A record number of whio chicks were recorded for the Tongariro Forest Whio Programme (including Whanganui, Mangatepopo 26 5.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality and Whakapapa Rivers) with 199 ducklings hatched. Whio Security Site 27 5.2.1 Whanganui River Enhancement Trust managers (including Tongariro Forest) now expect to achieve their target 28 5.3 Recreation and Tourism numbers of protected whio pairs earlier than anticipated (i.e. the target 28 5.3.1 Recreational Releases of 400 in total will be achieved by 2016, rather than 2019) as a result of 28 5.3.2 Recreational Initiatives the Genesis Energy National Whio Recovery Plan and mitigation work 28 5.3.3 Whanganui Iwi focused on whio enhancement (see Section 8.1 for details and Table 15). 29 06 LAKE ROTOAIRA/LAKE TAUPO 30 6.1 Lake Rotoaira ABBREVIATIONS 30 6.1.1 Hydrology AER Annual Environmental Report 30 6.1.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality AFDM Ash-free dry mass 31 6.1.3 Tuna Management BoPRC Bay of Plenty Regional Council 31 6.1.4 Lake Rotoaira Trust CDMP Construction Debris Management Plan 32 6.1.5 Dredging of the Rotoaira Channel CSR Comprehensive Safety Review 32 6.2 Tokaanu Stream DOC Department of Conservation ECNZ Electricity Corporation of New Zealand 33 6.3 Tokaanu Tailrace and Lake Taupo EMS Environmental Management System 33 6.3.1 Hydrology Maximum Levels EPT Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (the three insect 33 6.3.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Quality orders commonly used to test water quality) 34 07 SCHEME-WIDE OUTCOMES ERLAWS Eastern Ruapehu Lahar Alarm and Warning System FNU Formazin Nephelometric Units 35 7.1 Ngati Tuwharetoa - Genesis Energy Committee GWh Gigawatt hour 35 7.2 Central North Island Blue Duck Conservation Trust IBI Index of Biological Integrity 35 7.3 Publicly Available Hydrology Information LRFT Lake Rotoaira Forest Trust 35 7.4 Volcanic Activity Management Plan (VAMP) masl meters above sea level – Moturiki Datum 38 7.5 Maintenance Activities MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 39 7.6 Run-off Management Plan MCI Macro-invertebrate Community Index MfE Ministry for the Environment 39 7.7 Dam Safety MVA Megavolt Ampere 40 7.8 Oil Spill Response MW Megawatt 40 7.9 Public Complaints MWRC Manawatu Wanganui Regional Council 40 7.10 Waikato Regional Council Audit NIWA National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research NZDF New Zealand Defence Force 41 08 COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES NZTA New Zealand Transport Agency 42 8.1 Whio Forever OPC Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre 42 8.1.1 Sponsorship for Lower Tongariro Community Blue Duck Project QMCI Quantitative Macro-invertebrate Community Index 43 8.2 Tongariro National Trout Centre RCMS Resource Consent Management System 44 8.3 Tongariro River Trial RDC Ruapehu District Council 44 8.4 Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre Sponsorship RMA Resource Management Act (1991) SHMAK Stream Health Monitoring Assessment Kit 45 8.5 Aquatic Biosecurity TDC Taupo District Council 45 8.6 Turangi Community Health Centre TFEF Tongariro Fishery Enhancement Fund 46 8.7 Genesis Energy Turangi Aquatic Centre TPS Tongariro Power Scheme 46 8.8 Turangi Public Library - Summer Reading Programme TRMP Tongariro River Monitoring Plan 46 8.9 Te Whare Waka - Tokaanu Water Sports Centre TSMG Tokaanu Stream Management Group 46 8.10 John Ball Films - History of the Tongariro Power Development VAMP Volcanic Activity Management Plan WDC Wanganui District Council 47 09 KEY OBJECTIVES 2010-11 REVIEW WRC Waikato Regional Council 48 9.1 Review of Key Objectives for 2012-2013 WHIONE Whio Operation Nest Egg 49 9.2 Key Objectives 2013-2014 WRET Whanganui River Enhancement Trust
50 10 REFERENCES Cover photo: Tokaanu Power Station was commissioned 1973. Back Cover photo: Rangipo Power Station Construction of the Power House. Rangipo Power Station was commissioned in 1983, 30 years ago this year. 02 TONGARIRO // 13 for theTPS.Theseparties assisted theElectricity Corporation of a long periodoftime, intheprocess to renew resource consents Many individualsandorganisations were directly involved, over effects oftheschemehasbeengathered. an extensive amountofresearch andinformation ontheongoing construction. Since 1991,withmulti-stakeholder collaboration, technical information was collected priorto thescheme’s researched inNew Zealand.Asignificant amountofbaseline The TPSenvironment isarguably oneofthemost extensively 1.2 www.genesisenergy.co.nz copy ofthisdocument,can befound onthe website: More information aboutGenesisEnergy, includinganelectronic specific technical reports listed in the references). the monitoring programmes andinitiatives undertaken (refer to for this information) orprovide extensive detailed information on strategy orperformance (refer to theCompanyAnnualReport and stakeholder activitiesatasite. Itdoes notdetail company the AnnualReport.Itprovides anoverview ofallenvironmental This AERbridgesthegapbetween site specific reporting and requirements to stakeholders. detailed technical reports, auditreports andvarious reporting documentation onitsactivitieseachyear (Figure 1).Theseinclude Genesis Energy produces asuite ofreports andother 1.1 Power Station and30thAnniversary oftheRangipoPower Station. It isofnote that2013marksthe40thAnniversary oftheTokaanu within thecommunities inwhichitoperates. issues asthey ariseandto develop closer working relationships Genesis Energy aimsto beaccessible to thepublic,to address 2011–12 report publishedinSeptember 2012.Thisreport will: 30 June2013.ThisistheeighthAERfor theTPSandfollows the of activitieswhichoccurred attheTPSbetween 1July 2012and is to update communities andstakeholders onthewiderange for theTongariro Power Scheme(TPS).Thepurposeofthisreport Welcome to the2012-2013AnnualEnvironmental Report(AER) hihiko motenei rohe oTongariro. Nau maihaere maikitenei Ripoata Taiao epaanakite mahi 01
INTRODUCTION
FIGURE RESOURCE DOCUMENT define environmental objectives attheTPS for thene report oncommunity andenvironmental initiatives; and report backonkey projects; provide anupdate onmonitoring andresearch programmes; 12 months. provide anoverview ofresource consent compliance attheTPS;
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following key geographical regions: This report documentsenvironmental outcomes basedonthe 1.3 consent conditions. Theseoutcomes are referred to as‘agreements’. to implement mitigationoutcomes thatare outsidetheresource location. Insuchcases, GenesisEnergy works directly withparties consent conditions because they cannot beeasily tiedto aspecific in time.However, someissues cannot beaddressed viaresource require specificactions to occur atspecific locations andpoints possible, outcomes resulted inresource consent conditions that outcomes thatoperate outsideoftheresource consents. Where process; bothresource consent conditions aswell asmitigation This documentrefers to arange ofoutcomes from theconsultative energy inNew Zealand.We willachieve thisby: Genesis Energy’s intent isto become thepreferred provider of GenesisEnergy’s Values are: help contribute to thesuccess ofthecompany. at GenesisEnergy. They are theactionsandbehaviours which Genesis Energy’s four core values definethewaythingsare done 1.4.1 ENVIRONMENTAL 1.4 ‘Orange Consent ‘Bold The report alsoprovides non-geographical information for: the consents process. operational reasons, have addedto information gathered during conditions andsomeundertaken byGenesisEnergy for Ongoing monitoring programmes, somerequired byconsent continued operation oftheTPS. to acomprehensive suite ofresource consents thatauthorisethe The extensive programme ofconsultation andresearch hasled agree onoutcomes to address theseissues. how theseissues shouldbeinvestigated and,inmost cases, to comprehensive consultation processes, to defineissues, to identify New ZealandLimited (ECNZ)andthenGenesisEnergy to develop background information onspecificissues. resource consent conditions. report. Thisidentifiesthepartsof report that relate to specific
HOW GENESIS Lake Rotoaira andLake Taupo. Western Diversion (WhanganuiRiver Catchment); and Tongariro River; Eastern Diversion (Wahianoa, Lake Moawhangoandthe Operating inawaythatis safe andhealthyfor ourpeople, our ‘Living’ ourvalues; and Optimising theperformance ofourgeneration portfolio; Delivering efficientservice andsmartsolutions to customers; Support –We work together, tak Imagine –We challenge today andchangetomorr Drive –We achieve withenergy, courage andcommitment. Respect –We treat people andplaces asw Community andEnvironmental Initiatives. Scheme-wide Outcomes; and Moawhango River); customers, ourcommunities andtheenvironment. be treated.
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extensive amountofwork into improving themonitoring network During thereporting periodtheHydrology team hasputan market information. Energy Control Centre together witharange ofplantand time. Thisinformation issentto GenesisEnergy’s Renewable rainfall data iscollected inreal-time andtelemetered nearreal- around theTPS.Avariety offlow, water level, water qualityand Genesis Energy hasanextensive hydrology monitoring network 1.4.4 RCMS inthe2013/14reporting period. friendly. Aproject isplannedto incorporate thesechangesinthe reporting functionalityand ensuringthatthesystem ismore user improvements to theRCMSwere identifiedincludingenhanced AER reporting period2013/14. Duringthereporting period, is scheduled for July 2013andwillbecommented oninthe A RCMSandenvironmental compliance auditfor theTPS RCMS systems orprocesses to best achieve 100%compliance. followed andidentifyanyimprovements thatcould bemadeto purpose oftheauditisto ensure thecorrect procedures are being undertaken onanannualbasisatselected generation sites. The An internal RCMSandenvironmental compliance auditis party agreements. or view potentially confidential information contained withinthird Environmental Team can make changesandupdate/sign offtasks, company’s intranet butonly designated administrators withinthe All GenesisEnergy staff can access theRCMSthrough the are notoverlooked. stakeholder obligations effectively and that essential requirements RCMS isto ensure thatGenesisEnergy managesitsstatutory and conditions, andreports onthestatus ofthese.Thepurposethe and defines,prompts andmonitors actions required bytheir consents, third partyagreements, andpermitted activities, (RCMS). Thissystem holdsallinformation relating to resource Energy hasdeveloped aResource Consent ManagementSystem To helpmanagecompliance across allgeneration sites, Genesis 1.4.3 2013/14 reporting period. activities ofGenesisEnergy. Thereview willbecompleted in the the conceptual stage ofanyproject through to normaloperational use ofnatural andphysical resources andtheenvironment, from is alsocheckingthattheEMSappliesto allactivitiesinvolving the example theResource ConsentManagementSystem. Thereview that they are integrated withothercore business systems, for business systems usedbytheenvironmental teams andto ensure EMS. This is to ensure that it encompasses the number of different During thereporting periodGenesisEnergy beganareview ofits Genesis Energy’s Environmental Values are: with allenvironmental legislation. management, andclearly states itscommitment to compliance Company’s values inrespect ofenvironmental andstakeholder are core to theoperation oftheCompany. TheEMSsetsoutthe (EMS) whichensures thatenvironmental andsocialawareness Genesis Energy hasanEnvironmental ManagementSystem 1.4.2
Seek environmental improv Investigate to better understand thenature ofthe Respect therole oftangata whenuaaskaitiakiofthenatur Acknowledge thatouractivitiesaffect boththeenvironment Foster close relationships withthecommunity and Act withintegrity atalltimes. our business. community andstakeholders. environmental effects –andshare thisinformation withthe resources andtaonga withintheirrohe. and thecommunities withinwhichwe operate. environmental decision-makingprocesses. stakeholders, sothattheirviews can beincorporated into the
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SCHEME together witharange ofplantandmarket information. information isbrought into the Tokaanu Generation Control Centre, and sedimentdata iscollected inreal timeandnearreal time.This around theTPS.Avariety offlow, water level, rainfall, water quality Genesis Energy hasanextensive hydrology monitoring network 2.1 Tailrace withnegligible downstream effects. being able to discharge large amounts ofwater into theTokaanu arises asaresult ofusing water stored withinLake Rotoaira and thus providing securityfor theelectricity system. Thisability increase load from low levels to fullload inamatter ofminutes, Zealand power system istheabilityofTokaanu Power Station to An additionalbenefitthatiscritical to theoperation oftheNew the highvoltages astheload alters. electricity travels northduringtheday. Atnight-time, itreduces transmission gridbyboosting thevoltage (pressure) onthegridas north electricity transfer route, provides essential supportto the Tokaanu Power Station, ideally located along themainsouth– New Zealandsupply system islocated intheSouthIsland.The grid. Asubstantial amountofgeneration neededwithinthe The TPSplaysanimportant role inNew Zealand’s electricity megawatts (MW),utilisingthesameflow ofwater. mid-1990s, whichincreased thestation’s outputfrom 220to 240 upgrade ofTokaanu Power Station’s turbinerunners duringthe concepts andto improve efficiency. An example ofthisisthe been modified over recent years to take advantage ofnew design facilities elsewhere inNew Zealand.Individualcomponents have power stations isrelatively moderncompared to hydro generating The generating equipmentatTokaanu, RangipoandMangaio electricity supply. the TPSprovides a significantly greater proportion ofthenation’s River. Onaninstantaneous basis,whenoperating atfullcapacity, via additionalgeneration atpower stations along theWaikato Tokaanu, RangipoandMangaiopower stations andtheremainder New Zealand’s annualelectricity demand,3.5%ofthisfrom the The water diverted bytheTPSproduces approximately 5%of of rainfall inshortperiodsoftime. subject to tropical cyclones thatcan result insignificant amounts variability from year to year. Thecatchments oftheschemeare the central NorthIslandvolcanoes. There isalsovery highrainfall elevation: itranges from 1200mmatTurangi to over 3400mmin rainfall varies extensively across thearea, mainly inrelation to the rainfall derived from north-west frontal systems. Meanannual area come from thenorth-west andthesouth-west, withmost of The dominantweather patterns thataffect river flows intheTPS that water into Lake Taupo. to theRangipoandTokaanu power stations before discharging scheme usesaseriesoflakes, canals andtunnelsto bringwater Island volcanoes, mountsRuapehu,Tongariro andNgauruhoe.The water comes from theKaimanawaRangesandcentral North Whangaehu, Whanganui,MoawhangoandTongariro. Most ofthe The TPSislocated intheheadwaters offour majorcatchments: and thento GenesisEnergy inApril1999. Electricity Corporation ofNew ZealandLimited (ECNZ)in1987, transferred from theNew ZealandElectricity Departmentto the in thearea duringschemedevelopment. Ownership oftheTPS and housing,includingthetownship ofTurangi, wasconstructed commissioned inlate 1982.Infrastructure suchasroads, bridges 1973; thelast majordevelopment, theRangipoPower Station, was and 1983.TheTokaanu Power Station first generated electricity in of thecentral volcanic plateau. Itwasconstructed between 1960 the energy oftherivers andstreams thatflow from themountains The TPSwasconceived inthe1950’s to generate electricity using the backcover. Taupo. Thelocation andfeatures oftheschemeare shown inside (TPS), whichissituated inthecentral NorthIsland,southofLake Genesis Energy owns andoperates theTongariro Power Scheme 02
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the Waikato River. then subsequently used bythehydro-power stations located on from water diverted into theWaikato catchment bytheTPSand 152,000 households-thisdoesnot includeadditionalgeneration enough electricity to power theannual demand ofapproximately 2012; p121),the1,176GWh produced inthereporting periodwas household of7,760kWh/yr(Ministry ofEconomic Development, Based onanaverage figure ofelectricity consumption per was below average. period. Generation for theTPSasawhole duringthisperiod Station 7GWh, givingatotal of1,176GWh for thereporting Rangipo Power Station generated 517GWh andMangaioPower Tokaanu Power Station generated 652gigawatthours (GWh), the average flow atthesite. during thecourse oftheyear thatwould have normally boosted reflects the long dryperiodbutalsothelackofhighflow events average flow (90%)due to thedrought conditions. Thisnotonly The Tongariro River atthePoutu Intake site recorded below comparable to data from previous years. the WhakapapaRiver atFootbridge flow record meaningitwas the WhanganuiRiver atTe Maire minimum flow was reflected in flow slightly to 94%ofthe long term mean.Theneed to meet Drought conditions intheWhakapapacatchment reduced the Maire flow station. meet theminimumflow requirements attheWhanganui Te where theintakes were notdiverting water for long periodsto an average year. Thiswasalsoreflected onthe Western Diversion that were significantly lower than would normally be expected for The upperTongariro andtheMoawhangocatchments hadinflows average flows duringthesummerof2013. in 5years. Because ofthisanumberflow sites recorded below of 1in7years andtheEastern Diversion hadareturn periodof1 area. Thedrought ontheWestern Diversion hadareturn period substantial rain fell until May2013resulting inadrought for the Rainfall patterns were regular untilJanuary2013after whichno flows andasustained periodofdrought for bothdiversions. anomaly for theyear astheremainder produced somevery low of oneinfive years; thisoccurred on16July 2012.Thiswasan was onefloodontheEastern Diversion whichhada return period period, ranging from 80-85%oftheirlong-term averages. There River flows withintheTPS were below average for the reporting Energy’s key monitoring sites (Table 1)waswell below average. During thereporting periodthelevel ofrainfall measured atGenesis 2.2 their standard operating limits(includingresource consent limits). Generation Controllers whenvarious parameters trend outsideof all aspectsofthescheme,enablingremote control andalerting the upgrade in2009assists theoperations team, providing details on complex operational control system thatunderwent asignificant conditions andoperating withintheelectricity market rules. A requirements while maintaining compliance withresource consent efficiently aspossible, to maximiseelectricity generation revenue A 24/7Generation Control team runstheTPSaseffectively and Monitoring Turangi Met T Waipakihi Ruatahuna Karikaranga ukino
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05 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 06 TONGARIRO // 13 03 DIVERSION EASTERN m diverted bytheWahianoa Aqueduct,basedondesigncriteria, is9 consists ofanaudible alarmthatwarnsofany pendingdischarge, Zealand Defence Force (NZDF)andEarnslawOne Ltd.Thesystem established inconsultation withthetwo key neighbours: New To mitigate potential hazards, apublicwarningsystem hasbeen downstream of theintakes. released, whichmaycreate hazards inthesestreams immediately management purposes.Whenthese gates operate, water is both the Wahianoa Intake and Intake 2 for maintenance and hazard Public Discharge Maximum Discharge was 3.55m The meanflow ofthediverted water duringthis reporting period diverted bytheWahianoa AqueductattheMangaiopower station. Genesis Energy monitors thecombined flow ofallwater being 3.1.1 Aqueduct are: Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for theWahianoa flows (seeSection3.1.3). Wahianoa Aqueductandtheinvestigation ofconnective andagreed to) thetributaries affected bythediversion ofwater through the the wayfor jointinitiatives includingresearch on(butnotlimited in December 2010between NgatiRangiandGenesisEnergy paved very constructive discussions. Therelationship agreement signed constructively until2010,whenthepartiesentered into lengthy but Ngati RangiandGenesisEnergy were unable to engage Assessment ofEnvironmental Effects (2000). at thistimeare describedintheTongariro Power Development details oftheconsultation process andmonitoring undertaken flow monitoring andthepublicwarningofspill events. Further Scheme (TPS)andconsent conditions were agreed around during theprocess to renew consents for theTongariro Power Pulp International). Research andconsultation wasundertaken a Crown forest leased to EarnslawOneLtd(formerly Winstones for military training andexercises andtheremainder iswithin the area thattheNew ZealandDefence Force (NZDF)actively uses access islimited to theWahianoa Aqueductaspartofitlieswithin Wahianoa Aqueductiswithintherohe ofNgatiRangi.Public Crater Lake. is periodically acidic,dueto itssource beingMountRuapehu’s diverted from themainstem oftheWhangaehuRiver asthisriver generally twice themeanflow oftheinflowing stream. Nowater is intake exceeds theintake capacity. Thecapacity ofeachintake is water passes over theintakes whentheflow upstream ofeach of theWhangaehuRiver via22intake structures. Duringfloods, The Wahianoa Aqueductdiverts water from atleast 26tributaries 3.1 03 decrease like othernearbycatchments ontheEastern Diversion. with theextended dryperiodthisyear theseflows were observed to catchments contain alarge component ofground water, however increased thisflow capacity. 3
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QUALITY
(2)
07 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 08 TONGARIRO // 13 show strong leadership potential. scholarships willbeawarded annually to promising students who death in2011.Lilahadapassion for education andthe $1,000 Ngati Rangi/GenesisEnergy relationship negotiationspriorto her Pakinga, inhercapacity asaNgatiRangiTrustee, made to the scholarships commemorate thesignificant contribution Lila College student’s Jacob Larsen andTianaRapana-Bell.These the LilaPakinga MemorialScholarships were awarded to Ruapehu Lila related projects thisreporting periodincluding: ‘agreed flows’ are also continuing. Ngati Rangibegananumberof the Wahianoa Aqueductandthegoal ofeventually establishing Further research programmes relating to thetributaries of challenging Tokiahuru Stream. establishing anew flow regime onthemore hydro-geologically ongoing between GenesisEnergy andNgatiRangiinregard to intake, hasbeenagreed andwillbeimplemented. Discussion is release of6l/s,to augmenttheleakage flow thatoccurs atthis Ngati Rangistaff andRangatahi (Figure 3).Anadditionalflow allowed for usefulinteraction between GenesisEnergy staff and completed duringthereporting period.Thisprocess again Flow testing ofconnected flows onthe Tomowai Stream was
Wahianoa to FIGURE Streams acknowledging FIGURE
Pakinga Survey ofculturally important aquatickai(fish)species pH Profile oftheWhangaehu catchment; and
gauge
3 2
(June the
// // Aqueduct
Memorial
Ngati Ngati
flow
2013) connected
on Rangi Rangi
the
Scholarships
Rangatahi and Tomowai
flows
Genesis
on
stream
work the
Energy
During thereporting period,
Wahianoa
with
below
at
Genesis
the
Intake
and
ceremony
Makahikatoa Energy
2
on
the
staff
modifications to thedamduring reporting period. consent basedondesigncriteria. There have notbeenany was little meritinsuchaproposal andsupported itsremoval. consents. BothNgatiRangiandGenesisEnergy agreed thatthere recommendation from thehearingprocess for theTPSresource proposed byNgatiRangiorGenesisEnergy butcame aboutasa Council wasremoved from theconsent. Thiscondition wasnot with NgatiRangiTrust andtheManawatuWanganui Regional hole beestablished intheWhangaehuRiver inconsultation resource consent condition thatrequired arecreational bathing Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for Lake Moawhangoare: exercises. The NZDFstrictly controls access into Lake Moawhango. Defence Force (NZDF)actively usesfor military training and to Lake Moawhangoasitispartofthearea thattheNew Zealand water storage reservoir withintheTPS.There isnopublicaccess Lake Moawhangoisanartificialhydro lake andistheonly large 3.2 Mangaio Power Station. There are nospecific resource consents or conditions for the was commissioned on21December 2008. and headto generate 1.8MWofelectricity. MangaioPower Station of theWahianoa Aqueduct.Thestation utilisestheexisting flow The MangaioPower Station islocated attheLake Moawhangoend 3.1.4 Wahianoa Recreational by ChealConsultants Ltd(2013). during thereporting period,andtheresults ofthissurvey reported The annualphoto-point survey wasrepeated onLake Moawhango resource consent requirements following re-consenting in2004. occurring atLake Moawhango.Thismonitoring became partof photo-point monitoring to identifyanyshoreline changes repeat shore profile surveys (5 yearly from 2002) withannual Genesis Energy putinplace amonitoring programme involving identified and,where appropriate, remedial works undertaken. monitoring iscarried outsothatanysignificant erosion can be around thelake. Through a2002agreement, regular lakeshore unduly affect theirland,andinparticularroad access to and in conjunction withtheNZDFto ensure thatlake erosion doesnot throughout thisoperating range. GenesisEnergy hasbeenworking a lackofprotective vegetation can result inshoreline erosion associated withhighwinds,soft(volcanic) shoreline geology and increasing thenormaloperating range to 15.1m.Wave action In 2002thecrest oftheMoawhangoDamwasraised by1.2m, 3.2.2 Moawhango Dam Moawhango level was100%compliant duringthereporting period(seeTable 2). to aminimumoperating level of835.75maslifrequired. Thelake 837 maslto 852.1masl.Theconsent allows thelake to belowered Lake Moawhangohasanormaloperating range of15.1mfrom 3.2.1 Parameter Minimum Lev
reporting TABLE LAKE lake shoreline erosion monitoring; provision ofriver flow information viafree phoneand/or lake level monitoring; an agreement withtheNZDF. Genesis Energy’s website;
Specifications MANGAIO SEDIMENT HYDROLOGY
MOAWHANGO 2
Aqueduct
//
period. Dam Dam
el
Lake Amenity
POWER
(EROSION,
MWRC MWRC Moawhango Damspecifications are definedinthe resource
Take
Area (masl)
au opineConsent Compliance Value STATION
101279 101279
837 MWRC
Duringthereporting perioda
TRANSPORT
lake
(1) (2) 101276 level
compliance
(5) AND 0 MWRC101279(2) 100 % (condition) (%)
DEPOSITION)
during
the Number
River were: Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for the Moawhango management planandanamenityarea (seeSection3.3.3). Genesis Energy agreed withthecommunity to develop awillow 2000, inadditionto thenew minimum/flushingflow regime, and willow encroachment. To address theseissues, intheyear had beenreduced over theyears asaresult ofreduced flows Moawhango community. However, theamenityvalue oftheriver The MoawhangoRiver was,andstill is,afocal pointfor the growth makes theriver dangerous inmanyparts. flows are alsoavailable for rafters andkayakers althoughwillow preventing theproblems associated withanoxic sediments.The and detritusfrom theriver, thereby improving water qualityand the effects ofnatural floodsby removing accumulated sediment The objective ofregular flushingflows duringsummeris tomimic and itisnow aconsent condition. strong supportfrom thelocal community andinterested parties implemented theminimumflow voluntarily in2001 following character through thelength oftheriver. GenesisEnergy fed watercourse to become established, andto enhance natural aquatic speciesrepresentative ofahealthyhigh-country lake The provision ofminimum flows was to provide habitat to enable external scientificagencies. Institute ofWater andAtmosphericResearch (NIWA) andother extensive research, analysis and recommendations by the National minimum flow andflushing flow regime were developed following duration, duringsummermonths(December to March). The provision offour periodicflushingflows of30m³/s forninehours minimum flow of0.6m³/sdownstream ofthedamandby watercourse”. Thiswasto beachieved byreleasing acontinuous of thedamrepresentative ofa“healthyhigh-country lake-fed by manystakeholders: to make theMoawhangoRiver downstream During theconsultation process acommon objective wasagreed monitoring reports. details can befound insubsequentstatements of evidence and Development Assessment ofEnvironmental Effects (2000).Further monitoring undertaken are describedintheTongariro Power understand effects. Full details oftheconsultation process and process, orwhere furthermonitoring wasrequired to fully been achangeto theoperations resulting from theconsultative Generally, additionalmonitoring isundertaken where there has been established orenhanced, ormitigationhasbeenundertaken. made to power schemeoperations, monitoring programmes have operation oftheTPS.Where appropriate, changeshave been have beenundertaken to determine theeffects oftheongoing Significant research and consultation ontheMoawhango River river for recreation. freshwater ecology, aswell as thecommunity’s abilityto usethe were most pronounced duringsummerandincludedeffects on tributary, theAorangi Stream. Theeffects ofthisreduction inflow immediately downstream ofthedamto thefirst significant Prior to 2001there wasvery little flow intheMoawhangoRiver 3.3 Moawhango Moawhango made andtheseare beingfollowed up. A numberofminorriskmanagementrecommendations have been erosion causing damageto nearbystructures. above anarea prone to erosion. Thishasreduced theriskof Vegetation hasbecome successfully established onthebank erosion andslumpinghave continued atvarious points. changes to thevegetation line,while smallareas oflocalised This year’s survey showed thatthere have only beenminor
MOAWHANGO to ensure thattheriver downstream oftheMoawhango water course”, specifically through: Dam isrepresentative of“ahealthyhigh-c
Dam Dam
Discharge MWRC RIVER
101279
MWRC
(6)
101280
(12 ountry lake-fed )
of atleast 0.6m reporting period). spill flows (see Table 3 for compliance results inthecurrent monitoring site ismaintained to monitor flushingflows and of thisreporting period.The MoawhangoRiver atWaiouru flow and anadditional0.2m This flow site is located some distance downstream ofthe dam hydrology monitoring site ontheMoawhangoRiver atWaiouru. Moawhango River. Historically thishadbeenmetusinga (see below for details). from thedamto meettheminimumflow stipulated inthe consent which hasreduced theamountofflow required to be released the long-term meandueto theinstallation ofthemagflow device Flow attheMoawhangoRiver atWaiouru site wasslightly below Moawhango River. storage capacity whichmeantthere were nospillevents down the flood events, andasa result Lake Moawhangodidnot exceed its due to below average rainfall duringtheyear withnosignificant long-term meanduringthisreporting period(Figure 4).Thisis at Moawhangosite wasbelow average (61%)compared to the limits hadalways beeninplace. Flow attheMoawhangoRiver is calculated asiftheoretically thepresent resource consent period, compared to thelong-term mean.Thelong-term mean Moawhango River. Italsoshows themeanflow for the reporting Figure 4shows thelocation ofkey flow monitoring sites inthe 3.3.1 Moawhango discharge andmonitor the0.6m Magflow was commissioned on14June2011andhasbeenused to and provides agreater level ofminimumflow compliance. The Magflow hasamuchhigheraccuracy thanthein-river flow site to bemonitored inreal timeasitdischarges from thedam.The the minimumflow from MoawhangoDam.Thisallows theflow Magflow wasinstalled onthe compensation valve that releases During the2010/11reporting periodaMagneticFlow meter or resulted inadelayto react to flow changesatthemonitoring site. location, approximately 45minutes flow timefrom MoawhangoDam, inherently difficult to monitor minimumflow compliance. Thesites The MoawhangoRiver atWaiouru monitoring location hadproved Minimum previously been0.8m flow thatwasmaintained attheMoawhangoRiver at Waiouru had between thedamandmonitoring site. Therefore theminimum Location Moawhango Dam
TABLE the annual consultative meetingswiththeMoawhangocommunity. agreements withNgatiWhitikaupeka,Tamakopiri and development ofanamenityarea atMoawhangoVillage; development ofawillow managementplan; an agreement withWellington RegionFishandGameCouncil flood managementandpublicwarning; Ngati Hauitito address tangat fishing opportunitywithintheMoawhangoRiver; to address issues resulting from theloss of
HYDROLOGY
reporting
measuring outcomes through themonitoring ofwat flushing flows; minimum flows; defined intheEastern Diversion Monit quality, periphyton growth andmacro-inv
3 Flow
//
Dam
Moawhango
period. – 3 /s isrequired below MoawhangoDaminthe
Moawhango
Discharge
Minimum 3 /s. 3 (m Flows /s hadbeenallowed for tributary inflows
River 3
0.6 /s)
MWRC
minimum
Dam 3 /s minimumflow for theduration a whenuaissues; opineConsent Compliance
Magflow
101280
flow 99%MWRC 101280 (6,7) 99.99% % (condition) (%)
compliance
(6) Aminimumflow oring Plan.
ertebrates as
during
Number
er
09 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 // 13 TONGARIRO
FIGURE 4 // Eastern Diversion monitoring results during the reporting period. 10 Section 3.3.6). outcome oftheRangitikei community meetingheldinMay(see flows in consultation with local residents andMWRCasan Genesis Energy iscurrently reviewing thetimingofflushing complaints were received. little bearing on theeffectiveness oftheflushingflow andno 4). Allreleases hadaverage flows greater than 30m Four flushing flows occurred duringthe reporting period (Table in managingtheflushingflow. purposes; however theconsent variation provides more flexibility approximately 30-90minutes isstill required for operational less publicriskfrom risingriver levels. Aramping upperiodof since theflows are now released atnight,there is considerably instated whenthereleases were to occur duringtheday,however of itsflushingflows. The rampingup requirement wasoriginally MWRC allowing for theremoval oftheramping uprequirement In 2011GenesisEnergy wasgranted aconsent variation by ever coincided withanatural flood. were agreed with thecommunity and river users andnoflushhas to downstream river users intheyears priorto 2009.Thechanges River. Theseprovisions posedsignificant healthandsafety risks possible, withanatural flood event intheupperMoawhango and February flushingflows were intended to coincide,where flows would beginat5:00amonthe release date, andtheJanuary and indaylighthours. Previously, theconsent stated thatflushing Moawhango andRangitikei Rivers duringtheearly partoftheday am thefollowing day. Thisissotheflushing event reaches the pre-agreed daysfrom Moawhangodambetween 8:00pmand7:00 by MWRCto release allfour ninehourflushingflows onspecific, In October 2009,GenesisEnergy wasgranted aconsent variation community andwithMWRC. The flushingflow dates are setin consultation withriver users, the in eachofthemonthsDecember, January,February andMarch. Moawhango Flushing The Januaryflushingflow dippedslightly below 30m one hour. requirement to ramp down theflows over aperiodofnot less than hours). Allflushingflows were also compliantwith respect tothe flows were compliant in terms oftheir required duration (nine was noless than 29.82m The flushingflow released duringJanuary, FebruaryandMarch than 0.1%shouldoccur infuture atflushingflow levels. result several improvements were made.Adiscrepancy nogreater discrepancy ofthismagnitudecould occur wasraised andas a through two separate processes. Aninvestigation into how a are generated from thesamestage to flow rating curve, however, intervals for compliance monitoring andreporting. Bothvalues Controller usesto operate andthatwhichislogged in5minute between theinstantaneous flow value thattheGeneration m minutes andtheMarch flushingflow dippedslightly below 30 The February flushingflow dippedslightly below 30m complaints were received. little bearingontheeffectiveness oftheflushingflow andno challenges withmaintaining precise flows. Thedipinflow had minutes. Thisminornon-compliance resulted from operational 12 March 13 19 February 13 22 January13 4 December 12 Date 3 /s for atotal of70minutes. Thiswasdueto a2%discrepancy reporting TABLE
Flows 4
//
period. Dam
Moawhango Thefour annualflushingflows occur onsetdates
Discharge Average
River 3 (m /s. Theslightreduction inflow had
10 5mnMinor non-compliance 9h45min 31.02 Minor non-compliance 9h25min F 31.53 9h25min 31.56 Flow 219h1 i Minor non-compliance 9h15min 32.1 3
MWRC /s)
flushing
Duration
101280
flows
during
(3, Compliance
ull compliance 4,
the
5) 3 /s, andall 3 /s for 25 3 /s for 5 a riverbed changesdueto floodsor vegetation growth. rating isnotpermanentandwillchangeover timeastheshapeof converted to flow usinga statistical relationship called a‘rating’. A purposes. At flow monitoring sites the water level is measured and accuracy offlow data collected for operational and compliance first flushing flow. The system was developed in consultation with: was madeoperative inDecember 2004,priorto therelease ofthe and plannedflushingflows from MoawhangoDam.Thesystem notification procedure developed for bothunplannedspill events The MoawhangoDamPublicWarning System outlinesthe flow andspill events isapriority for GenesisEnergy. changes inflow downstream. Publicsafety surrounding flushing river users. Flushingflows can alsocreate significant short-term Moawhango River, whichcan create safety issues for downstream does spill,asignificant amountofwater can be released into the lake spillsapproximately once peryear. However, whenthelake floods can be contained withinthe reservoir. Onaverage, the management ofLake Moawhangomeansthatallbutthelargest meant nogaugingswere possible. During thisreporting periodthere were nospillevents which when flushingflows occur, only spill flows are able tobegauged. Due to healthandsafety issues around working atnight,whichis flushing orspill conditions, whichtheMagflow cannotmeasure. to highendofthecurve to cover therange offlows present under events. Assuch,therating curve isonly maintained atthe middle monitoring site isutilisedprimarily for themonitoring ofhigh-flow at theMoawhangoDam,River atWaiouru flow As theminimumflow isnow monitored bytheMagflow meter 95% oftheyear. compliance occurs whenthedata isnotwithinthe±8%range for or minus8%ofthetrueflow for at least 95%ofthetime.Non- the power station Generation Controllers observe iswithinplus level to flow relationships) are maintained sothattheflow that Resource consents require thatflow rating curves (thatis,water flow’ oftheriver. usually associated withaflood).Thisdata set represents the‘true backdated to thetimewhenrating changeoccurred (i.e. Real-time data isqualityassured andrating changesare as rating changesare identified. compliance data set.Ratingsare updated to thisdata setassoon data set(called theoperational data set),isGenesisEnergy’s collected atmanysites from around thescheme.Thisreal-time Genesis Energy operates theTPSusingreal-time flow data Moawhango Flow Moawhango during thereporting period. There were nounplannedspillevents from MoawhangoDam Key components ofthesystem include: Public
public notification ofplannedspill events (i.e.flushing flows) via: a contacts list ofkey agencies andproperty owners; Manawatu Wanganui RegionalCouncil. Rangitikei District Council; Ruapehu District Council; the Moawhangocommunity; property owners andoccupiers adjacent to theMoawhango Whitewater New Zealand; the NZDF; River, from thedam to Moawhangovillage;
Measurement
Warning
letter drops to housesinthevicinityof river. e-mail notices; newspaper notices;
Dam Dam
The large operating volume andprudent
Discharge Discharge
Accuracy
MWRC MWRC
GenesisEnergy monitors the
101280 101280
(8) (1)
11 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 3.3.2 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS AND WATER QUALITY sites. This monitoring continues to show that all parameters remain well within the range of tolerance for sensitive species The Eastern Diversion Monitoring Plan has been developed to such as trout, native fish and invertebrates. measure outcomes of the minimum flows and flushing flows in controlling nuisance periphyton levels and achieving a river Periphyton (Algae) Periphyton growth in the Moawhango River for representative of “a healthy high country lake-fed water course”. the reporting period was similar to that of previous years with no The plan includes monitoring of water quality, periphyton growth exceedence of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) guidelines and macro-invertebrates. The monitoring programme comprises five recorded. Quantitative periphyton results from March and May sites. Three are located on the Moawhango River between the dam showed that chlorophyll a values were all below the MfE guideline and Woollaston’s Farm (approximately 43 kilometres downstream); (200 mg/m2 of chlorophyll a), but exceeded the MWRC Proposed and two reference sites above the dam and Lake Moawhango: one on One Plan target value of 120 mg/m2 outside of the flushing flow the Moawhango River and one on the Mangaio Stream. regime in May at the Argo Valley and Woollaston sites (190.91 and 151.75 mg/m2 respectively). Chlorophyll a values remained below Semi-quantitative monitoring of macro-invertebrates and the MWRC target value at all other sites on all sampling occasions. periphyton is undertaken pre and post each flushing flow during December, January, February and March (Figure 5). Quantitative Macro-invertebrates Suren et al (2002) identified the macro- assessments are also undertaken in March - the period when river invertebrate fauna that would be representative of “a healthy, ecology is under most stress from warmer water temperatures, high-country lake-fed water course” similar to the Moawhango low flows and nuisance periphyton build-ups; and again in May, River below the Moawhango Dam. There should be a mixture of after the flushing flow “season”. less than 15% Coleoptera (beetles) and greater than 50% mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (otherwise known as Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera [EPT], the three insect orders commonly used to test water quality), and one or more of the following: greater than 15% Diptera (midge, crane fly and hawthorn fly), greater than 10% Ephemeroptera (mayflies), or less than 5% Oligochaeta (worms), in such a system.
Total benthic macro-invertebrate densities and richness values for the May 2013 samples were similar to the 2011 and 2012 values but were lower compared to prior years. This is likely related more to a difference in sample processing methods (sieve sizes) post 2010, than actual ecological conditions in the Moawhango River.
The 2013 samples found a similar trend to previous years, with MCI (Macro-invertebrate Community Index) and QMCI (Quantitative Macro-invertebrate Community Index) scores lower at the Waiouru and Argo Valley sites than at the Woollaston site further downstream. No statistical differences were detected between the two reference sites and the three sites below Moawhango Dam. The percentage of EPT taxa found at the above Moawhango Dam control site was significantly higher compared to the values found FIGURE 5 // Tonkin & Taylor scientists undertaking semi- at the Mangaio control site and the three sites downstream of quantitative periphyton monitoring on the Moawhango River. Moawhango Dam.
IBI (Index of Biological Integrity) analysis showed that the Waiouru, Monitoring results for the Eastern Diversion during the reporting Argo Valley and Woollaston sites were “slightly-impaired” period are summarised in Figure 4. compared to the above Moawhango Dam reference site. The Moawhango Dam Discharge MWRC 101280 (12) Mangaio reference site was “moderately impaired”. This is most likely due to the Mangaio Stream drying up over the summer The report prepared by Tonkin & Taylor details the in-stream period due to low rainfall. ecology monitoring results from the Moawhango River for the reporting period (Tonkin & Taylor, 2013). Macro-invertebrate community metrics met the Suren et al. (2002) reference criteria for healthy high-country lake-fed streams at the Water Quality Temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity Argo Valley and Woollastons sites. The Waiouru site did not meet (dissolved nutrients) were recorded throughout the December the criteria due to the percentage of EPT taxa (44.4%) being less 2012 to April 2013 period by Tonkin & Taylor at all monitoring than the 50% criteria threshold (see Table 5).
TABLE 5 // Reference criteria developed by Suren et al. (2002) for the expected macro-invertebrate composition in high country lake-fed rivers (similar to below Moawhango Dam), and results from 2012 monitoring sites above (reference sites), and below, Moawhango Dam.
Criteria for healthy high country Compliance at Site (Yes = lake-fed criteria met; No = lake-fed criteria not met) lake-fed river invertebrate community
Both: Site 1a Site 1b Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Upstream of Dam Mangaio Stream Waiouru Argo Valley Woollastons (Reference 1) (Reference 2) 50% EPT; and Yes (67.96) No (10.67) No (44.16) Yes (50.83) Yes (61.70) 15% Coleoptera Yes (3.61) No (24.67) Yes (2.95) Yes (2.92) Yes (5.26) And either of: 15% Diptera; or Yes (20.18) Yes (58) Yes (30.79) Yes (33.94) Yes (19.60)
// 13 TONGARIRO 10% Ephemeroptera (E); or Yes (16.29) Yes (10.67) No (4.82) No (9.28) Yes (13.78) 5% Oligochaeta Yes (0) Yes (0) No (5.13) Yes (1.67) Yes (1.00)
12 Criteria Met Yes No No Yes Yes previously cleared reaches. of a200mreach oftheriver peryear andfor maintaining the an annualprogramme for controlling willows over aminimum Willow ManagementPlanhasbeendeveloped. Thisplansetsout As partofabroad TPSmitigationprogramme, aMoawhango oxygen levels andgivingoffunpleasant odours asthey rot. in backwaters andatthebottom ofdeep,slow pools,lowering deteriorates whenlarge volumes ofwillow leaves accumulate flows andcreate seriouswater qualityissues. Thewater quality blockages in the river which reduce the cleansing effect of flushing Willow encroachment hasfurtherrestricted water flows, causing have exacerbated theencroachment ofwillows into theriver. or ongoingoperation oftheTPS.However, flow reductions may willows to theMoawhangoRiver isunrelated to thedevelopment adjacent to MoawhangoRiver, nearMoawhangovillage. Moawhango community developed aplanfor anamenityarea Moawhango Moawhango Farm and isprogrammed for removal inAugust 2013. also identifiedintheMoawhangoRiver adjacent to Woollaston’s management site atMark’s Ford (Figure 6).Asmaller log jamwas Energy twice arranged for willow logs to becleared from alog jam in theMoawhangoRiver. Duringthereporting period,Genesis Energy asksthatthepublicinform themofanylog jamsthatoccur Log jamsare now managedonacase bycase basis,andGenesis problems furtherdownriver. and readily removed. This helpsprevent thelogs from creating additional material flusheddown theriver can beintercepted log jamsinsitu,andto utilisethemasmanagementsites where log jamswere already situated, itwould bebetter to leave these decided thatatreadily accessible pointsalong theriver where problematic inthetightgorges. After anon-site inspectionitwas the river channelandbecoming jammed,whichisparticularly These have beencaused byanincreased volume oflogs entering Moawhango River hasbeentheincidence ofwillow log jams. One oftheless desirable outcomes ofwillow control along the since 2006. bringing thetotal length ofriver treated for willow to nearly 14km new areas inJanuary2013consisted of1,480mriver margin – follow-up treatment wasundertaken where required. Treatment of areas (more than12kmofriver margin) were checked and operations taking place inJanuary2013.Allpreviously treated make progress duringthereporting periodwithwillow control community andtangata whenuain2005,hascontinued to The MoawhangoWillow ManagementPlan,approved bythe Moawhango Moawhango 3.3.3 FIGURE
NATURAL
6
// Dam Willow Dam Amenity
Managing
CHARACTER
MWRC MWRC
Management
Area
a
log-jam 101279 101279 In2004,GenesisEnergy andthe
AND
on
(Advice (3,
Plan AMENITY
the
4)
Moawhango
The introduction of
Note)
ISSUES
River.
trout fisheryintheupperRangitikei River. flow regime. A key partofthisistheenhancement ofthe rainbow undertake off-site mitigation,inadditionto theminimum/flushing agreement withtheWellington RegionFishandGameCouncilto trout fisheryintheMoawhangoRiver, GenesisEnergy reached an was notconsidered realistic to attempt to re-create therainbow on othernearbyrivers, inparticulartheRangitikei River. Asit angling opportunityandpossibly creating additionalpressure in less rainbow trout habitat intheMoawhangoRiver, reducing The reduction inflow downstream oftheMoawhangoDam resulted 3.3.4 agreed there wasreal meritinthisaswell. investigate theriparianenhancement project proposal aseveryone community agreed to work together withotheragenciesto further hall floor,interior painting,andplumbing.GenesisEnergy andthe electrical wiringandlighting,sandingpolyurethane ofthe towards aMoawhangocommunity hallupgrade whichwillinclude decided at the meeting that the remaining amenity area funding go species attheentrance to MoawhangoVillage.Itwasunanimously and ariparianenhancement project involving plantingnative tree alternative amenityarea location, increased willow control work 18 October 2012several optionswere considered includingan At theMoawhangocommunity consultative meetingheldon amenity area fundingwithinthefollowing year. community would make afinaldecisionaboutthe remaining held on21September 2011anditwasagreed thattheMoawhango length attheannualMoawhangocommunity consultative meeting The proposed development ofanamenityarea wasdiscussed at allowing agreater willow control effort duringthatperiod. the amenityarea were redirected to thispurposeduring2010-11, willow managementplan.Assuch,partofthefundssetasidefor set asidefor theamenityarea to progress thecatchment wide community andtangata whenua,redirected halfofthefunding this, GenesisEnergy, withtheagreement ofthelocal Moawhango would seriously restrict theoriginaldevelopment plans.Following registered archaeological site intheproposed development area These planswere setasidein2008following therealisation thata period includedthefollowing activities: Region FishandGameCouncil(Pilkington, 2013)for thereporting Key initiatives andprogramme results reported bytheWellington Rangitikei River isto undertake: The long-term focus of thetrout managementwork onthe
research to: habitat protection for trout; regulation compliance; trout abundance, spawningandrecruitment monitoring; A final report isdueoutlater this year. fish andinvertebrate c hydrological patterns andgeomorphological changesonriver concurrent investigation into the influences ofwater quality, Research of 17licences checked. into theheadwaters. Nooffences were detected, withatotal the Rangitikei River anditstributaries, includingthree trips Regulation Monitoring the streams sampled. and ageofthetrout indicate whetherspawninghadoccurr and theirotoliths extracted f were collected from eachsite usinganelectric fishingmachine during December 2012.Ten juvenile tr Creek, Trick Creek, Otamateanui andMakomiko streams) various Rangitikei River headwater tributaries (Ecology spawning andrecruitment, juvenile trout w
RECREATION/TOURISM
survey pest plantssuchasDidymo. gain reliable estimates ofbackcountry angler use; identify linksbetween trout recruitment intheRangitikei lower reaches andtheheadwaters; Massey University have largely completed a To helpobtain information ontrout abundance,
Compliance ommunities, intheRangitikei River.
Rangers madeanumberofvisitsto
or agingandanalysis. Thesize out (
ere sampled from 3monthsold)
ed in
13 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 14 TONGARIRO // 13 involved inthefollowing: During thereporting period,bothRunangacontinued to beactively throughout thereporting period. in May2013,andbothpartieshave remained inregular contact with representatives ofNgatiWhitikaupekaandTamakopiri including: Hauiti inJune2013,andwasupdated onsomeoftheirkey projects Ngati Ngati Tamakopiri inregard to thesematters. relationships withNgatiHauiti,Whitikaupekaand on theenvironment. GenesisEnergy hasentered into long-term Waikato catchment hasongoingphysical andspiritualimpacts diversion ofwater from theMoawhangocatchment into the the reduction offlow downstream of thedamandunnatural consistently stated thatthe dammingoftheMoawhangoRiver, Ngati Whitikaupeka,Tamakopiri andNgatiHauitihave AND 3.3.5 the programme. which to buildupontheabove mentionedfour key aspectsof on theRangitikei River whichprovided anidealplatf During thereporting periodatwo daycanoeing triptook plac
He WhetuArataki (NgatiHauitiLeadership Progr Mokai Patea Waitangi ClaimsTrust -involvement intheiwi Whanau SportsAnnualEvent –helpingtheirmarae andiwi Planning andsupportingtheirmarae withdevelopment and Environmental Working Party (EWP)-apartnership 4. 3. 2. 1. learnt withspecific focus on four key areas: which manyactivitiesare undertaken andnew skillsar Hauiti. Noho(gatherings)are heldthree timesperyear at aims to provide for asuccession ofleadership withinNgati There are currently 13participantsintheprogramme which the rohe. collective dealingwiththe Waitangi Tribunal Claimswithin members participate onthisday;and renovation projects over thenext three years; with theirenvironmental issues; also beentasked withsupportinganotheriwiwithintherohe to environmental impacts on their shared lands. The EWP has between NgatiWhitikaupekaandTamakopiri inregards Rangitikei headwaters. operators to identifyandconfirm publicaccess in to the Zealand Defence Forc Game are working withlandowners including:theNe Liaison of intensive farming to reduce contaminant inputsto theriver. case, andthecoastal Rangitikei isnow includedinregulation Court decisionhasruled insupportofFishandGame’s catchment for regulation ofintensive farming. TheEnvironment sought thatthecoastal Rangitikei ber Through theEnvironment Courtprocess, FishandGame list ofcatchments where intensive farming isto becontrolled. concern wastheremoval oftheCoastal Rangitikei from the the decisiononHorizonsOnePlan.Ofparticular Trout Back common nationality. were from the United States, withAustralians thesecond most were overseas anglers. Themajorityoftheseoverseas anglers season. Thiswasthesameas2011-12.Of140,73(52%) form indicated 140licences were issued for the2012-13fishing
NGATI
NGATI Hauiti Whitikaupeka
Kotahitanga (Unity) Manaakitanga (Support) Rangatiratanga (Leadership) Hauititanga (NgatiHauiticulture)
Country
Habitat
HAUITI
WHITIKAUPEKA, with Genesis Energy metwithrepresentatives ofNgati
Commercial
License Protection
and
Ngati Thebackcountry licence onlinebooking e, otheragenciesandaircharter Wellington FishandGameappealed
NGATI Users
Tamakopiri
TAMAKOPIRI and
Landowners
e-included asapriority GenesisEnergy met
amme).
Fish and orm on
w e
e
of thepublicwho were interested orhadconcerns regarding Regional Council(Figure 8).GenesisEnergy alsoinvited members River withanumberofresidents andtheManawatu Wanganui the impactsofMarch 2013flushingflow ontheRangitikei In response to new concerns being raised, GenesisEnergy viewed flushing flows. was changedto separate the highuseChristmas periodfrom the investigated byGenesis Energy. Previously thetimingofevents about theseeffects have beenraised byresidents inthepast and River below theconfluence withtheMoawhangoRiver. Concerns shallow, unconfined reaches ofthefirst 10-20kmoftheRangitikei is thatthealgaeandsedimentcan bedeposited along broad, period through theriver, aconsequence oftheflushingflows, by flushingalgaeandsedimentthatbuildsup over thesummer ecological healthandamenityvalues oftheMoawhangoRiver flows have been extremely effective athelping to improve the flushing flows ontheRangitikei River. Althoughtheflushing concerns raised inearly 2013abouttheeffects oftheMoawhango Genesis Energy called a special community meeting in response to also reviewed. (as reported inthe2011/12AER).Publicnotification methods were condition regarding theramping-up requirement offlushingflows were presented, aswasasummaryofthevariation to aconsent upgrade. TheMoawhangoRiver ecological monitoring results amenity area fundinggotowards aMoawhangocommunity hall considered. Itwasunanimously decidedthattheremaining amenity area funding(seeSection3.3.3)withanumberofoptions A community discussion washadontheuseofremaining community andallatthemeetingagreed withtheapproach. log-jam management(seeSection3.3.3)wasshared withthe priorities for thefuture were discussed. Therevised planfor of willow managementwork completed duringtheyear and October 2012.Thecommunity waspresented with asummary The annualMoawhangocommunity meetingwasheldon18 well attended andexcellent feedback isalways received. management andthedevelopment ofanamenityarea. Meetings are community to discuss flushingflow events, monitoring results,willow Genesis Energy holdsannualmeetingswiththeMoawhango 3.3.6
during FIGURE Project Pourewa (Pourewa Stream restoration works). This the newly planted seedlings(Figure 7). participated inavolunteer daythatinvol over thedrought period.GenesisEnergy staff members also planted andcared for withanimpressive 95%survival rate fenced. Duringthereporting periodnative seedlingswere section ofthestream and1.5kmofthestream hasbeen and Hunterville. Willows hav is atributary oftheRangitikei River thatrunsthrough Rat
MOAWHANGO
a
7
volunteer
//
Genesis
COMMUNITY day.
Energy
staff
e beenremoved from a200m assisting
with ved weeding around
Project
Pourewa
a
Moawhango and willbereported oninthenext reporting period. conjunction withlocal residents andHorizonsRegionalCouncil, Each ofthesewillbeassessed over thecoming monthsin agreed to investigate: helps theissues ontheRangitikei River -areal challenge. Itwas doesn’t detract from thebenefits to theMoawhangoRiver but the effects. Allwere unanimousinwantingto findasolutionthat noted thatthissummerwasextremely dryandthisaccentuated well attended bybothMoawhangoandRangitikei residents. Itwas community meetingwasheldinTaihape onthe28Mayandwas the Moawhangoflushingflows toa communitymeeting.The discussion inregard to changingtheflushingflow regime. catchment over thesummermonthsto better inform (3) Thelikelihood andfrequency offreshes intheRangitikei removed byeachofthefour flushingflows. (2) Thecomposition (organic versus inorganic) ofmaterial Rangitikei River. to November to coincide withhigherflows onthe (1) WhethertheDecember flushingflow couldbeshifted FIGURE
8
// Dam
The
MWRC Rangitikei
101280
River
after (9,
10)
the
March
2013
flush.
15 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 16 TONGARIRO // 13 04 RIVER TONGARIRO well asvarious widerinitiatives discussed elsewhere inthisreport. recreational releases from theRangipoDamandPoutu Intake as the Tongariro River. Assuch,GenesisEnergy agreed to provide that reduced flows were limiting recreational opportunitieswithin Edmund HillaryOutdoorPursuits Centre (OPC)raised concerns As partoftheconsultation process, Whitewater NZandtheSir angling opportunities. research programmes to beundertaken andtheenhancement of be exceeded. Theagreement alsoprovides for fishery science and flows from Poutu Intake shouldspecifiedperiphyton trigger levels concern anagreement wasreached thatprovides for flushing and subsequentsurvival rate ofjuvenile trout. To address this macro-invertebrates present, which could affect thegrowth rates (algae) build-ups,thereby changing thetypeandabundance of Intake maypromote orenhance thegrowth ofnuisance periphyton DOC were concerned thatstable flows downstream of Poutu for the continued operation oftheTPS. trout fisheryas well as recreational opportunities, while allowing downstream ofPoutu Intake. Thisprovides for thedownstream same resource. Acontinuous minimumflow of16m³/sis released In thelower river there are manycompeting demandsfor the populations andtheirhabitat (seeSection7.2). 2002. Thetrust aimsto enhance, protect andpromote blueduck Island BlueDuckConservation Charitable Trust wasformed in enhance blueduckpopulations.Asaresult, theCentral North mitigation programme, to develop ascheme-wideinitiative to Forest andBird Protection Societyagreed, aspartofawider Energy, theDepartmentofConservation (DOC)andtheRoyal which can devastate blueduckandtheirhabitat. Rather,Genesis Tongariro River issusceptible to volcanic events suchaslahars minimum flow for thebenefitofblueduck,specifically asthe it wasnotconsidered practicable to furtherincrease the0.6m³/s An agreement wasreached duringtheconsultative process that flushing flows are released to remove theperiphyton growth. are monitored andtriggerlevels are set.Ifatriggerlevel isreached, that thisdoesnotoccur ontheTongariro River, periphyton levels degraded habitat orfood sources for freshwater species.To ensure character. Nuisance periphyton (algae)proliferations can result in of RangipoDamto provide aquatichabitat andto enhance natural A continuous minimumflow of0.6m³/sis released downstream subsequent statements ofevidence andmonitoring reports. Environmental Effects (2000).Further details can befound in described intheTongariro Power Development Assessment of to thelodgement ofresource consent applications in2000are consultation process andmonitoring undertaken inthelead up fully understand effects over thelong term. Full details ofthe consultative process, orwhere furthermonitoring isrequired to there hasbeenachangeto theoperations resulting from the undertaken. Generally, additionalmonitoring isundertaken where have beenestablished orenhanced, ormitigationhasbeen been madeto power schemeoperations, monitoring programmes ongoing operation oftheTPS.Where appropriate, changeshave undertaken ontheTongariro River to determine theeffects ofthe A significant amountof research and consultation hasbeen river downstream ofPoutu Intake. downstream ofRangipoDamandto alesser degree thelower results inreduced flows intheupper Tongariro River immediately The continued operation oftheTongariro Power Scheme(TPS) Intake to Lake Taupo, where thehighest value trout fisheryoccurs. urban development. Itisinthelower river, downstream ofPoutu flows through amodifiedlandscape of exotic forest, pasture and The lower river ispartially contained withinbothparksandalso of native species,includingthenationally endangered blueduck. particular ecological values andprovide habitat for awiderange Forest Park andtheTongariro NationalPark, bothofwhichhave upper catchments are largely contained withintheKaimanawa whenua andasaresource for hydroelectricity generation. The recreational resource, itsworld-famous trout fishery,by tangata The Tongariro River ishighly valued for itsecology, asa 04
TONGARIRO
RIVER
observed effects resulting from theminornon-compliances. level ofcompliance atallsites withinthiscatchment andno within theTongariro catchment (Table 6).There wasavery high minimum flows to be released from GenesisEnergy’s structures River were: Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for theTongariro River Delta. flushing ofRangipoDamandsedimentation ofthe Tongariro through theconsultation process were floodmanagement,the Other key issues identified for the Tongariro River andaddressed Minimum large floodswhich would create spill over the Poutu Intake. at 90.1%.Thiswasagaindueto the long dryspellwithnomediumto Flows released downstream ofPoutu Intake were alsobelow average of water diverted over ayear since 2007/08. also well below thelong term average andwas thelowest volume Tunnel for generation through RangipoPower Station. Thiswas was diverted into theupperTongariro River viatheMoawhango round minumumflow of0.6m³/s.Onaverage, 9.5m³/sofwater Rangipo Damduringthereporting period.Thissite hasayear average (54%)dueto aminimalnumberofspillevents over the directly downstream ofRangipoDamwere significantly below below average duringthereporting period(Figure 9).Flows Flows intheupperTongariro River (above RangipoDam)were 4.1
HYDROLOGY no diversion ofcontaminated water bodies,withparticular increase recreational rafting/kayaking opportunitythrough: improve thesedimentflushing regime oftheRangipoDam; maintain healthyecosystems downstream ofthestructures an agreement withWaikato RegionalCouncil’s Asset an agreement withDOCandtheRoyal Forest andBird an agreement withDOCthekey purposeofenhancing provision ofriver flow information viafree phoneand/or emphasis on: achieved by: funding contributions to bemadetowar warning information for theTongariro Riv Management Group for Genesis Energy to pr Charitable Trust; formation oftheCentral NorthIslandBlueDuckConservation Protection Societywhichoutlinestherequirement for the Enhancement Fund); the Tongariro trout fishery(viaa Tongariro Fisheries Genesis Energy’s website;
real-time monitoring ofwater quality. the Volcanic ActivityManagementPlan(VAMP); removal ofconstruction debrisasdefinedinthe a third partyagreement withLake Rotoaira Forest Trust recreational releases; third partyagreements withWhitewater NZandOPC; outcomes measured through themonitoring ofblue flushing flows (trigger-based); minimum flows; Construction DebrisManagementPlan(CDMP). access viaKaimanawaRoadto P to provide unrestricted recreational Monitoring Plan(TRMP). macro-invertebrat duck populations,water quality,periphyton growth and
Flows There are three consents thatrequire continuous
es asdefinedinthe Tongariro River
outu Intake; ds Project Watershed.
er andagreed ovide flood
17 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 // 13 TONGARIRO
FIGURE 9 // Tongariro River monitoring results for the reporting period. 18 time (see Section 3.3.1 for more detail on the consent requirements). Controllers observe iswithin±8%ofthetrueflow for 95%ofthe maintained sothattheflow that thepower station Generation flow rating curves (thatis,water level to flow relationships) are period didpHmeasurements fall below 6. Rotoaira whenpHfalls below 6.Atnotimeduringthereporting taken from theTongariro River viathePoutu Intake andinto Lake pH atthePoutu CanalDiversion, to ensure thatwater isnot the date ofcommencement oftheconsent. Spillway Crest, whichhasbeenmaintained at818.4metres since Specifically, thisalsoincludesnoalterations to theRangipoDam modifications have beenmade to anyofthese structures. specified in resource consents, basedondesigncriteria. No that altered theflow inthe Tongariro River. reporting periodthere were noplannedmaintenance activities phone calls, newspapers andradio advertisements. Duringthe Notification isviaGenesisEnergy’s hydrology web page,e-mail, flows Tongariro River users are notifiedvia several mechanisms. Where there are plannedmaintenance activitiesthatwillalter the to ensure thatthey are operative andperform to therequired level. flow changesatthese structures. Thealarmsare tested regularly Poutu Intake andPoutu Damto warn downstream river users of downstream ofPoutu Intake exceeds 250m Flow Poutu pH Poutu Poutu Poutu Public Wairehu Moawhango Council) clearly likely to exceed, themaximumcontrol level. Tunnel ifLake Taupo exceeds, oris(intheview ofWaikato Regional require GenesisEnergy to cease discharge from Moawhango its maximumcontrol level of357.25masl.Thiscondition would There were alsonoevents thatresulted inLake Taupo risingabove Flood Poutu Poutu Poutu Waihohonu Waihohonu Rangipo Rangipo Moawhango Maximum triggered theTongariro River floodwarningprocedures. Council. Duringthereporting period,there were nofloodswhich is to notifystaff atWaikato RegionalCouncilandTaupo District Location 1 February–31 October downstream (D/S)Rangipo Tongariro River at oebr–3 eebr039.8103879(2) 99.98 0.3 1 November – 31 December Poutu Intake Tongariro River atD/S 1 January–31January Poutu
Monitoring flow TABLE
Measurement
Management
Intake Dam Dam Intake Canal Canal Intake
Warning
Stream compliance
Power Power Canal
6
Flows
// Drum WRC Discharge Dam
Tunnel Tunnel to Discharge
Tongariro WRC WRC Take
at GenesisEnergy maintains sensors whichdetect
Discharge Poutu GenesisEnergy maintains audible alarmsat Station Station
odMinimum Ford
and 103879 Several structures have maximumflow limits
Gate
for
WRC 103875 103875
Accuracy
Once theflow onthe Tongariro River Discharge Discharge
Take the
Stream
River WRC
Testing WRC Discharge Take
103875
reporting (5)
WRC
WRC (11) (5)
minimum
103866
Minimum 103878 Resource consents require that WRC
WRC
WRC WRC WRC 103882
(m (m Flows Flows 103864 (15)
period. .510103879(2) 100 0.45
3 3 103867 WRC . 99 103879(2) 99.99 0.6 WRC103867 99.99 0.6
s % (condition) (%) /s) (condition) (%) /s) 69.6WRC103875 99.96 16 103877
(1)
103863 103863 103881 (1)
(1)
opineConsent Compliance opineConsent Compliance 103870 (1,
(3)
2) (1) 3
/s, GenesisEnergy (2) (1) (5)
(1)
Number (4) (1, 3) Number
River are: Key matters addressed through monitoring ontheTongariro DOC Taupo Fishery. Tongariro Enhancement Fund viaaThird Party Agreement withthe from key technical experts andthrough theestablishment ofthe Tongariro SectionMonitoring Plan.Thiswork hasinvolved input comprehensive monitoring programme, co-ordinated through the University andotherstakeholders since 2005to develop a Taupo Fisherystaff, DOCthreatened speciesstaff, NIWA, Massey Tongariro River. GenesisEnergy hasworked closely withDOC Good information iscritical to thefuture managementofthe 4.2 during thereporting period. within the±8%for 95%oftheyear. Thesite hadfullcompliance monitoring period.Non-compliance occurs whenthedata isnot number ofriver flow gaugingsundertaken atthesite duringthe River atDownstream Poutu Intake’ monitoring site, aswell asthe Table 7shows compliance withthiscondition onthe‘Tongariro percentage coverage bygravels washighest atthePuketarata and coverage attheWaipakihi site and theJudge’s Pool site, while year. Sandswere generally found in the highest percentage between sites andwithinindividual sites andover thesampling on theTongariro River showed variability inpercent coverage Sediment Observations ofsandsand gravels atallfour sites are reported byTonkin &Taylor (2013). Tongariro atPuketarata confluence, and Tongariro atJudges Pool River includingWaipakihi River, downstream RangipoDam, macro-invertebrates atthefour monitoring sites ontheTongariro Results for thereporting periodfor sediment,periphyton and period are summarisedin Figure 9. Monitoring results for theTongariro Section duringthereporting build-ups. warmer water temperatures, low flows andnuisance periphyton – theperiodwhenriver ecology isundermost stress from periphyton assessments are alsoundertaken annually inMarch high rainfall event in2011.Quantitative macro-invertebrates and remobilised sedimentfrom theRangipoDesertasaresult ofa quantity ofsedimentintheTongariro River system thoughtto be to concerns beingraised in2011/12regarding asignificant sediment duringfloodflows have onEPT%.Thiswasdue floods to furtherunderstand theeffects thatadditionalmobilised Genesis Energy undertook monitoring monthly regardless of 200 m³/satTurangi, occur. However, duringthereporting period floods larger than40m³/sdownstream ofRangipoDam,and periphyton isundertaken monthly, except duringmonthswhere Semi-quantitative monitoring ofmacro-invertebrates and Rangipo in thissection. actively involved intheclean-up operation. Thisisdiscussed later scheme were immediately shutdown andGenesisEnergy was water qualityintheTongariro andRotoaira sections.Parts ofthe Waihohonu Stream, whichhadthepotential to seriously affect It isnoted thatamajortruckaccident occurred inNovember at Poutu Int Tongariro River at Location
TABLE compliance AQUATIC macro-invertebrates; the effects oftheflow regime onperiphyton growth; the effectiveness offlushingflows on removing anybuild- whio (blueduck)numbers anddensity; trout growth; up ofperiphyton.
Dam ake
7
//
ECOSYSTEMS Tongariro
WRC for
the
103867
% reporting within
± time River 99.5
8%
(10) and AND
period. opineNumber Compliance
compliance rating
WATER
curve Full
QUALITY gaugings
of WRC 6
103875 Consent number
19 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 20 TONGARIRO // 13 to buyafullversion ofEchoView thatwillallow themaximum Tongariro. For thisreason, DOChave used theTFEFthisyear the subsequentnumbers offish returning intherivers like the fish production inLake Taupo andbytrophic energy transfer in that thezooplankton dynamicsplaysapivotal role intheoverall fishery bothin terms offishnumberand condition.Itis now clear main drivingforce behind thedramatic recent recovery ofthe discovery thatzooplankton abundance inthelake hasbeenthe cannot beidentifiedeither. Thisisparticularly important given density. Withoutthefullversion ofthissoftware zooplankton integration ofthedata ortheaccurate measurement ofsmelt version ofEchoView to ‘clean’ thedata. Thisdoesnotenable full art software. Currently DOChasbeenusingademonstration the analysis ofsuchalarge data setnecessitates state-of-the- surveyed more than600kmoftransects across thelake. However, focus oftheTFEFduringreporting period.DOChave now The collection ofecho-soundingdata inLake Taupo hasbeenthe Department ofConservation. Fisheries Enhancement Fund (TFEF)underanAgreement withthe trout fisheryenhancement onthe Tongariro River viathe Tongariro Trout and thesites below RangipoDam. scores were alsocomparable between theWaipakihi control site 2011 and2012data. MCI(Macro-invertebrate CommunityIndex) Densities andspeciesrichness values were allcomparable to sites below theRangipoDamandWaipakihi reference site. total densitiesandEPTrichness were similarbetween the Quantitative samplinginMarch 2013found thattaxa richness, at theRangiposite wassimilarto theWaipakihi control site. site and the Rangipo site. The mean number of individuals per stone number ofindividualsperstone compared to theWaipakihi control below RangipoDamwere found to have asignificantly greater mean types found atallsites. ThePuketarata andJudgesPool sites of EPTtaxa increased once againwithEPTtaxa the dominanttaxa between JanuaryandMarch atallsites. InApril,thepercentage percentage ofEPTtaxa. Thepercentage ofEPTtaxa decreased sampling years andshowed amore seasonalpattern interms of invertebrates were more stable thanthe2010-11and2011-12 Macro-invertebrates Monthly semi-quantitative data for macro- which are: (MfE) Guidelinesfor theprotection oftrout habitat andangling, remove periphyton are definedbytheMinistry for theEnvironment Periphyton Trigger pointsfor whenflushingflows are required to July floodrightatthebeginningofsamplingperiod. large sediment-moving floodsintheriver, with exception ofthe monitoring periodflows were reasonably stable andthere were no specific trends were found over thesampling year. Duringthis monitored sites between August 2012-June2013.Overall, no of eithercategory present. Nosiltswere found atanyofthe Judge’s Pool sites. TheRangiposite hadvery little finesediment site: 64.13mg/m²(chlorophyll a)and18.1g/m² (AFDM). guidelines. Thehighest levels were recorded attheJudgesPool Mass (AFDM)inMarch 2013 showed allsites were well withinMfE The quantitative measurements ofchlorophyll throughout themonitoring period. mats) atthethree othersites remained well below MfEguidelines Nuisance periphyton levels (bothlong filamentous algaeandthick coverage peaked at10.1%inJune2013alsotheRangiposite. long filamentous algae coverage peaked at7.7%.Thickmat site compared to theothersampled sites, andinDecember 2012 filamentous algae coverage wasgenerally highest attheRangipo however, lower thanatthethree sites below RangipoDam.Long and long filamentous algaeatthe Waipakihi control site was, monitoring sites. Periphyton biomass andcoverage ofthickmat and wasgenerally well below theMfEguidelinesatallfour Periphyton coverage andbiomass wassimilarto previous years
ash-free drymass (AFDM)( chlorophyll greater than60%cover bymats3mmthick;or greater than30%cover byfilaments longer than 2cm;or
Studies GenesisEnergy contributes annualfundingtowards a biomass ( 200mg/m²);and 35g/m²). a andAsh-Free Dry
part ofadvocacy for theTaupo Fishery. Fishing SmartphoneApplication, whichisaboutto belaunched,as The TFEFalsosupported thedevelopment ofanew Taupo Trout are processed. for the Taupo-for-Tomorrow educational classes, whenthefish move itto thestripping pensfor better viewing bythepublicand The trap wasdueto beupgraded andthiswasanopportunityto first, to collect data onfishnumbers, andsecond foradvocacy. Tongariro NationalTrout Centre. Thetrap provides two purposes: The fishtrap onthe Waihukahuka Stream wasmoved to the staff timeandmore accurate records. replace thecurrent survey forms andenable more efficientuseof use whenundertaking monitoring work inthefield.Thesewill DOC hasalsopurchased four electronic data loggers for staff to optimise habitat. the river haschangedandto identifythemost stable points to (Figure 11).Theseriesofphotographs allow identification ofhow photographs oftheriver covering theperiodfrom 1948to 2012 locations oftheriver to maximise habitat. DOChascollated aerial and placingnatural obstacles like large woody debrisinstrategic of theaffected partsoftheriver bycreating new smallchannels of thegravel extraction DOCwillmaximisetherearing potential rearing ofjuvenile trout. To mitigate anypotentially negative effect dynamic andare primehabitats for invertebrate production and resulting inbraiding oftheriver. Braided partsofrivers are very decreases, andwhere gravel andfinersedimentsare deposited decline initsslope. Consequently, thiswhere thewater velocity control measure. Itisinthisarea thattheriver shows asharp of gravel intheTongariro River below Tongariro Lodgeasaflood In 2012,Waikato RegionalCouncilextracted significant amounts funded bytheAdvocates for theTongariro River. four year PhDstudy onthezooplankton dynamicsinLake Taupo, DOC to collaborate withtheWaikato University over apending smelt echo-soundingsurveys (Figure 10).Thistool willalsoallow amount ofinformation to beextracted from springandautumn geothermal densities EchoView FIGURE10
Lake Bed
to
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be vents
Eco-sounding
estimated.
smelt
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and/or
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zooplankton
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large
130
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blue)
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where the debrisaccumulated on theintake screens), to assess with theclean-up operation (particularly atWaihohonu Intake including police, fire, NZTA, the WRC and tangata whenua to assist Genesis Energy worked closely withtheresponse agencies protect people, theenvironment andproperty. Station, MoawhangoTunnel andPoutu Canalwere allclosed to as GenesisEnergy wasnotifiedoftheaccident Rangipo Power cleaner), Alpha cypermethrin(insecticide),oil,anddiesel.Assoon carried bytheTruck included: Trichloroisocyanuric acid(pool surrounding banksandfloated downstream. Toxic chemicals trucks inventory wasspread across theWaihohonu Stream, Highway 1(Figure 12).Sadly thedriver diedintheaccident. The November 2012atruckcrashed atWaihohonu BridgeonState Section 8.1.1). is undertaking extensive predator trapping along theriver (see Poutu Intake andState Highway1,where acommunity project to annualwhiomonitoring onthelower Tongariro River between December 2018.Inthemeantime,GenesisEnergy iscontributing Tongariro River every ten years, withthenext survey to occur in involve more extensive catchment widesurveys oftheupper The new whiomonitoring regime for theRangiporeach will mitigation package. grown bymore than10%(300ducks)asadirect result oftheTPS at Taranaki (seeSection7.2).Thenationalwhiopopulationhas whio populationsonWestern Diversion rivers (seeSection5.2)and Duck Conservation Charitable Trust, bysignificantly increasing successfully mitigated, through theCentral NorthIslandBlue six pairs ofwhiofrom thissectionofriver since 1983hasbeen Rangipo reach (below theDam).Thepotential loss offive or in 1983,showing astable, thoughlower, whiopopulationinthe years ofannualdata since thecommissioning ofRangipoDam whio monitoring in2009to 10yearly monitoring. There isnow 25 resource consent for theupperTongariro River to modifythe Waihohonu Blue the courses between FIGURE11
Duck
river GenesisEnergy wasgranted avariation to its
the
1947 bed Truck
//
river
Aerial are
and
Crash
the has
2009
photographs
most
taken
and In theearly hours ofThursday 11
resilient
during collated
of
this the to
by
floods.
Tongariro
period GIS
indicating
and
River
which
the
taken
parts
diverse
of
raised andnoted. Energy participated intheincidentdebriefwhere thematter was incidents, asthere wasanhourdelayinthisinstance. Genesis Energy isnotifiedpromptly byEmergency Services infuture mountain stream. Afollow-up actionwasto ensure Genesis coordinate theclean-up, not aneasytask inafast flowing, steep The response waseffective andallagenciesworked well to standards andconsistent withlevels upstream oftheaccident site. in theriver downstream were below World HealthOrganisation the loss oflife thatoccurred. Water sample results showed levels quality samples to beanalysed andaperiodto pass respecting after theaccident. Thisallowed for theclean-up to occur, water reinstated withthefinal component, Poutu Canal reinstated 5days the water quality and reinstate the TPS. The scheme was gradually most ofthesedimentfrom theintake fore bayarea. Since then last flushoccurred on12October 2011 and thisflush removed Rangipo Damwasnotflushedduring the reporting period. The m³/s. Theflow isthen routed through to the Tongariro River. Energy must alsoshutPoutu Intake whenflows eachand exceed 160 To prevent bedbuildupinPoutu CanalandRotoaira ChannelGenesis inflows up to two daysinadvance. generates data updates in 15minute time-steps andpredicts site isupstream ofRangipoDamandtheinflow forecast model monitoring site andrainfall data. TheTongariro River atWaipakihi flushing shouldoccur usingthe Tongariro River at Waipakihi Energy hasdeveloped amethodology for determining when To assist withthepre-emptive release ofsediment,Genesis that resembles theriver’s natural flood recession. Rangipo Power Station andPoutu Intake following aflushinway sediment plumethrough the system, andthento reinstate sediment early inafloodsothatthewave “pushes”the The purposeoftheflushing regime for RangipoDamis to release sediment iseffectively routed through theTongariro River. This regime alsorequires thePoutu Intake to beshutsothatthe dam andistransported through theTongariro River to Lake Taupo. sediment through theriver. Sedimentisscoured from behindthe forecast to exceed 100m³/s,inorder to maximisethetransfer of inflows are greater than60m³/supstream ofthedamandare the effect offlushingflows, flushes are only undertaken when times whenthissedimentisflushedfrom thedam. To minimise be undernatural conditions orinflood conditions, except during the timeflow downstream ofthedamisclearer thanit would accumulation behindtheRangipoDam.For thevast majorityof sediment dynamicsoftheTongariro River andresult insediment The reduced flow velocities inRangipoDamhave changedthe 4.3
FIGURE truck SEDIMENT
accident.
12
//
(EROSION, State
Highway
TRANSPORT
1
Waihohonu
AND
Stream
DEPOSITION)
Bridge
21 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 22 TONGARIRO // 13 was returned to service incompliance withresource consents. 16/7/2012, 16/9/2012and13/10/2012).Oneachoccasion theintake Tongariro River duringthereporting period(Table 8). Three recreational flow release weekends were heldonthe Poutu Rangipo signage andpublicnotification isinplace. Whitewater NZandfisherygroups to ensure thatappropriate importance. GenesisEnergy hasbeenworking closely with recreational releases anddownstream river users, isof critical Public safety, bothinterms ofthosepeople participatinginthe kayakers andrafters can make themost oftheincreased flows. The timingofthesereleases issetwell inadvance sothat from Poutu Intake, whichcoincide withtheRangipoDamreleases. m³/s sixhourreleases are provided onthelower Tongariro River duration onseparate weekends from RangipoDamandtwo 30 Poutu Intake. Three 30m³/sflows are released for eighthours agreed to provide recreational releases from RangipoDamand Edmund HillaryOutdoorPursuits Centre (OPC),GenesisEnergy In 2000,through consultation withWhitewater NZandtheSir Access 10). and commercial groups viaKaimanawaRoad(otherwiseknown as unrestricted access to theTongariro River for bothrecreational Forest Trust, involving thepaymentofanannualfee, to provide Genesis Energy hasanagreement withtheLake Rotoaira as most ofthekey access roads are private roads. However, Legal access to theupperTongariro River isextremely limited, 4.4 Poutu Rangipo due to aflow of160m Poutu Intake wasturnedoutthree timesinthereporting period from Rangipodamsothisconsent condition wasnotexercised. Channel. Duringthereporting periodthere were nosedimentflushes sediment from beingdeposited into thePoutu CanalandRotoaira can bediverted atPoutu Intake following aflush to prevent flushed Resource Consent103875(condition 6)defineshow muchwater based onturbidityofthewater asmeasured atPoutu Intake. generation can occur atRangipoPower Station following aflush Resource Consent103867(condition 16)defineshow much flush duringthe reporting period. sediment ladenwater andtherefore there wasnorequirement to inflows have beenlimited to smallfloodswhichdonot carryhighly and nocomplaints were received. further heavyrainfall thatday. River users were informed of this, the Tongariro River beingalready infloodanda forecast for health andsafety reasons dueto highrainfall inthecatchment, controlled release from Rangipo Damrelease wascancelled for Poutu Intake release went aheadandwasfully compliant. The Rangipo Damon15and16September 2012,respectively. The Recreational releases were scheduled from Poutu Intake and Release audy0 eray21 10 6hrs 15min 31.03 Saturday 02February 2013 Rangipo udy0 eray21 10 8hrs 15min 8hrs 5min 31.01 Saturday 34.35 Poutu Sunday 03February 2013 Release pos Sunday 13January2013 Sunday 16September 2012
releases TABLE RECREATION
Intake Intake Intake
location Dam Dam Dam 15 September 2012
8
// during
Tongariro WRC WRC
WRC WRC
and
AND the
103875 103875
103867 103867
aeAverage date
reporting 3
recreational /s ormore (theseflows occurred on TOURISM
(7) (6)
(7) (14,
period.
(m 05 6hrs 15min 30.53
Flow 15,
3
/s) flow
16,
17) Duration
tponed dueto highinflows (hrs)
Full compliance Full compliance Compliance Full compliance Full compliance
carefully alignedwiththeCentral NorthIslandresponse plan. and theprecautions taken duringtherecreational releases are response isfocussed onchangingthebehaviourofriver users Board to develop acentral NorthIslandresponse to didymo.The Fish andGame,Whitewater NZandtheTuwharetoa MaoriTrust Genesis Energy hasalsocontinued to work closely withDOC, of didymospreading to theNorthIsland(seeSection8.5). educate thecommunity aboutaquaticweeds andreduce therisk measures are partofGenesisEnergy’s on-goingcommitment to points ontheriver. Thedidymodecontamination andeducation stations were provided byGenesisEnergy atallinputand exit ways to clean equipment.Duringthereleases, decontamination on therisksofdidymoandotheraquaticweeds andeffective continued to work closely withWhitewater NZto educate kayakers weeds beingtransferred into thearea. GenesisEnergy has recreational releases, there maybeanincreased riskofaquatic With manyvisitors coming to theTongariro River for the Intake releases (Figure 13). and rafters waspositive for boththeRangipoDamandPoutu people attended eachoftherelease days.Feedback from kayakers were actively promoted byWhitewater NZ,andmore than100 The release weekends were, asalways, highly successful. They releases were fully compliant. from Poutu Intake andRangipoDam,respectively. Bothofthese On 2and3February 2013,recreational flows were released Rangipo Damwasfully compliant. with resource consent 103875,condition 7(b).Therelease from Dam. Norelease from Poutu Intake wasrequired inaccordance On 13January2013arecreational flow was released from Rangipo release FIGURE
(Photo: 13
//
Rafting
Tongariro
the
Tongariro
River
Rafting)
River
during
a
recreational
DIVERSION WESTERN
05 23 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 05 WESTERN DIVERSION Lakes Te Whaiau and Otamangakau were formed as part of the TPS, and have since become renowned as a trophy trout fishery. The Western Diversion is located in the headwaters of the The consultation process and subsequent outcomes ensured that Whanganui River. This part of the Whanganui catchment is located these values are maintained. primarily within the Tongariro National Park and the Tongariro Forest Park, both of which are highly valued for their ecology, No meaningful dialogue was established with Whanganui River recreation, and by tangata whenua for their cultural and spiritual Iwi until 2010 when the parties entered into lengthy but very values and as a food source. Sections within the catchment area constructive discussions. The relationship agreement signed in have been severely modified through logging operations, exotic December 2010 between Whanganui River Iwi and Genesis Energy forestry, farming and urban development. The Western Diversion paves the way for Whanganui River Iwi and Genesis Energy to work diverts water from eight tributary rivers and streams of the upper together on initiatives and other issues relating to the health and Whanganui River, including the main stem of the Whanganui wellbeing of the Whanganui River (see Section 5.3.3). River, through two man-made hydro lakes (Te Whaiau and Otamangakau). Key outcomes of the consultative process for the Western Diversion were: A significant amount of research and consultation has been undertaken on the rivers, streams and lakes of the Western maintain healthy ecosystems downstream of intake Diversion to determine the effects of the ongoing operation of the structures through: Tongariro Power Scheme (TPS). Where appropriate, changes have continuing minimum flows downstream of the been made to power scheme operations, monitoring programmes Whakapapa Intake and on the Whanganui River at have been established or enhanced, or mitigation has been Te Maire; undertaken. Generally, additional monitoring is undertaken where new minimum flows downstream of the Whanganui and there has been a change to the operations resulting from the Mangatepopo intakes; consultative process, or where further monitoring is required measuring outcomes through the monitoring of blue to fully understand effects over the long term. Details of the duck, water quality, periphyton growth and macro- consultation process and monitoring undertaken are described in invertebrates as defined in the esternW Diversion the Tongariro Power Development Assessment of Environmental Monitoring Plan. Effects (2000). Further details can be found in subsequent monitoring reports. increase recreational rafting/kayaking opportunity through:
In order to maintain healthy and functioning ecosystems recreational releases; downstream of the diversions, minimum flows on both the agreements with the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Whakapapa and Whanganui rivers, implemented as a result of Pursuits Centre (OPC) and Whitewater New Zealand with the 1991 Whanganui River Minimum Flows Hearing, have been the common purpose of enhancing maintained. Additional minimum flows have been implemented recreational canoeing/rafting opportunities. downstream of both the Mangatepopo and Whanganui intakes, to enhance the amount of habitat available for freshwater ecology, including native fish and blue ducks. // 13 TONGARIRO
FIGURE 14 // Western Diversion hydrology monitoring sites. 24 environmental impactsidentified. minor, bothinterms ofmagnitude andduration, withnoadverse sites duringthereporting period(Table 9).Non-compliances were A highlevel ofminimumflow compliance hasbeenachieved atall natural character andvisualamenityofthesestreams. releases alsoprovide significant enhancement to theecology, indicator speciesofahealthyin-stream habitat). Theseflow to provide for aquaticandblueduckhabitat (blueduckare an from theMangatepopo andWhanganuiintakes, respectively, Continuous minimumflows of0.5m³/sand0.3are released months eachsummer/autumn. water beingdiverted from theWestern Diversion for upto two each year. Maintaining thisminimumflow typically results inno the WhanganuiRiver atTe Maire from December to May(inclusive) Whakapapa Intake. Aminimumflow of29m³/smust bemeton continuous minimumflow of3m³/sisprovided below the intakes, minimumflows are released at key locations. A degree, thequantityofhabitat available downstream ofthe
Minimum (see Section7.5) that nowater could betaken from theWestern Diversion for 1day. An inspectionoftheWhakapapaTunnel inMarch 2013alsomeant River atTe Maire recording site from December to Mayinclusive. flow of29m³/s to bemaintained downstream attheWhanganui in resource consent MWRC101282(condition 7)andrequires a 2013 to comply withtheTe Maire minimumflow. Thisisspecified completely, for large periodsoftimeduringDecember –April Whakapapa Intake wasnotdiverting water, eitherpartially or As aresult ofslightly below average autumninflows the (Figure 14). present resource consent limitshadalways beeninplace) when compared to long-term meanflows (calculated asifthe downstream oftheintake structures were alsobelow average that were down by15-20%onlong term meanflows. Flows catchment for thereporting period.Thisproduced inflows There wasbelow average rainfall intheupperWhanganui 5.1
HYDROLOGY an agreement withDOCandRoyal Forest andBird an agreement withAuckland/Waikato RegionFish an agreement withtheWhanganuiandRuapehuDistrict the establishment ofarelationship agreement with provision ofriver flow information viaafree phonenumber no diversion ofcontaminated water bodies,withparticular North Island. populations andtheirhabitat, particularly inthecentral Society to protect, enhance andpr Western Diversion; fishing opportunitywithintherivers and streams ofthe and Gameto address issues r quality oftheWhanganuiRiver; Councils withakey objective ofenhancingthewater Whanganui River Iwi; and/or visitGenesisEnergy’s website; emphasis on:
real-time monitoring ofwater quality. development ofaVolcanic ActivityManagement Plan (VAMP);
Flows
To maintain thequalityand,to asignificant
esulting from theloss of
omote blueduck
angling (around 610.10masl)whenever operational constraints levels were once againmanipulated to provide optimumlevels for Otamangakau operating range (Table 11).Duringsummer,lake flow capacities have occurred to anyofthese structures. modifications that could have resulted inchanges to themaximum specified in resource consents, basedondesigncriteria. No Section 3.3.1for more detail ontheconsent requirements). observe iswithin±8%ofthetrueflow for 95%ofthetime(see maintained sothattheflow thepower station Generation Controllers flow rating curves (thatis,water level to flow relationships are Whanganui Te Mangatepopo Tawhitikuri Taurewa Okupata Whakapapa Maximum Lake Otamangakau reporting period. Full compliance wasachieved atallof thesesites duringthe data isnotwithin±8%for 95%oftheyear. during themonitoring period.Non-compliance occurs whenthe well asthenumberofriver flow gaugingsundertaken ateachsite Table 10shows thelevel ofcompliance withtheseconditions, as Flow Wairehu Te Te Te Te hnau ie tT ar 9 94 MWRC 99.46 29* Whanganui River at Te Maire Downstream Intake Whanganui River at Downstream Intake Mangatepopo Stream at Footbridge Whakapapa River at Location at Te Maire Whanganui River at Otamangakau Whanganui River Intake at Downstream Whanganui River at Footbridge Whakapapa River Location
Whaiau Whaiau Whaiau Whaiau Whaiau TABLE at for TABLE compliance
Measurement Levels Te
the
Maire
Intake Canal Intake
9 reporting 10
Flows
Canal Dam Dam Dam Culvert //
Intake Intake Full compliance wasachieved with regard to theLake Intake //
Whanganui
must
for
Intake Whanganui Dam
WRC
MWRC MWRC MWRC MWRC MWRC
Several structures have maximumflow limits
the MWRC
period.
be
MWRC MWRC MWRC
MWRC
MWRC %
Accuracy
reporting within
103882 29 MWRC
± time 94Full 99.4 Full 98.1
0 Full 100
101283
8% 101292 101291 101290 101284 River m 5Full 95
101287
River *The 3
101288 /s 101289 101285
101282 101294
from 101286 catchment (header)
opineNumber Compliance period. compliance c compliance compliance
minimum catchment Resource consents require that Minimum ompliance
(header (header) (header) (header (header
(header
(m 1 Flows
(header
(header (header
(header December (1, 3 . 99 MWRC 99.96 0.3 0.5
/s) (header 3
3)
minimum
flow
1, rating 1) 1,
1) opineConsent Compliance
of
2)
2)
1, 1) 1, of
1)
gaugings -
1, 2)
the 2) 31 curve
flow 2)
May Whanganui 0 MWRC 100 0 MWRC 100 % (condition) (%)
1MWRC 11 5MWRC 25
MWRC 3 MWRC 6 compliance
each (7, 8,9,10) 101282 (4, 5,6) 101288 (4, 5,6) 101286 (2, 3,4) 101282 Number 101282 (10) Consent 101294 (3) 101288 (6) 101282 (5) number
year.
River
25 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 allowed. To help manage the encroachment of aquatic weed, lake in the 2010-11 reporting year. Quantitative sampling methods levels were also drawn down during winter to allow frosting of are now used as opposed to semi-quantitative sampling methods aquatic weed on the lake margins. This occurs as the result of a (SHMAK), to be more consistent with other in-stream monitoring request from DOC to kill the weed and allow for better access to within the Manawatu Wanganui Region. lake edge fishing during the spring. Previous years’ data showed that periphyton levels were generally very low in all three rivers, both upstream and downstream of the TABLE 11 // Lake Otamangakau lake level compliance for the intake structures. This trend was also apparent for this reporting reporting period. period. Results showed that chlorophyll a levels were slightly higher at the site above Whakapapa Intake Site and the below Parameter Value (masl) Compliance Consent Number Mangatepopo Intake compared to previous years. All sites were (%) (condition) found to be below the target values in the Manawatu Wanganui Minimum 610.75 (Nov-Mar) 100 MWRC 101293 (1) Regional Council’s proposed One Plan (Chlorophyll a levels of level 50 mg/m2 at all sites). The highest value of chlorophyll a (44.55 610.50 (Apr-Oct) mg/m2) recorded in the 2013 survey was measured above the Maximum 611.98 100 MWRC 101293 (1, 3) Whakapapa intake (control site unaffected by the TPS). Higher level results of benthic chlorophyll a at most sites compared to previous years are likely to be due to low rainfall in the summer of 2013 and 5.2 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS AND WATER QUALITY associated drought.
The Western Diversion Monitoring Plan has been developed Macro-invertebrates Changes to sampling protocols for the to measure the results of the minimum flow releases outlined macro-invertebrates also occurred in 2010-11 with quantitative in Section 5.1 and includes monitoring of periphyton, macro- sampling methods now used as opposed to the previous semi- invertebrates, blue duck, trout and native fish. quantitative sampling methods (SHMAK). Further modifications Whakapapa Intake MWRC 101282 (18, 19) were made in 2011-12, at the request of MWRC; five individual quantitative samples are now collected at each site instead of a Quantitative monitoring of periphyton and macro-invertebrates composite sample made up of two replicates. occurs at sites upstream and downstream of the Whakapapa, Mangatepopo and Whanganui Intakes on one occasion in late The average total densities of macroinvertebrates were higher summer/autumn annually - the period when river ecology is under at the sites below the intakes in the Whakapapa and Whanganui most stress from warmer water temperatures, low flows and rivers and were equal above and below theMangatepopo Intake. nuisance periphyton build-ups. Macro-invertebrate community scores at all sites were indicative of excellent habitat and water quality with the highest average See Figure 14 for the Western Diversion monitoring results during score recorded above Mangatepopo Intake. The site above the reporting period. Monitoring results for periphyton and macro- Mangatepopo Intake was found to have significantly higher MCI invertebrates are reported by Tonkin & Taylor (2013). and QMCI scores compared to the site below the intake. All other sites had similar MCI and QMCI scores above and below Periphyton The sampling protocols of the periphyton monitoring the intakes. High %EPT values on the Western Diversion, and for the Mangatepopo, Whakapapa and Whanganui rivers changed the excellent macro-invertebrate community scores continue // 13 TONGARIRO
FIGURE 15 // Whakapapa, Mangatepopo Stream and Whanganui River monitoring results during the reporting period. 26 to reflect the low periphyton levels found at all monitoring sites Publicity A new fishing pamphlet for the Whanganui within the Western Diversion. headwaters was completed and distributed to licence agents in the area. Publicity was given to fishing opportunities in the Overall, the monitoring results indicate no significant adverse Whakapapa and Whanganui Rivers with articles in the effects to in-stream habitat on those streams monitored as a internet magazine Reel Life, the Auckland/ Waikato result of the Western Diversion. Supplement of the magazine Fish and Game, and in the early season newsletter sent to licence holders. Whio (Blue Duck) Annual whio (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) surveys, as per the Western Diversion Monitoring Plan, began on Didymo Fish and Game are still receiving reports of Didymo the Western Diversion rivers in 2003, with one other replicable (Didymosphenia geminata) in the Whakapapa River. Staff are survey completed in 1998. The rivers surveyed include the making regular checks of the river for didymo over the Mangatepopo, Whanganui and Whakapapa. These surveys summer months, and it would appear that anglers are initially served to determine the distribution patterns of blue confusing a native species with this noxious exotic weed [Note: duck downstream of the intake structures, and to assess the Genesis Energy also has a formal monthly Didymo monitoring effectiveness of minimum flows established in 2004. In recent programme between October and June annually in the years the focus of the surveys has changed to understanding the Western Diversion of the TPS (see Section 8.5]. population response to ongoing predator control. RMA Advocacy Fish and Game has taken an active role in During the reporting period, Genesis Energy sought to amend the RMA advocacy in the Whanganui catchment. Western Diversion Monitoring Plan to reduce whio monitoring from annual surveys to three yearly surveys. Monitoring has Angler Access Angler access is the main issue for Fish and shown that the whio population on the Western Diversion is Game in the Whanganui headwaters. Negotiations continue thriving and has continued to grow year on year since the new flow with local landowners and iwi but with increased angler regime was put in place, alongside significant predator control pressure it is becoming more difficult to achieve satisfactory (via mitigation funding). This amendment was supported by outcomes. DOC and approved by MWRC. The next whio monitoring survey is scheduled for December 2014. Tagging Survey The tagging survey continued in the Whanganui headwaters over the reporting period fishing Fish Surveys The results of the latest three yearly fish survey season with 36 wild trout tagged. below the intake structures on the Western Diversion of the TPS are reported by NIWA (2012) and in the 2011/12 AER. The next 5.2.1 WHANGANUI RIVER ENHANCEMENT TRUST assessment is due in December 2015. To assist wider community aspirations for enhancing the Trout The initial operation of the TPS resulted in a decrease of Whanganui River, Genesis Energy, the Wanganui District Council rainbow trout populations below the Whakapapa Intake due to a (WDC) and Ruapehu District Council (RDC) have formed the reduction in habitat as a result of the lower flows. Genesis Energy Whanganui River Enhancement Charitable Trust (2003) (WRET). has mitigated the reduction of trout numbers in the Whakapapa Genesis Energy provides funds annually to allow the Trust to meet River by undertaking enhancement measures in partnership its objectives. with the Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Council. This was The Trust aims to: considered more appropriate than a release of additional water, as any significant benefits to the fishery would only occur if the promote enhancement of the quality of waters and catchment releases were a significant proportion of the natural flow. Key of the Whanganui River; objectives of the agreement are to: make funding available for social, economic and environmental river enhancement projects; mitigate the effects of the TPS on trout habitat; contribute to education about the health and well-being of the enhance angling opportunities; and Whanganui River. support ability to meet statutory responsibility. The three year strategic plan (2013-16) outlining the major Programme results reported by Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game funding initiatives that the Trust is supporting continued to be during the reporting period include: implemented during the reporting period. Table 12 identifies key Habitat Enhancement Fish and Game are assisting a projects underway and the outcomes to date. landowner near Kakahi in a large wetland restoration project that should also enhance water quality in a tributary of the Whakapapa River.
TABLE 12 // Whanganui River Enhancement Charitable Trust (WRET) result areas during the reporting period.
Project Objective Result Areas MWRC – Water Quality To promote water quality enhancement Looking into developing a demonstration farm concept for a Enhancement Project in the Whanganui catchment by targeting property in the Ohura Catchment. erosion “hotspots”, implementing farm plans and education. 33 new erosion programmes approved.
16 new erosion programmes completed/ claimed.
River Enhancement Funding To promote projects in the Whanganui Koriniti Marae - Water pump and header tanks funded for their - social, economic and catchment that are focused on social, water quality improvements project. environmental projects economic and environmental outcomes that relate to the use and enjoyment of the Greg Shaw - Fencing of swamps to protect Wetlands. Whanganui River or its tributaries and Wanganui Rowing Club - funded 50% of the slipway show clear benefit to a wide component maintenance project. of the community.
Rotary Club - Replacement of the 2nd Hipango fence. REPORT // 13 ENVIRONMENTAL
Awarua & Waitahanui Boundary fencing approved. 27 28 TONGARIRO // 13 in 2003andaimsto: Genesis Energy Kayak Education Fund. Thefundwasestablished agreed to provide educational opportunitiesthrough the OPC rivers. Inadditionto therecreational releases, GenesisEnergy were limitingrecreational opportunitiesontheWestern Diversion Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC)raised concerns thatreduced flows reporting periodare provided inTable 13. key results for theOPCGenesisKayak Education Fund for the period to discuss thedirection oftheKayak Education Fund. The Committee members metseveral timesthroughout thereporting OPC 5.3.2 scheduled for the reporting periodwere cancelled. both oftherecreational releases ontheWhakapapaRiver insufficient natural flows forthe releases togoahead.Therefore, these days,aswell astheback-updaysonSunday,there were for Saturday 1and22September 2012.Unfortunately onbothof Recreational releases ontheWhakapapaRiver were planned Whakapapa updates itswebsite, www.rivers.org, onthestatus ofreleases. Genesis Energy liaiseswithWhitewater NZwhichregularly day. Ifthere isstill insufficientflow, the release is cancelled. reach therequired 16m³/s,therelease isdeferred to thefollowing possible. Ifthe flow ontheset release date isnot expected to kayakers andrafters can utilisetheopportunityaswell as The timingofthesereleases issetwell inadvance sothat period of8hours thefullflow is released. natural flow oftheWhakapapaRiver exceeds 16m³/s,and for a recreational releases peryear ondedicated weekends whenthe opportunities onthisriver. Inrecognition ofthisthere are two The reduced flow ontheWhakapapaRiver haslimited recreational 5.3.1 5.3 now widenthescope ofuniversities itapproaches. of applications received meetingthetrusts criteria. Thetrust will No scholarships were granted thisfinancial year due to thelack however furtherinformation isrequired. Ohura catchment iscurrently beingconsidered bythetrust, The MWRCdemonstration farm concept for aproperty inthe will bereported to thetrust inthenext reporting period. are now undergoing furtheranalysis andbusiness planning,which progress through to stage two planning.Thecatchments chosen to 10for furtheranalysis andfrom thisthree were chosento investigation whichidentified20potential catchments, reduced The Catalyst Group undertook theprioritycatchment project priority WhanganuiRiver catchments. seek to demonstrate mediumterm gainsinwater qualitywithin project andthedemonstration farm planconcept. Bothprojects Key highlightsfor thereporting periodwere theprioritycatchment
RECREATION
purchase resources for thedevelopment ofkayaking students run workshops onadvanced techniques and/orprovide provide sponsorship for students andteachers to attend on courses. kayaking instruction inNew Zealand; Zealand to raise thelev funding for instructors t kayak courses atOPC; Genesis
RECREATIONAL RECREATIONAL
Intake
Kayak
AND
MWRC
Education
INITIATIVES RELEASES TOURISM
101282
el ofrecreational kayaking and o attend courses elsewhere inNew
Fund
(6)
The SirEdmundHillary
is working withOPCto explore optionsto promote it. Genesis Energy iseagerto seeitutilisedasmuchpossible, and and resources thatwasputinto thedevelopment oftheplayhole, and iscurrently usedbyOPCandschoolgroups. Given thetime The facility can alsobeusedbyothercommunity organisations Zealand aswell asoverseas. which hasthepotential to attract paddlers from throughout New North Islandnow hasaplayhole facility ofinternational standard after sixyears ofdesign,testing andmodification. The central The Wairehu CanalKayak/Canoe Playhole openedinMarch 2010 other recreational resource ofbroad recreational benefit. development ofakayaking playhole ontheWairehu Canalorsome was reached withOPCandWhitewater NZto provide for the the OPCGenesisEnergy Kayak Education Fund, agreement public. Theplayhole isalsousedfor OPCtertiary group courses. instructors, for theirown recreation and upskilling,andalsobythe During thereporting periodtheplayhole wasusedregularly byOPC Wairehu included intheWork Programme. of theWhanganuiIwiGovernance Capacity BuildingProject and is February to 3March. Thiswasavery successful event andispart inaugural four dayRaukotahi Whanganuisummit heldfrom 28 During thereporting period theRelationshipGroup supported the associated work programme. and endorsed theGovernance andImplementation Plansand discussed oragreed. TheGovernance Group metinMay2013 enable matters ofmutualinterest andopportunitiesto be meets atleast annually to review theoverall relationship and A highlevel Governance Group ofrepresentatives ofbothparties Implementation Planandawork programme for 2013/14. has metregularly andfocused ondrafting aGovernance Plan, has beenformed to implement theagreements. Thegroup Relationship Group involving representatives from bothgroups around theobjectives andimplementation oftherelationship. A Agreement (HeiWhakamahinga).Thesecontain furtherdetail Agreement (HeiWhaingaKiTe ManaOTe Awa)andaResourcing The RelationshipAgreement issupported byanInitiatives the WhanganuiRiver. initiatives andotherissues relating to thehealthand wellbeing of Whanganui River IwiandGenesisEnergy to work together on Te Awa)provides theframework andmechanismsto enable the The RelationshipAgreement (HeiWhakaaro Tahi KiTe ManaO Whanganui River. between GenesisEnergy andtheiwi,hapuwhanauof the buildingofapositive, interactive andenduringrelationship Energy to beingto address thesematters. Theagreement fosters the iwi,hapuandwhanauofWhanganuiRiver) andGenesis reached between theWhanganuiMaoriTrust Board (representing Whanganui River. InDecember 2010arelationship agreement was and remain opposedto thediversion ofthe headwaters ofthe relationship between tangata whenuaandtheWhanganuiRiver the TPShasadverse effects ontheWhanganuiRiver andonthe The iwi,hapuandwhanauoftheWhanganuiRiver consider that 5.3.3 New kayaks 5-day teacher’s kayak course 5-day youth kayak course 1-day youth kayak course Aims reporting TABLE
WHANGANUI
Playhole
13
period. //
OPC
In additionto therecreational releases and Genesis
IWI
Kayak
Education 1 course held(6participants) 1 course held(4participants)
Fund
result
areas 5 courses held 4 purchased
for 2012-13
the
LAKE LAKE
ROTOAIRA
TAUPO
/ 06 29 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 30 TONGARIRO // 13 in thiscircumstance.” done to alleviate anyoperational andmaintenance constraints blockages andshutdowns). Everything practicable must be account operational andmaintenance constraints suchasweed down andTokaanu Power Station isoperating fully (taking into continuing to risewhenbothWairehu andPoutu canals are shut The definitionof‘extraordinary flood conditions’ is“thelake level Figure 16). with thisoperating range duringthereporting period(Table 14, level inextraordinary flood conditions. There wasfull compliance m, between 564.25masland564.64masl,butmaygoabove this alter flow capacities. have beennomodifications to anyofthese structures which could specified in resource consents, basedondesigncriteria. There Lake Tokaanu Wairehu Poutu Maximum 6.1.1 Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for Lake Rotoaira are: population reduction. into thePoutu andWairehu canals, mayalsocontribute to the larvae intheTokaanu Power Station Intake, andtheirmovement probably nomore thanpriorto thescheme.Entrainment ofkoaro Predation bytrout hassuppressed thekoaro population,though so ithasbeendifficult to assess thedirect impactofthescheme. There were no studies ofthekoaro populationpriorto theTPS, fewer, butlarger rainbow trout inthelake. reduction inkoaro numbers hasbeenobserved, andthere are now some changesinthestructure ofthelake fishery. Inparticular,a a healthyandproductive ecosystem. However, there have been Lake Rotoaira has maintained excellent water quality and supports outflows viathe Tokaanu Intake. driven bywater inflows from the Poutu and Wairehu canals and patterns have alsochangedfrom beingwind-driven to being weekly fluctuationofapproximately 300mm.Thelake circulation fluctuation inwater level hasbeen replaced withadaily and by between 500and600mm,thenatural seasonal400mm of water withinthelake. Thelevel ofthelake hasbeenraised Rotoaira andasaconsequence hasreduced theresidence time The Tongariro Power Scheme(TPS)hasincreased inflows to Lake Rotoaira Trust onbehalfof the beneficial owners. The bedofLake Rotoaira isowned andadministered bytheLake Lake Rotoaira isofparticularsignificance to Ngati Tuwharetoa. 6.1 06 Maximum level Value Minimum level Parameter
LAKE
reporting TABLE LAKE an agreement between Genesis Energy and the Lake Rotoaira limits placed onthelake lev Trust to enhance thehealthoflake andthetrout fishery.
HYDROLOGY Levels
Canal
Canal ROTOAIRA Power
ROTOAIRA 14
Flows
Lake Rotoaira hasanormaloperating range of0.39 period.
// Dis.
Lake
Discharge
Station Several structures have maximumflow limits
to
Rotoaira
L. BASIN/LAKE
Rotoaira
Take
ms)Compliance (masl) 564.64 564.25
WRC
level
WRC
WRC 103882 compliance el operating range;
TAUPO
103883
103878
(header)
during (header)
0 WRC103879(1) 100 100 % Consent (%)
(header,
the (condition) WRC 103879(1)
1)
Number
modifications to thedam. resource consents, basedondesigncriteria. There have beenno and theseare beingdiscussed withtheLake Rotoaira Trust. was cleared. Investigations into optionsfor weed harvest continue generation remained constrained for several dayswhile theweed far less weed coming into theintake thantheprevious two years, Hornwort clogging theIntake (Figure 17).Althoughthisevent saw June astrong wind event resulted insome600–700tonnes of entrained onthescreens, whichcoped well. However, inearly Tokaanu Intake, withjust small quantitiesofLagarosiphon being to May2013period,there were few issues withweed-ups at long calm periodsofhotsunnyweather duringtheFebruary the weed thatcauses weed-up problems comes from. Despite by boatto assess weed bedsandto tryandunderstand where over late summerandautumn.Monthly surveys were conducted development andthedynamicsofweed-ups attheTokaanu Intake over thereporting periodwasto better understand weed bed Aquatic monitoring programme between September 2006 andJune2009. In advance ofthiswork, GenesisEnergy undertook alake management planfor thelake (seeSection6.1.4)whichwillinclude: lake fishery. Lake Rotoaira Trust is working onimplementing a the effects oftheTPSonlake, andpromote andenhance the Genesis Energy isworking withtheLake Rotoaira Trust to address 6.1.2 Poutu Dam
FIGURE reporting trout fisherymonitoring. macrophyte (aquaticweed) surveys; and water qualitymonitoring;
Specifications AQUATIC
Dam
Weed
16
WRC
period.
//
Management
ECOSYSTEMS Lake
103879
The specifications of Poutu Damare definedin Levels
(8)
at Akey focus for GenesisEnergy staff
Lake
AND
Rotoaira
WATER
during
QUALITY
the
generally, through removal ofspawningstock. Screens alsoreduces thepotential recruitment oftunastocks success. Theharvesting ofmigrant tunaattheWairehu Drum explored arange ofoptionsto managethisrisk,withlimited which operates automatically (Figure 18).GenesisEnergy has tuna, puttingthemselves at riskfrom themechanical equipment break into thesecure compound around thescreens to collect an area thatisaccessible to thepublic,somepeople continue to While weed andfish caught onthescreens are transferred to screens, they are often targeted asafood source bylocal people. not naturally occur. Whenfishbecome stranded onthedrum tuna, lamprey and brown trout into Lake Rotoaira where they do purpose oftheWairehu DrumScreens isto stop fishaccess for follow thewater-flow to theoutlet ofLake Otamangakau. The downstream. Someare washedinto intake structures and/or begin theirmigration to theseato spawn,they follow theflow tributaries oftheWestern Diversion andLake Otamangakau TPS wascommissioned. Whenmature tunafrom theheadwater Wairehu DrumScreens hasbeenanongoingissue since the catchment. Nevertheless, thestranding ofmigrant tunaonthe abundance islower thanotherareas furtherdown theWhanganui The altitudeoftheTPSanditsdistance inlandmeantuna(eel) 6.1.3 FIGURE aquatic FIGURE where
TUNA
tuna
weed 18 17
MANAGEMENT
// //
become
Machinery The at
Lake
Wairehu
stranded.
Rotoaira
clears
Drum
– the
mostly Screens
Tokaanu
Hornwort.
showing
Weed
Screens the
weed
of
troughs
thanks to JohnKonuiMorgan andLenaBellfor theirefforts. directly attributed to theadvocacy work ofthetunateam. Aspecial has greatly reduced healthandsafety issues atthesite andcan be site declinedto zero duringtheautumnmigration period.This project started, thenumberoflocal tunafishers usingthe Wairehu significant during rain events inOctober/November 2012whenthe While thepresence ofotherlocal tunafishers at Wairehu was transferred (of30seen). late May/June2013whenafurther9tunawere recovered and and transferred (of26seen)andagainafter thedrought in Tuna strandings peaked inOctober 2012with11tunarecovered Whanganui River headwaters, downstream ofTPSstructures. numbered coloured “Floy-Tags” andreleased unharmedinto the 0.66 kilograms to 7.8kilograms. Eachwastagged withindividually recovered (28long-fin and1short-fin).Thesetuna ranged from temperature. Atotal of66Tuna were seenand29stranded tuna moon phase;weather conditions; water clarity;water flow; and weight; length; andeye size.Otherrecords were alsokept of: seen andrecovered thosethatwere stranded, recording: species; from 1October 2012and30June2013.They recorded alltuna the Te WhaiauFish Trap (runbyDOC)duringeachrain event Wairehu Screens, theTe WhaiauSpillway and,wheninservice, salvage tunastranded atWairehu (Figure 19).Theteam visited the Hikairo kiTongariro duringthereporting periodto monitor and Genesis Energy engagedmembers ofTe RunanganuioNgati to developing ameaningful andenduringrelationship. health ofthelake anditstributaries. Bothpartiesare committed plan focuses ontheecological, cultural, spiritualand economic The development oftheLake ManagementPlanisunderway. The The objectives oftheRelationshipGroup are: from bothgroups. Relationship Group hasbeen established withrepresentatives engagement between thetwo organisations. Asaresult a Energy varied theagreement withtheaimof facilitating better on Lake Rotoaira. In2011theLake Rotoaira Trust andGenesis deals withtheenvironmental andcultural impacts of theTPS the bedofLake Rotoaira) reached athird partyagreement that In 2000GenesisEnergy andtheLake Rotoaira Trust (whoown 6.1.4
FIGURE migration. of Te to furtherstrengthen anddevelop therelationship between to continue to take steps to ensure theenvironmental effects to assist thedevelopment, review andimplementation ofthe the parties. term oftheresource consents; and of theTPSare avoided, remedied andmitigated duringthe Lake ManagementPlan;
LAKE
the Whaiau
Whanganui
19
ROTOAIRA
Fish (Photo: //
John
Trap
River
Dave Konui
by
TRUST
DOC
from Cade)
Morgan
fisheries
where
releases
it
Rangers, can
continue a
tuna
into
recover
its
the
spawning
headwaters ed
from
the
31 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 32 TONGARIRO // 13 At thecompletion oftheproject, 105,000m action (Figure 21). and Heron Construction staff members andviewed thedredge in ki Tongariro visited thesedimentdisposalsite withGenesisEnergy the Lake Rotoaira Forest Trust andTe RunanganuioNgati Hikairo offered to stakeholders, andon4April2013representatives from project, and no complaints were received. Site visits were regularly dredging progress andcompliance throughout thedredging Genesis Energy kept stakeholders andtheWRCinformed of undertaken to remedy thesituation. the dredge operation wasstopped immediately andactions the few occasions where thepermitted levels were exceeded, reading from alocation unaffected bythedredging works. On exceed 10Formazin Nephelometric Units(FNU),ortwice the sediment disposalsite discharge pointwasnotpermitted to Turbidity measured downstream ofthedredging works andthe Energy and Heron Construction to undertake this monitoring work. operating; theLake Rotoaira Trust worked together withGenesis Rotoaira Channelbemonitored oneachdaythatthedredge was consent conditions required thattheturbidityofwater in the finished at Poutu Damfive monthslater (Figure 20).Resource Rotoaira endoftheRotoaira ChannelinNovember 2012and material to thedisposalsite. Dredging commenced attheLake a slow-moving cutter suctiondredge andpipedthedredged Heron Construction undertook the2.7kmsofdredging using Rotoaira Channel. as adrainage channelto enable thewater to flow backinto the material (water andsedimentslurry)willbedeposited, aswell earthmoving works to create abundedarea where thedredged works were undertaken inMarch andApril2012.Thisinvolved the Rotoaira Channel.Thesedimentdisposalsite preparation to establish asedimentdisposalsite ontheirlandadjacent to An agreement wasreached withtheLake Rotoaira Forest Trust 120516, Rotoaira be exercised for amaximumofthree discrete dredging cycles. dredging oftheRotoaira Channelwere obtained in2010andcan the Channelfor theTPS.Sixresource consents to allow for the approximately every 7-10years to maintain theflow capacity of Dredging (de-silting)oftheRotoaira Channelisundertaken 6.1.5 dredged from theChannel. Poutu FIGURE
DREDGING
120517
Dam Dredging
20
// in
Cutter
background
OF
WRC
THE
suction
120512, ROTOAIRA
dredge
120513,
on
CHANNEL
the
Rotoaira
120514, 3 ofsedimenthadbeen
Channel
120515,
with
Stream are: Key outcomes oftheconsultative process for theTokaanu reduce theabilityofstream to clear itself ofsediment. The reduced floodsinthe lower reaches ofthe Tokaanu Stream incidences offloodsinthe lower reaches ofthe Tokaanu Stream. are discharged into theTokaanu Tailrace, results inreduced The designoftheTokaanu Stream Diversion, where peakflows 6.2 to thetailrace. that normalflows remain inthe Tokaanu Stream andare not lost May 2013.Thisroutine maintenance work isundertaken to ensure Spillway andvegetation wasremoved from thespillcrest onthe7 Tokaanu Stream thatflows along the length ofthe Tokaanu Sediment andvegetation wascleared from thesectionof community members andGenesisEnergy. was very successful andwasjointly managedbyWRC,local Highway 41Bridgeto thestream mouthatLake Taupo. Theproject was removed from thestream channelfrom below theState to maintain thestream’s hydraulic capacity (Figure 22).Sediment Dredging oftheTokaanu Stream mouthoccurred inJanuary2013 obtained byWRCwasaboutto expire. The last timeitwasdredged was2003andthe10year consent unanimously agreed wasto dredge theTokaanu Stream mouth. and potential waysforward discussed. Oneoutcome thatwas Plan. Themeetingwaswell attended, andanumberofissues Stream ManagementGroup (TSMG)andtheManagement 2012 to ascertain levels ofcommunity supportfor theTokaanu Genesis Energy called a Tokaanu community meeting in November Tokaanu community’s Tokaanu Stream ManagementPlan. community to assist withthedevelopment andimplementation ofthe Genesis Energy contributes expertise andfundsto theTokaanu Stream in theTokaanu Stream andare notlost to thetailrace. Tailrace isoperated andmaintained sothatnormalflows remain maintain theirhydraulic capacities. Thespillway to theTokaanu aqueduct sothatthey are free from sedimentbuild-upand Genesis Energy maintains theTokaanu Stream canal and
o representatives FIGURE TOKAANU annual consultative meetingswiththeTokaanu community. development ofaTokaanu Stream ManagementPlanand consent conditions asto how andwhendesiltingofthe associated consultation framework; and Tokaanu Stream Diversion channelcan occur; and
Ngati
Stream
Hikairo
21
//
STREAM
Rotoaira
ki Diversion
from
Tongariro.
Lake
Channel
Rotoaira WRC
dredging
103885
Forest
site
(1,
Trust
visit
3,
4, and
with
5)
Te
Runanganui
extended periodoflow inflows from early summer to late autumn. which reflects themoderate inflows duringwinter 2012andthe The lake level didnotexceed 75%atanypointduring the year, Figure 23shows thelevel ofLake Taupo for thereporting period. was required to cease thediversion offoreign water. reporting periodthere were nooccasions where GenesisEnergy its maximumcontrol level (MCL)of357.25masl.Duringthe whenever Lake Taupo exceeds, orisclearly likely to exceed, that is,water from theMoawhangoTunnel andWairehu Canal, Genesis Energy isrequired to cease thediversion offoreign water, 6.3.1 clearly likely to reach, itsmaximumcontrol level (i.e.357.25masl). diversion offoreign water from theTPSwhenLake Taupo isat,or is consent conditions thatrequire GenesisEnergy to cease the The key outcomes oftheconsultative process for Lake Taupo and theWaikato River. of principles andrules to guidefloodmanagementonLake Taupo Mighty River Power andWaikato RegionalCouncilto develop aset by MightyRiver Power. GenesisEnergy hasworked closely with near theLake Taupo outlet. Thesegates are owned andoperated via theLake Taupo Control Gates located ontheWaikato River For purposes ofclarification, the level ofLake Taupo ismanaged of theTPS,additionalprecautions have beenputinplace. lower thanwould have occurred naturally since thecommissioning shown thatonaverage thelevel ofLake Taupo hasbeenmanaged Lake Taupo and within the lower Waikato River. Although history has Diversions to enhance thelikelihood, orseverity of,floodingaround potential for additionalwater from theEastern andWestern During theconsultative process, issues were raised aboutthe approximately 29m³/s,or20%on average. an increased outflow from thelake to the Waikato River of The increased water inflow into thelake corresponds with Moawhango andWhangaehucatchment water andlocal inflow. a mixture ofTongariro River water, Western Diversion water, Water entering Lake Taupo viatheTokaanu Tailrace contains 6.3
Waikato FIGURE FIGURE TOKAANU
HYDROLOGY
22 23 Regional
// //
TAILRACE
Dredging Lake
MAXIMUM
Council).
Taupo
of
AND
level the
Tokaanu
LEVELS
LAKE for
the
TAUPO
reporting stream
mouth
period.
(Photo:
following discussions withLake Rotoaira Forest Trust. further replenishment atKuratau ifrequired over thenext 10years against erosion (Figure 24).Afurther6500m³maybeavailable for site hasbeenusedto replenish thebeach,increasing itsresilience of 3500m³sandfrom theRotoaira Channeldredging disposal access to thesedimentfrom theRotoaira Dredging project. Atotal Genesis Energy worked withLake Rotoaira Forest Trust to enable ongoing erosion issues atthe lakeside settlement ofKuratau. worked withTDCandWRCduringthereporting periodto address Mighty River Power, KingCountryEnergy andTrust Power that Genesis Energy waspartoftheGenerators Collective including issues onLake Taupo. regime andfundingmechanismsto address erosion andflooding through 2007-09.The2009Strategy identifiesamonitoring and WRCLake Taupo Erosion andFlood Strategy development Genesis Energy contributed to theTaupo District Council(TDC) Effects (2000). the Tongariro Power Development Assessment ofEnvironmental For afulldiscussion ontheimpactsofTPSLake Taupo see already inthelake. the additionalwater could beofsomebenefitindilutingnutrients additional water ishigherthanthatwithinLake Taupo andassuch does contain nutrients,ithasbeenshown thatthequalityof of highwater levels onerosion. Althoughtheadditionalwater additional nutrientsbeingsuppliedto Lake Taupo andtheeffects the Eastern andWestern diversions were thepotential impactof Other concerns raised inregards to theadditionalwater from generation timeoftheseorganisms beingintheorder ofdays. phytoplankton orzooplankton levels inthelake dueto the reduce thelevel ofbiological production, butithasnotaffected water from theTPS.Ashorter residence timecan potentially approximately 13.5years to 10.6years asaresult oftheadditional The residence timefor water inLake Taupo hasreduced from 6.3.2 Wairehu Moawhango Rotoaira FIGURE
AQUATIC
Canal
24
Channel
Tunnel
//
ECOSYSTEMS Kuratau Discharge
dredging
Discharge
Beach
WRC
project.
replenishment
AND
WRC 103882
WATER
103863
(1)
using QUALITY
(2)
sand
from
the
33 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 34 TONGARIRO // 13 07 OUTCOMES SCHEME-WIDE and willserve athree year term. Ngati Tuwharetoa representatives ataHui-a-IwiinMarch 2011 Charles Wall, HeemiBiddle andMariaNepiawere elected asthe committee meetbi-monthly to review allapplications. Ngati Turamakina looking into aCultural HealthIndex StudyThe from NgatiHikairo, andafeasibility study from TiakiPunawaio protection intheTongariro Forest withapest control project key areas offocus for thecommittee thisyear have beenWhio During 2012,34projects were supported bytheCommittee. The Tuwharetoa GenesisEnergy Committee wasformed. To implement theobjectives oftheagreement, theNgati habitat, inparticularto: to enhance, protect andpromote blueduck populationsandtheir Conservation Charitable Trust wasformed in2002.TheTrust aims blue duck.Asaresult, the Central NorthIslandBlueDuck Society reached agreement to mitigate effects oftheTPSon Genesis Energy, DOCand the Royal Forest andBird Protection CONSERVATION 7.2 The key objectives oftheagreement are to: environmental andcultural issues raised byNgatiTuwharetoa. The purposeoftheagreement isto directly address the Maori Trust Board (onbehalfofngahapuoNgatiTuwharetoa). agreement reached between GenesisEnergy andtheTuwharetoa outcome from there-consenting oftheTPSin2000wasan The TPSsitswithintherohe ofNgatiTuwharetoa. Asignificant 7.1 disposal sites) andapubliccomplaints register. plans associated withspecificactivities(for example, run-offfrom development ofannualmaintenance schedules, management the scheme.Theconditions require, amongotherthings,the undertaken underapre-defined setof conditions, across granted, allowing allcommon maintenance activitiesto be basis, asuite ofscheme-wideresource consents hasbeen Rather thandealwithmaintenance activitiesonasite bysite consultative process include: basis for theTongariro Power Scheme(TPS).Key outcomes ofthe A numberofissues have beenaddressed onascheme-wide 07
SCHEME-WIDE
CENTRAL NGATI inform andeducate the general publicaboutthework of enhance existing blueduckpopulationsbyprioritisingaquatic create new self-sustaining blueduckpopulationsin establish stronger communication andrelationship links undertake activitiesandpromote projects to facilitate the undertake activitiesandpromote projects to supportthe maximise theinvolvement ofNgatiTuwhar facilitate andpromote environmental/cultural projects Public Feedback. Dam safety A run-offmanagementplan Maintenance activities Volcanic ActivityManagementPlan(VAMP) Provision ofhydrology information Central NorthIslandBlueDuckConservation Charitable Trust An agreement between GenesisEnergy andtheTuwharetoa the Trust. catchments affected bytheTPS;and indigenous ecosystems andthreat TPS region; appropriate locations -notnecessarily limited to the between GenesisEnergy andNgatiTuwharetoa. education, healthandwell-being ofNgatiTuwharetoa; kaitiaki role ofNgatiTuwharet monitoring activitiesundertaken byGenesisEnergy; adjacent lands; involving waterways influenced bytheTPSand Maori Trust Board
TUWHARETOA
NORTH
CHARITABLE
OUTCOMES
ISLAND
–
GENESIS
BLUE
TRUST
oa generally;
DUCK
ENERGY
ened specieswithin
COMMITTEE etoa people inthe
hourly viatheTokaanu flow phone,(07)3868113. Members ofthepubliccan alsoobtain flow information updated rivers-lakes-and-rainfal/rivers-lakes-and-rainfall_home.cfm the internet. www.genesisenergy.co.nz/genesis/generation/ time. Thisdata isfreely available to thepublicviatelephone and quality data iscollected inreal-time andtelemetered nearreal around theTPS.Avariety offlow, water level, rainfall andwater Genesis Energy hasanextensive hydrology monitoring network 7.3 or inpart.Projects fundedare outlinedinTable 15. year allfour applications received were able to befundedinwhole, to have community support.TheTrust ispleased to report thatthis in thecentral NorthIslandandsurrounding districts. Projects had groups thatsupporttherecovery andhabitat amelioration ofwhio available to projects from interested individualsorcommunity protecting existing whiopopulations.Acontestable fundwas distribute fundsacross awiderrange ofprojects aimedat This year theTrust continued to implement itsinitiative to 44 fledglingsproduced from secondary broods. Ao Project sawlower pairnumbers thanlast year with43pairs and ducklings hatched ofwhich25thesefledged.TheManganui-o-te- and theMtTaranaki Recovery Site with22pairs protected and33 hatched with144fledging(due to stable flows anda1080operation), Security Site with88pairs now protected andatotal of199ducklings highlight istherecord breaking seasonbyboththeTongariro Forest The success ofexisting projects isoutlinedinTable 15.Akey 2013-14. Key Trust projects (managedbyDOC)for 2013–18are: 2013 whichoutlinesitsmajorfundinginitiatives commencing in TheTrust approved itsthird five year strategic plan(2013-18)in on theWaikato Stream andtheMangatoetoenui River to provide Genesis Energy hasalsoestablished furtherearly warningsites response plansinto action. this information isautomatically sentto key agenciesto puttheir a baselocated attheTokaanu Power Station. Once atthe base sensors located nearthecrater rimonMountRuapehu,backto available to transport early warninginformation from remote ERLAWS andhasmadeitsextensive communications network Genesis Energy hasactively participated inthedevelopment of Ruapehu LaharAlarmandWarning System (ERLAWS). an emergency response plan,commonly known astheEastern closely withstakeholders intheCentral NorthIslandto develop During thedevelopment oftheVAMP, Genesis Energy worked Key agenciesinvolved withthedevelopment oftheplanwere: revised inMay2013 (Issue 3). organisations. TheVAMP wasadopted inSeptember 2006and instrumentation andhow thecompany willinteract withother monitoring instruments, how GenesisEnergy willrespond to this volcanic event. Theplansetsoutwhere GenesisEnergy has Genesis Energy willoperate priorto, duringandafter a The Volcanic ActivityManagementPlan(VAMP) defineshow Poutu Rangipo Whakapapa Moawhango 7.4
PUBLICLY
VOLCANIC securing 50pairs ofblueduckattheMtTaranaki securing andmaintaining 50pairs ofblueduckonthe securing andmaintaining 50pairs ofblueduckonrivers in New ZealandDefence Force. Ruapehu District Council; Taupo District Council; Department ofConservation; Waikato RegionalCouncil; Manawatu Wanganui RegionalCouncil; Recovery Site. Manganui-o-te-Ao River SecuritySite; Tongariro Forest SecuritySite;
Intake
Dam
Intake Dam
WRC
WRC AVAILABLE
ACTIVITY
Discharge
103875
MWRC 103867
MANAGEMENT
HYDROLOGY 101282 (9)
(9)
MWRC
(11)
101280
INFORMATION
PLAN
(11)
(VAMP)
35 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 36 TONGARIRO // 13 the recent events occurring onMount Tongariro. Theprocedures incorporate the widerCentral NorthIslandVolcanic Zoneand The VAMP hasbeenrevised duringthereporting periodto determined thatitwasnotnecessary to stop generation. Genesis Energy monitored anypotential effects ontheschemeand reinstated. Thesecond eruptionhadlesser impactsontheTPS, on water quality,theRangipoPower Station andPoutu Canalwere 26). Once itwasdetermined thatthere wasnodiscernable effect team monitored thewater qualityofTPSrivers andstreams (Figure Station andPoutu Canalwere closed. Thefollowing dayafield August eruption,whichoccurred atnight,theRangipoPower events posedasignificant risk to the TPS structures. Duringthe Crater onthe6August and21November 2012(Figure 25).Both During thereporting period MountTongariro erupted atTe Maari pre-existing sensors isprovided to ERLAWS. This information, together withinformation from GenesisEnergy’s early warningofanevent thataffects theTongariro Catchment. (2013- 18) Taranaki WhioProgramme Whio Programme (2013-18) Retaruke-Manganui-o-te-Ao Contestable Fund 2013 Whakapapa Rivers) (2013-18) Whanganui, Mangatepopo and Programme (including Tongariro Forest Whio Project TABLE
15
//
Central
North
Island Objective
Blue intensive monitoring. Focus: predator control managementand population of50pairs ofwhio proposal to secure andmaintain aminimum Support theDepartmentofConservation’s wild andcaptive-bred whio. techniques andtechniques for translocating of thepopulationandrefining pest control Focus: integrated pest control, monitoring Mount Taranaki. population withaminimumof50pairs on project to create aself-sustaining whio Support theDepartmentofConservation’s intensive monitoring. Focus: predator control managementand population of50pairs ofwhio proposal to secure andmaintain aminimum Support theDepartmentofConservation’s Island andsurrounding districts. emelioration ofwhiointheCentral North work towards therecovery andhabitat Support Community-driven projects that
Duck
Conservation
Charitable
Trust
result the upperreaches oftheMangitipuaStream blocked allofthe Highway 46andinto Lake Rotoaira. Thedamwhichformed in Ketetahi Springsbefore passing through aculvert under State Mount Tongariro where itmeetsthe warm waters whichdrain the Mangatipua Stream normally flows down thenorthernflanksof that wastriggered intheinitialstages ofthevolcanic event. The a tributary stream to Lake Rotoaira wasdammedbyadebris flow After theinitialeruptionofTe Maaricrater on6August 2012 protection systems throughout theTPScontinues. enable spotmeasurements to betaken. Routinetesting oflahar addition, three handheldmonitors have beenpurchased to upstream oftheintake, Poutu DamandTokaanu Intake. In following sites: Waihohonu River atthedam,WhanganuiRiver four continuous monitoring sites have beeninstalled atthe Following areview ofGenesisEnergy procedures andmonitoring manage thekey risksidentifiedthrough theriskassessment. now outlinethenew monitoring sites andnew infrastructure to
Result Contestable areas
A-24 selfresetting Henrytraps. River Whiopopulationinhabitat withandwithouttrout. help to continue implementing theirWhioproject. setting Henrytraps with8strike counters andpestoff possum bait. communities at Ruatiti and Hoihenga Hoihenga and 44 fledglingsproduced from secondary broods Ruatiti at communities Prelimerary indications are thatthere are healthyinvertebrate control hasbeencarried outaswell asinvertbrete sampling, on theManganui-o-te-ao isstill unclear, additionalpreditor 2012/13 season.Thereason behindthelower numberofpairs Pair numbers seemto have decreased from 51to 43over the ) s e l a m 8 , s e l a m e f 6 ( d e s a e l e r s d r i b d e r b - e v i t p a c 4 1 Trap replacement andmaintenance isongoing year per 12 at remained checks Trap place. in boxes trap 1160 Trapping continued (combined withkiwiproject) Predator year a times 18 Monitoring: checked place, in 71km ofriver protected traps 1,436 Predator trapping along rivers. 1080 operation intheTongariro Forest, andtheongoingpredator stable flows duringincubationandprotection from anaerial hatching, and144fledging.Thehighproductivity wasdue to It wasarecord seasonfor productivity, with199ducklings kilometre. now very highandinsomereaches there are over 3pairs per 88 pairs (anincrease in38pairs from last year). Pair densityis Monitoring: 35km ofriver protected over 600traps inplace Predator Blue Black Ecological Pohangina pair numbers have increased from 15to 22,estimated population40+ Population: these, 25fledged. Record breeding season,with33ducklingsobserved, andof
during Areas
Duck
Fern
Fund Control: Control: Control:
(12/13)
the Station:
Solutions:
Stoat Lodge:
reporting
Recipients
Slayers: Funding received to purchase 15A-24Self
Funding received to purchase a4WDandto Funding received to survey theWaimarino
period. Funding received to purchase 33more
(12/13)
FIGURE 25 // Te Maari Crater ongoing activity (Photo: Bevan Percival)
FIGURE 26 // Ash on TPS structures following the second eruption. FIGURE 27 // Data collected from the Mangitipua debris dam level site vs. rainfall as measured at Lake Rotoaira at Lake Gauge.
estimated 100 l/s flow and began to form a lake. This lake had the 7.5 MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES potential to build up and then fail which posed a risk to users of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and to the integrity of the culvert Tables 16 and 17 describe the scheduled and unscheduled under SH46. maintenance activities in the Manawatu/Wanganui and Waikato regions, respectively. DOC approached the hydrology team at Genesis Energy to see if it Maintenance of Structures MWRC 101296 (25) was possible to install some telemetered monitoring gear at the Abrasive Blasting MWRC 101303 (8) lake that had formed so that it could better assess the risk and Maintenance of Structures WRC 103887 (26) potentially design some form of early warning system should the Abrasive Blasting WRC 103898 (9) dam fail. The hydrology team installed this monitoring equipment on 11 October 2012 (Figure 27). Two days later a large rainfall A number of other larger plant maintenance projects were also event caused the lake level to rise sharply (Figure 28) and pass undertaken around the TPS during the reporting period. a critical threshold where the dam began to fail. It took only two Rotoaira Channel Desilting The Rotoaira Channel was dredged hours for the lake to drain initialising a small lahar which flowed during the reporting period to maintain the efficiency of the
down towards Lake Rotoaira. Fortunately the flow was able to REPORT // 13 ENVIRONMENTAL Channel for the Tongariro Power Scheme. This is a major project pass the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track and cross SH46 without undertaken every 7 – 10 years and is reported in Section 6.1.5. causing too much damage to infrastructure and without affecting any people. 37 38 TONGARIRO // 13 There wasnounscheduled abrasive blasting intheWaikato Region Unscheduled There wasnounscheduled abrasive blasting intheWaikato Region Scheduled Slip Debris Volcanic Eruptions Unscheduled Tokaanu Intake Access Roads Wairehu Canal Poutu Dam Poutu intake Rangipo Dam Scheduled Area Whanganui Intake Mangatepopo Intake Tawhitikuri Intake Taurewa Intake Okupata Intake Whakapapa Intake Moawhango Reservoir Erosion Repairs There wasnounscheduled abrasive blasting intheManawatu/Wanganui Region Unscheduled There wasnoscheduled abrasive blasting intheManawatu/Wanganui Region Scheduled Slip Debris Volcanic Eruptions Unscheduled Wahianoa Aqueduct Scheduled Area TABLE Goulter FI TABLE GURE
17 16
and Abrasive Maintenance 28 Abrasive Maintenance
// //
Abrasive Maintenance Abrasive Maintenance //
Tongariro Gareth Tongariro
Monitoring
Blasting Blasting
Gray
Blasting Blasting
Activities
Activities
Power Power
Activities
Activities (Genesis of
–
- the
MWRC EW
Scheme Scheme
Mangitipua
-
- 103898
EW MWRC
Energy)
101303
103887
maintenance maintenance
(9) 101296
(Photo:
debris (8)
(26)
(25)
dam DOC)
activities activities Removal ofslipdebris Removal ofash/lahardebris weed from intake Removal ofaccumulation of Routine Maintenance weed from intake screens Removal ofaccumulation of Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Description
Removal ofash/lahardebris by Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal Debris/gravel/silt removal
Phillip
Removal ofslipdebris in in
the the
Lakeshore repairs
Waikato Manawatu Description running andmaintenance costs. project hasbeencompleted resulting inefficienciesboth fittings bothin terms ofrunning costs andmanufacture. The ago. Thetechnology since thattimehasproduced more efficient lighting wasinstalled atthetimeofconstruction over 30years at Rangipoisentirely reliant onartificial lighting.Muchofthe which wasalsoinspected byapaintcondition consultant. tunnel hasasteel pipebridgethatspanstheWhanganuiRiver, 29). Noareas ofconcern were discovered. Thefinalpartofthe inspection occurred inMarch 2013andtook about6hours (Figure of 16km.A4WDvehicle isusedto complete theinspection.The cycle. Thistunnelismadeoftwo sectionswithacombined length The Whakapapa-Te WhaiauTunnel isinspected onathree yearly the TPSare inspected onaregular cycle dependingoncondition. Whakapapa-Te Rangipo
Region
Wanganui
during
Power Not required Not required Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Occurrence
Region
the
Whaiau Station
reporting
during Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event) Ongoing (generally arequirement after afresh event)
Lighting Tunnel
the
period.
reporting
Inspection
The underground power station
period.
Tunnels thatmake up October December 2013 Not required Not required Occurrence Energy’s asset maintenance programme. chains andundertook associated repairs aspartofGenesis This year aproject wascompleted thatreplaced all100individual Station, Tokaanu Intake hasarotating screen cleaner installed. screens andpreventing water passing through to Tokaanu Power more stable backuppower supply shouldthemainsAC fail. capacity ofthebattery bankisnow sixtimesgreater to provide a sealed gel-cell batteries along withnew chargers (Figure 31).The at MtPihanga.Thelead acidflooded cells have been replaced with A project thisyear provided for theupgrade ofthebattery system batteries have discharged. times whenpower hasbeenlost for anextended periodandthe batteries are usedasasecondary power source. There have been third parties.Inorder to maintain apower supply to theequipment for the TPScommunications system andisutilisedbyanumberof Mt Tokaanu Tokaanu the hillside(Figure 30). remaining boulders andfit catch netsalong the remaining face of Genesis Energy andaproject hasbeencompleted to pinbackthe The on-goingsafety ofthestaff isofparamount importance to The resulting rubble wasthenremoved. contracted to ‘blow up’theboulderundercontrolled conditions. and satprecariously ontheslope. Specialist abseilers were roadway behindthestation. Alarge oneton boulder wasdislodged Last year aslipoccurred depositinganamountofrubble onthe netting putinplace. of exposed rock hadbeenpinnedbackinto thehillsideandcatch of theconstruction works for thescheme.Inpast asection Station wasexcavated for thepower houseandroadway aspart
Pihanga netting FIGURE (Photo: FIGURE
Rock Screen
in
Aecom) 30 29
Radio place
// //
Face
Inspection Remediation
Cleaner
behind
Site
Project
The Pihangaradio hutisanintegral part
Tokaanu
Inorder to stop weed from blocking the of
Works the ThehillbehindtheTokaanu Power
Whakapapa-Te
Power
–
Preperation
Station.
Whaiau
for
putting
Tunnel
catch
of allmaterial removed. is required to besubmitted to councils annually. Records are kept the methodsadopted to achieve compliance. Amaintenance plan plan describeshow thedepositionactivitieswillbemanagedand material from, oradjacent to, watercourses ofthescheme. The associated withtheremoval ofsediment,weed, debrisorother consents whichpermitthedischarge ofmaterials onto orinto land the Tongariro Power Scheme.Theplanisrequired byresource Genesis Energy hasdeveloped aRun-offManagementPlanfor 7.6 Tokaanu Rangipo Waihohonu Moawhango 2008 have beenamendedto reflect thisdeferral. July 2012 to 1July 2014.The Building(DamSafety) Regulations agreed to the furtherdeferral oftheDam Safety Schemefrom 1 the sametimeproposing significant changes,Cabinet recently rather thanbringingtheDam Safety Schemeinto effect, while at implementation wasdelayed until1July 2012.Subsequently 1 July 2010,however, following aparliamentary review their New damsafety regulations were setto come into force on electrical engineeringexperts. These thorough reviews involve external civil,mechanical and reviews are carried outon significant assets atsix year intervals. As acheckofallsafety processes andprocedures, damsafety carries outanannualinspection. number ofhigherriskassets, aspecialist consultant engineer at assets andissues nottargeted bymonthly monitoring. For a depending ontheasset. Several timesayear anengineerlooks Deformation surveys are carried out,typically once ortwice ayear, Specially trained individualsare involved atthenext level ofsafety. is internally reviewed byanengineer. provides GenesisEnergy withamonthly damsafety report, which number oflocations. Anexpert civilengineerreviews thedata and a monthly basis,assets are inspected anddata iscollected ata Dam safety atthesimplest level involves routine monitoring. On followed attheTPSfollow international best practice. of theserules indicates thatthecurrent damsafety practices to damshave yet to beformalised, butareview ofadraft copy changes to current safety practices. Thenew regulations relating Tongariro Power Scheme.Recent legislation mayresult in for managingandmonitoring thehydraulic structures ofthe New ZealandSocietyonLarge Damsprovide theframework The New ZealandDamSafety Guidelinespublishedbythe 7.7 from around theTPS. includes anindicative list ofsediment,weed anddebrisremoval around theTPS.Appendix3ofRun-offManagementPlan Other minoramountsofsedimentwere alsocleared from intakes was removed from theTokaanu Stream spillway inJuly 2013. and signedoffbytheWRC.Asmallamountofmaterial (10m³) During May2013theTPSRun-offManagementPlanwasreviewed Maintenance Maintenance
Sling-load FIGURE RUN-OFF DAM
Power SAFETY Power
31
Tunnel
Tunnel
(Photo:
// Activity Activity MANAGEMENT
Mt
Station Station
Pihanga
Discharge
DOC) Discharge
Discharge Discharge
Discharge Discharge
–
Unloading
PLAN
WRC
WRC
WRC MWRC
WRC WRC
103866
103863 Equipment
103897
101302 103870 103884
(2)
(3)
(11)
from
(10) (4) (4)
Helicopter
39 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 40 TONGARIRO // 13 Taupo Landfill. was removed from thespillsite, baggedupanddisposedofto the and theactionstaken to address theissues. Table 18details thefive complaints received for the reporting period, to action. relevant recommendations. Theseare sentto appropriate staff Management System. Complaintsare documented along with Genesis Energy records allpublic complaints viaanEvent 7.9 was quickly contained andapproximately 0.2m amount ofdiesel(approximately 10litres) wasspiltto land.Thespill a truckservicingtheWairehu Weed Screens inApril2013.Asmall However, asmalldieselspilldidresult from aruptured fueltank on No oilspillemergencies occurred duringthereporting period. 12 reporting period. spill procedures for theTPSwere rolled outto staff duringthe2011- preparedness procedures are reviewed every two years. New oil are undertaken, spillkitsare regularly checked andresponse Stations andkey intake structures. Regularstaff training exercises are located atstrategic locations atTokaanu andRangipoPower compliant withstatutory requirements. Comprehensive oilspillkits All oilstorage areas atGenesisEnergy sites are bundedand 7.8 Copies ofthereports are available onrequest. Comprehensive Safety Review (CSR)iscarried outonourdams. to 7years (dependingonthedamclassification) a very extensive completed duringthereporting period.Inadditionto this,every 5 accordance withourDam safety programme, whichhave alsobeen includes regular monthly monitoring andsurveillance reports in Control Structure. GenesisEnergy’s damsafety programme also Canal, Poutu Dam,Otamangakau Dam,Te Whaiau DamandWairehu inspections atMoawhangoDam,RangipoPoutu Intake, Poutu Civil Engineers from Damwatch, whoundertook theannualdam Dam safety monitoring wascarried outbyappropriately qualified structures, andwillcontinue to doso. that GenesisEnergy already appliesthesestandards to allitsdam authority tasked withmanagingtheseissues. Itshouldbenoted Dam Safety Assurance Programme thatislodged withaterritorial found to poseariskto thepublicwillberequired to have aformal The focus ofthenew regulations ispublicsafety, anddamsthatare Rotoaira Channel Tongariro River Moawhango Wairehu Location Tokaanu Marina
TABLE PUBLIC OIL
SPILL
18
COMPLAINTS
//
RESPONSE
Public
complaints
during period oftimeattheTokaanu Marina. about freedom campers camping for extended 2013. Acomplaint was received inwriting Freedom Campingcomplaint: priorto 25March in theRotoaira Channel:21December 2012. Public Complaintregarding discoloured water Power Station following thetruckcrash. to theemergency shut down oftheRangipo River. They were below theminimumflow due company aboutthelow flows onthe Tongariro A complaint wasreceived from arafting Waihohonu Truck Incident:8November 2012. conditions (snow). cancelled dueto poorwinter weather driving Moawhango CommunityMeetingwas postponement 13September 2012.The Lack ofNotification onmeeting punctured. About10litres ofdieselwaslost. and thefueltank hittheground andwas contractors vehicle reversed into ahole Diesel Spillfrom Vehicle: 23April2013.A Complaint
the
reporting 3 ofcontaminated soil
period.
prioritised basedonthefollowing criteria: The TPS(whichencompass numerous resource consents) is operations. are withintheIndustry Programme, whichincludehydro-electricity MWRC hasdeveloped asystem ofcategorising thosesites that 7.11 WRC withrespect to theaudit. Genesis Energy appreciates theconsultative approach taken bythe consent condition wording withtheWRC,andto improve reporting. It alsoreflects thesignificant amountof workundertaken toclarify on environmental responsibility andresource consent compliance. with thisresult, whichreflects theemphasisGenesisEnergy places year 2011-12,thesecond highest status. GenesisEnergy ispleased The WRCassigned theTPSa“highlevel ofcompliance” for theaudit Priority 2status. priority 2sites are audited eachyear. TheTPShasbeenassigned compliance auditfor every Priority1site, while atleast 75%ofall effect. Accordingly, theWRCisrequired to undertake anannual The purposeofthepriorityranking isto direct theWRCmonitoring effects. on theenvironment, and4beingsites withvery minorand/orstable from 1to 4,with1beingthehighest ormost likely to have effects on theenvironment. Sites are assigned apriorityranking ranging including thescale ofactivityandthelikely effect thesite mayhave region thatholdresource consents, basedonavariety offactors The WRChasdeveloped asystem ofranking allsites withinits 7.10 communication andfeedback onresource consent compliance. audit year. 12 GenesisEnergy ispleased withthisresult andongoing The MWRCassigned theTPSanoverall rating of‘comply’ for the2011- This isthefirst full review thattheMWRChasundertaken ontheTPS. the assessment –comply ordoesnotcomply. inspection compliance reports). There are two categories aspartof data assessment suchasquarterly andannualreports, andsite MWRC willinspecttheScheme4timesperyear (thisincludes The TPShasbeenassigned aCategory 2status andtherefore the
providing information regarding thepostponed meeting. on thelist for allfuture meetings. Anemailwassentapologising and the stakeholder list. Thiscommunity memberhasnow beenincluded hall door. However there wasacommunity memberwhowasnoton was goingto bepostponed. Anotice wasalsoplaced onthecommunity either bytelephone oremailthatthemeetingon12September 2012 Genesis Energy notifiedalltheMoawhango community stakeholders manage thefacilities. also withTaupo District CouncilandtheTaupo HarbourMaster who Genesis Energy followed upwithcampers atTokaanu Marinaand Corrective person whoreported thecomplaint. accordance withtheconsent conditions, results discussed withthe 120514, condition 10. Regular monitoring ofthesite continued in checked andwere withintheaccepted levels assetbyConsent Channel. Theturbiditylevels downstream ofthedredge were A complaint wasreceived duringthedredging oftheRotoaira preparation proceedure. Energys website andshouldbepartofanycommercial trip Changes inriver levels are displayed nearreal-time onGenesis noted thattoxic chemicals mayhave spilled into thewaterways. diversions to protect people, the environment andproperty. Itwas responsibility GenesisEnergy hasto shutdown structures and Genesis Energy outlinedtheemergency situationandthe land anddidnotenter anywater bodies. any effects asaresult ofthisincident.Thespillwas contained on leak wasfixed very quickly andthespillcleaned upwhichminimised a waythatminimisesfuelspillsto thefullest extent practicable. The Consent 101296/1,condition 8requires thatmachinerybeoperated in The profile ofthesite; and The actualandpotential environmental effects oftheactivity; The nature andscale oftheactivity; Compliance History. MANAWATU WAIKATO
Action
REGIONAL
WANGANUI
COUNCIL
REGIONAL
AUDIT
COUNCIL
AUDIT
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
&
08 41 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 42 TONGARIRO // 13 featured theWhioRecovery Programme. to develop new interpretive materials for theenclosure which DOC andGenesisEnergy staff worked alongside AucklandZoo the driver wassupportfor theWhioRecovery Programme. within theenclosure. Althoughfundedsolely byGenesisEnergy, funded there-development ofallinterpretive/interactive displays its whioenclosure. Aspartofthearrangement GenesisEnergy year agreement withAucklandZooinSeptember 2012 to support population centre (Auckland),GenesisEnergy signedathree In order to grow whioawareness withinthecountry’s largest secure 100pairs intotal by2019. and maintain existing range anddistribution ofwhio.Thegoalisto of eightsites by2019.Recovery sites enable linkagebetween sites Whio Recovery Programme withagoalto secure 50pairs ateach Security Sites are highest priorityfor securingthewhio inthe rather than2019). anticipated (i.e.thetarget of 400intotal willbeachieved by2016, achieve theirtarget numbers ofprotected whiopairs earlier than time ever (refer Table 19).AndwhioSecuritySites now expect to have thecapacity to meettheirwhioprotection targets for thefirst protection sites indicating thatthey are now confident thatthey All ofthiswork hasresulted inthemanagers ofthevarious whio related information from protection sites. the development ofdata loggers andadatabase to capture whio been supported through theallocation ofresources to support hardening facilities nationwide. Population managementhas progressed withfundingsupportingcaptive breeding sites and are better able to fend offpredators. Thisimportant project has then released into thewildwhenthey are ofasizewhere they wild, andraising thechicksincaptivity. Thejuvenile whioare survival rates byincubatingwhioeggstaken from nests inthe The WhioNest Eggproject (WHIONE)aimsto enhance whiochick be utilisedinareas where toxins are notable to beused. associated withcheckingtraditional traps andthey willbeable to self-re-setting traps willultimately reduce thehugeworkload refinement ofanew design for stoat traps at Te Urewera. Using the WhioRecovery Programme fundingthefieldassessment and A nationaltrialofself-re-setting traps wasinitiated asaresult of This equates to anextra 362kmoftrap lines,at100mspacing. traps to protect whioat12different sites throughout thecountry. Investment inpredator control hasbeenakey focus withover 3,620 The committee agreed theyear two funding. five-year managementplaninlinewiththevisionand strategy. committee hasmettwice andhasdeveloped andimplemented a Trust andfrom theRoyal Forest andBird Protection Society. The from theCentral NorthIslandBlueDuckConservation Charitable three representatives ofeachorganisation andarepresentative in thereporting period.TheGovernance committee includes The WhioForever Investment Agreement wasfully implemented Duck Conservation Charitable Trust work. by 10%nationally asaresult oftheCentral NorthIslandBlue resource consents process which has seen whio numbers increase builds onthesuccess ofthemitigationoutcomes oftheTPS Programme thereby securingthefuture ofwhio.Theagreement over five years to fully implement theNationalWhioRecovery 2011 inWellington. Theagreement commits, infull, $2.5million subsequently signedbyDOCandGenesisEnergy on31August sponsor ofwhio.TheWhioForever Investment Agreement was DOC’s NationalWhioRecovery Group to become thecorporate In 2010,GenesisEnergy received anexclusive invitation from 8.1 08
COMMUNITY
WHIO
FOREVER
AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
INITIATIVES Forever website www.whioforever.co.nz above-the-line marketing campaign to drive traffic to theWhio were runincludingvisitor centre displays,press releases andan activities over thetwo days.Duringthemonthotherinitiatives estimated to have visited thewhioenclosure andparticipated in fun days.Asignificant numberoftheZoopatrons (7,238)are 32). DOC,GenesisEnergy, Forest andBird andZoostaff ran the campaign andtheWhioFamily weekend atAucklandZoo(Figure awareness ofthestatus ofthewhiothrough anationaladvertising The WhioAwareness campaign inMarch 2013worked to raise between Poutu Intake and theSH1BridgeatTurangi (Figure 33). pairs (possibly nine)andthree single males onthe sectionofriver approach hasresulted inanestimate ofaminimumseven breeding breeding population,itsbreeding success andfledging rates. This observations from regular rafting traffic to estimate the sizeofthe specific whiosurveys this year, theapproach was to usemultiple population, occurred through summer2012-13. Ratherthan The fourth survey, ofwhat isNew Zealand’s only “urban”whio Project Charitable Trust, aimedatincreasing whionumbers. based predator trapping programme bytheTongariro BlueDuck of thelower Tongariro River whichissubjectto acommunity Conservation Charitable Trust, issupporting annualwhiosurveys Genesis Energy, together withtheCentral NorthIsland BlueDuck BLUE 8.1.1 Te Ure Murchison Mountains Glaisnock-Nitz Arthurs Pass Hanc Pureora Maungataniwha SECURITY RECOVERY Oparara/ Ugly Wangapeka Manganui/ Retaruke Tongariro Forest Whirinaki increased protected TABLE Auckland FIGURE
SPONSORSHIP
ock Forest Managers DUCK wera
19
SITES 32
SITES
Zoo // primarily PROJECT during
//
Whio
Zoo
–
blue
the patrons Forever.
through FOR
duck
reporting
LOWER
taking
race. The
the
numbers
period.
Whio
part
TONGARIRO 8 8 2 2 12 19 Number 18 10 3 48 15 15
in Recovery
the
of
additional
whio of
pairs
Programme
fun COMMUNITY
days
whio
at
pairs
has
Centre duringthereporting periodinclude: Some highlightsandupdates from theTongariro NationalTrout water ecological environments. importance ofsustainably managingNew Zealand’s uniquefresh enlightening schoolchildren, tourists andlocal visitors onthe tourists alike. TheCentre playsan important educational role in helped to make the Centre amust-see attraction for families and and walkers enjoying thenew Tongariro River Trail have all ground andseatingupgrades andimproved access for cyclists year during the reporting period. New displays and interpretations, The Tongariro NationalTrout Centre has hadanothersuccessful and GenesisEnergy isproud to beassociated withthecentre. the education programme hasgrown from strength to strength Significant projects have been completed atthe Trout Centre and some additionalfundingfor advocacy atthewiderTrout Centre. Taupo for Tomorrow education programme andalsoto provide partnership for afurtherthree years primarily focussing onthe for thesite. InJune2013,GenesisEnergy agreed to extend its and GenesisEnergy entered into discussions aboutfuture support With thefive year partnership drawing to aclose, the Society,DOC education programme, Taupo for Tomorrow, waslaunchedin2005. educational resource accessible to the public and school groups. The National Trout Centre, alongside theTongariro River, afantastic Trout Centre. Thefive year partnership issituated atthe Tongariro support andsite development projects attheTongariro National to includetheeducation programme, fundingfor administration Society. In2009theagreement wasrenegotiated andextended Genesis Energy, DOCandtheTongariro NationalTrout Centre In 2004anexciting education partnership wasformed between and above itslegal requirements. sought new waysto putsomethingbackinto thecommunity over resource consents now operative for 35years, GenesisEnergy has The Tongariro River isakey component oftheTPS,andwith 8.2 helping thelocal populationrecover. further signthattheproject isproducing positive outcomes and River thisreporting periodwithfour pairs fledging14ducklings-a Successful breeding wasagainrecorded onthelower Tongariro
FIGURE TONGARIRO overseas tourists, andisproving to beanintegral component Freshwater Aquariumhascontinued to attract local and Genesis
33
Energy //
Blue
NATIONAL
Duck
Freshwater
breeding
TROUT
pair. Aquarium
CENTRE TheGenesisEnergy
FIGURE National landing atrout (often theirfirst) aspartof their school Children’s of fly-tyingandthehistory ofourfreshwater fishingflies. The othernew display,‘Feathers andFur’ illus Power Schemeharnesses theriver’s water to generate power. Duchess ofYork andZaneGrey, andho floods anderuptions,the exploits ofvisitors lik changing Tongariro River -visitor period. ‘A River Never Sl Two new displayshave beencompleted duringthereporting (life force), in-stream ecology, andpower generation. place onwater, includingthatofrecreation, fisheries,mauri Energy display,whichhighlightsthevariety ofvalues people fishery. TheVisitor’s Centre includesaninteractive Genesis appropriately to sustain thisworld-class trout andendemic Fishery, andtheimportance ofmanagingourwater resour a comprehensive story oftheCentral NorthIsland’s Trout component to theTongariro NationalTrout Centre, telling Centre, includingtheMuseumandLibrary addsavital Museum with visitors. objects intheirtank. Feeding timeisparticularly popular mudfish whichoften burythemselves inthemudorunder interacting withthenative eelsanddiscovering thebrown rocks andlogs for theaquariumsnative kokopu andbullies, School children andfamilies delightinlooking underthe native fishandthethreats to ourfreshwater ecosystems. only publicaquariuminthecountry to focus onNew Zealand’s native speciesanditisauniqueresource, beingthe the Trout Centre. Thefocus oftheaquariumison of theGenesisEnergy-funded education programme runat Award for September 2012. Community; andtheGreat Lake Taupo Tourism Ex for anoutstanding contribution to theTaupo District Winner 2012-recognition to theCentre anditsv two awards: TheTrust Power Community Award –Supreme Awards pool (Figure 34). vivid recollections ofcatching theirfirst trout inthe very same or grandma, whoaccompanies theyoung fishermen,gives to theyoungsters. Often mumanddad,oreven granddad keen group ofvolunteers whoenjoy passing ontheirskills weekends. All‘KidsFishout’activitiesare supported bya regular ‘KidsFishouts’ heldduringschoolholidaysandlong visit withtheEducation Programme orononeofthe
34
Trout Duringthereporting periodtheCentre received
// and
Fishing ‘Kids
Centre.
Library
Fishout’
Days. Therecently re-developed Visitor’s
day eeps’ tells thestory oftheever Children can enjoy thechallenge of
with
volunteers s learn oftheimpact w theTongariro
at
the trates thecraft e the
Tongariro olunteers
cellent
ces
43 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 44 TONGARIRO // 13 Taupo for Tomorrow Highlights: Taupo monitored andcared for inthefuture. fresh water asan‘essential service’ thatneedsto becarefully energy needsofNew Zealanders. They are asked to view our world famous trout fishery,butalsoinmeetingtheincreasing sustains usinamyriadofways,notleast recreationally through learning, visitors are encouraged to recognise thatfresh water meeting theenergy needsofournation.Interms of‘bigpicture’ sense, butalsoto recognise how important ourrivers are in that live initbringto theirown lives inarecreational andcultural Students gainanappreciation ofwhatfresh water andthespecies learners visitingthesite alsovisitingtheaquarium. an integral partoftheTaupo for Tomorrow programme, withall The GenesisEnergy Fresh Water Aquariumhasquickly become designed to meettheneedsofvisitingeducators andlearners. pond, along withawiderange ofotherlearning programmes ‘Wonderful Wai’, ‘Fantastic Whio’,andfishinginthechildren’s A numberofseteducation programmes were offered, suchas consisted of100groups from 69schoolsandlearning centres. participate intheTaupo for Tomorrow Education Programme. This year, 2,903students visited theTongariro NationalTrout Centre to
One ofthegreat attributes oftheTaupo for T programme continues to cater for groups ranging from year experiences to allstudents regardless oftheirage.The challenging andengagingfuture focused learning Education Programme istheabilityto provide meaningful, fresh water. on offer to supporttopics basedaround sustainability and Teachers are able to utilisetheprogramme andresources energy to runourlives vs. sustainable natural systems?’ question: ‘can we have ourcake andeatittoo, renewable learners to recognise thevalue offresh water andposesthe plays intheirpersonal lives. Thisprogramme enc environment andparticularly thesignificant partLake Taupo which focussed learners onthef classes completed the‘Wonderful Wai’ learning programme Wonderful with whio. on site atthecentre anddaytwo outontherivers engaging participate in‘Fantastic Whio’o Intermediate Science and Technology Academy againchoseto context for learning. Somegroups suchasHastings such asTauhara College) rec increasing numbers ofschools(includingsecondary schools has beenparticularly exciting. Ithasbeen pleasing t (sometimes immediately next to theclas learners to getupclose andpersonal withtheanimals Tongariro River inincreasing numbers, theopportunityfor the New ZealandCurriculum.Withwhioreturning to the into thescience, socialstudies andtechnology strands of species. Studentsare able to integr opportunity to engagewithanamazingfreshwater indicat Fantastic
for
Tomorrow
Whio:
Wai : Duringthereporting period 16local school ‘Fantastic Whio’offer learners the
Education
Programme ognising thevalue ofwhioasa ver two days,withdayone antastic Taupo freshwater ate learning aboutwhio Duringthepast sroom) omorrow
ourages
o see
or
the kidsandstretch thelegs solook outfor itonyour travels. to complete. Situated adjacent to SH1itisanidealspotto stop with with financialsupportfrom GenesisEnergy, took about four months part ofwork, whichwasajointproject bytheAdvocates andDOC, Advocates for theTongariro River secretary EricWilsonsaidthefinal 2012 outsidetheTurangi I-Site. Aquarium. TheTrail wasofficially openedonLabour Weekend in the Taupo for Tomorrow education programme and the Freshwater National Trout Centre, where GenesisEnergy isheavily involved in track connects Turangi Township withtheriver andtheTongariro left creating agreat cycling andwalkingpath(Figure 35).Theloop access onthetruerightwithanew all-purposetrack onthetrue scenic 10kmloop around theTongariro River whichlinksangling develop theTongariro River Trail nearTurangi. Thetrail isavery Genesis Energy supported theAdvocates for theTongariro River to 8.3 outdoor education (withafocus onNew Zealand’s youth). with OPCto supporttheirvisionofdeveloping potential through (OPC) isanimportant stakeholder. GenesisEnergy haspartnered Within theTPS,SirEdmundHillaryOutdoorPursuits Centre CENTRE 8.4
FIGURE TONGARIRO SIR www.taupofortomorrow.co.nz. about theeducation programme visitthewebsit now andlooking to thefuture. For more information think aboutwhatfresh water meansto theirlives both and protection. TheEducator challenges learners to their continued sustainability, andgroups involved withitsuse with qualityfresh water, theanimalsthatdependonitfor Learners are provided theopportunity t one to year thirteen, andoccasionally even tertiary groups.
EDMUND
SPONSORSHIP
35
//
Walking RIVER
HILLARY
TRAIL on
the
OUTDOOR
Tongariro
PURSUITS
River
o engagefirst hand Trail.
e
prevent thespread ofaquaticpests intheNorth Islandandto limit Genesis Energy isworking withanumberoforganisations to help and theaquaticenvironments inwhichGenesisEnergy operates. the potential to seriously impactonGenesisEnergy’s operations aquatic weed speciessuchasHornwort andLagarosiphon, have Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo),together witharange ofother 8.5 Plymouth Boys andFiordland College. College, Katikati College, Matamata College, Opunake High,New ‘Student vs Wild’winningschoolswere: Huanui College, Kaipara course ateither theGreat BarrierorTongariro centres. The2012 to gotowards thecost ofsending20students onafive dayOPC the top seven schools are awarded ascholarship of$7,142each week livingattheirschool.The entriesare judgedon-lineand submitting avideoentryshowcasing how they would survive a Barrier for a5-dayprogramme. Thecompetition involves students assists more students to attend OPCTongariro orOPCGreat This isajointGenesisEnergy andOPCinitiative whichfinancially schools across New Zealandviathe‘Studentvs Wild’ competition. Genesis Energy alsoprovides $50,000worth ofscholarships to In additionto itsoverall sponsorship oftheHillaryChallenge, Genesis OPC Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/opcnz Hillary Challenge visittheOPCwebsite www.opc.org.nz, andthe To findoutmore abouttheGenesisEnergy Secondary School High Schoolinthird place (last year’s champions). closely byCambridgeHighSchoolinsecond place andOpunake claimed theirtitle for the8thtimein13years (Figure 36).Followed This year, the New Plymouth Boys and Girls High Schools team re- students would likely face over thenext five days. know whatisaround thecorner -to thechallenges thatthe related hischallenging experiences caving -where you never who gave apassionate overview ofhiscaving expeditions. Kieran This year’s openingnightmotivational speaker wasKieran McKay an 18hourrogaine expedition and51kmmultisportrace. skills, endurance, mental acumenandteamwork, culminatingin of outdoorchallenges. Thechallenges are designedto test outdoor racers from around New Zealandwhobattle itoutinawidevariety This event attracts thevery best secondary schooladventure the Tongariro NationalPark. the annualGenesisEnergy HillaryChallenge atOPC,adjacent to teams andonesecondary schoolteam from Australia competed in On the13–17May2013,eleven New Zealandsecondary school Genesis
FIGURE Tilby High AQUATIC
Schools
of Energy Energy
OPC 36
BIOSECURITY //
(right)
with
The School Secondary
winning Dean
(photo:
Scholarship
Schmidt
team
OPC). School
from of
Genesis Hillary
Programme:
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Plymouth
Energy Challenge
(left)
Student
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and
and
Clive
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Hornwort to Lake Otamangakau. aquatic weeds from thissource to otherlakes, particularly facility willhopefully encourage boatiesto actively avoid spreading now beenestablished attheLake Rotoaira Motor Camp.This Rotoaira Trust, aboatwash-down facility, withsignagehasalso during thereporting periodand,inassociation withtheLake Boat washdown facilities atTokaanu Marinawere maintained was alsofound to beingoodcondition, requiring nomaintenance. 2013 andfound to befree ofanynew invasive weeds. Thecordon ramp inSeptember 2011wasinspected byadive team inApril A weed cordon thatwasinstalled attheLake Otamangakau boat TPS andthemajortributaries ofLake Taupo. key local rivers includingthose ontheWestern Diversion ofthe DOC continue to undertake monthly surveillance monitoring on As partoftheregional didymoactionplan,GenesisEnergy and North Island. pests. Thecentral NorthIslandpartnergroup isoneofsixinthe that playacritical role inhelpingto managethethreat ofaquatic regional partnergroups formally established byMPIBiosecurity possible atanationallevel. GenesisEnergy alsocontributes to pest managementremains ascoordinated andeffective as attended various meetingsandworkshops to helpensure aquatic Pest LongTerm ManagementSteering Committee andhas Genesis Energy isinvolved atanationallevel intheMPIAquatic secondary/specialist clinicsthatutilisetelemedicine technology. providers to work together, includingtheLakes DHBto provide population. Thefacility creates thepotential for local health service for Integrated Primaryhealthinitiatives for thelocal the provision ofhealthservices inthearea andisacornerstone says “theHealthCentre provides amuchneededbuildingfor Tim Slow, Portfolio Managerfor PrimaryCare withLakes DHB services, audiology andcounselling. services are alsoprovided for inthebuildingsuchaspodiatrist District HealthBoard (DHB)beingthemaintenants. Othercasual Health Services, PihangaHealth,MidlandHealthandLakes and supportservices, from thePath Lab,Plunket, Tuwharetoa The centre continues to befully occupied with arange ofmedical specialists from Taupo andRotorua. a physiotherapist, mental healthservices, andvisitingmedical elderly care, hearingassessments, medical emergency care, GPs, MedLab,diabeticandotherclinics,publichealthnurses, Trust andwasopenedin2008.Theone-stop health-shophouses on behalfofthecommunity bytheSouthernLake Taupo Health and arange ofothersupporters. TheHealthCentre isowned to theHealthCentre are theBayTrust, Taupo District Council the provision ofhealth care services inTurangi. Alsocontributing Community HealthCentre, whichaddresses asignificant gapin GenesisEnergy isproud to beamajorsponsoroftheTurangi town andcommunity continue to prosper. community, to provide supportinarange ofareas to ensure the feels asenseofsocialresponsibility, asanyothermemberofthe member oftheTurangi community. Itfollows thatthecompany Turangi andGenesisEnergy considers itself to beasignificant The TPSisasignificant asset andemployer withinthe town of 8.6 organisations include: the effects ofthoseaquaticweeds thatare already present. These
TURANGI Local Tourism Industry. The Advocates for theTongariro River Whitewater New Zealand Taupo District Council Manawatu Wanganui RegionalCouncil Waikato RegionalCouncil Lake Rotoaira Trust Tuwharetoa MaoriTrust Board Fish andGame Department ofConservation Ministry ofPrimaryIndustries (MPI)-Biosecurity
COMMUNITY
HEALTH
CENTRE
45 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 46 TONGARIRO // 13 achievement and attends agrand finale party. each childwhocompletes theprogramme receives acertificate of and recording theirreading lists. Attheendofprogramme in thetheme-basedactivitiesaswell ascollecting incentive gifts year anew themeisintroduced and children can enjoy partaking relationship between children, libraries andlibrary staff. Each in theirchildren’s reading athome,andto develop apositive summer holidays.Theprogramme alsoaimsto involve caregivers encourages and promotes thefunofreading to children over the for a further three years. TheSummerReadingProgramme successful Turangi Library SummerReadingProgramme, In 2011GenesisEnergy renewed itssponsorship ofthevery PROGRAMME 8.8 Turangi community”. continued sponsorship ofwhatisanimportant asset for the Energy Turangi AquaticCentres andappreciates GenesisEnergy’s The Councilis“very excited aboutthefuture oftheGenesis accessible to thecommunity andvisitors. fund theseextra hours sothattheAquaticCentre can bemore and survive programme (Figure 37). TheCouncilhasagreed to significant increase in local schoolsthatparticipated intheswim The numberofpeople attending classes increased along witha community andasaresult patronage increased considerably. extended inorder to make thecomplex more accessible to the During thereporting periodthepool’s openinghours were sustainability strategy ofmakingadifference to local communities. economic andsocialprosperity andfits well withGenesisEnergy’s like theTurangi CommunityHealthCentre, inTurangi’s long term sponsorship oftheaquaticcentre isacommunity investment, sponsor oftheupgraded Turangi AquaticCentre. Theeightyear In January2008GenesisEnergy agreed to bethenamingrights 8.7 capacity, raising fundsfor current andfuture needs. Lake Taupo HealthTrust whorunsthecentre inalandlord This ongoingsupportisvery muchappreciated bytheSouthern Energy to supporttheTurangi community inavery tangible way. other majorsponsors istestament to thecommitment ofGenesis advice andsupportregarding thisproject inconjunction withthe building intheevent ofapower outage orcivilemergency. The the provision andinstallation ofagenerator whichwillrunthe community facility andisindiscussion withtheHealthTrust over Genesis Energy continues to supportthisvery worthwhile that are focused onimproving people’s health”. The centre provides theopportunityfor quality,efficientservices
FIGURE Swim TURANGI GENESIS
Lessons.
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ENERGY // PUBLIC
SUPPORTED
Genesis
(Photo:
LIBRARY TURANGI
Energy
Taupo
BY
District Turangi
GENESIS
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SUMMER
Council)
Aquatic
ENERGY.
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READING
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Learn
to
Turangi, before, duringandafter thepower development phase. he isworking on,withthethird beingaboutthedevelopment of to have itcompleted inOctober 2013.Thisispartofatrilogy that Turangi. Thefilmissupported byGenesisEnergy andJohnhopes the socialinteraction oftheItalians andthelocal community in the primefocus isontheunderground work, Johndelves into tunnels for theschemeandpower houseatRangipo.While organisations didalltheunderground work includingallthe (i.e. Codelfa, Downers andMinistry ofWorks). Thesethree will tell thestory ofthethree tunnelcontracting operations documentary film“Underground - Tunnelling for Power” which which wasreleased inlate 2011,JohnBallisnow working ona Following onfrom thevery successful film“TheKerryScott Story” is documenting. feats themselves, andisarea thatTurangi filmmaker JohnBall it are every partasinteresting andabsorbingastheengineering stories behindthepower schemeandthepeople whoworked on and plenty hasbeenwritten anddocumented aboutit.Thehuman biggest andmost ambitiousengineeringandconstruction projects The Tongariro Power Development wasoneofNew Zealand’s POWER 8.10 boat storage fees andfrom theHarbourMaster viaberthcharges. Funds are generated through hallhireage for private functions, groups, boaties,local waka,kayakers andfishingenthusiasts. The centre iscurrently utilisedbyTurangi Coastguard, rowing support these. water related sportorrecreation activitiesandraise fundsto attribute for theregion, withthekey objective beingto promote the centre to make theconcept oftheTrust avibrant andviable Maritime Charitable Trust. Trust members continue to promote The Tokaanu Water SportsCentre ismanagedbytheTokaanu 8.9
TE
JOHN
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DEVELOPMENT
BALL
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-TOKAANU
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09 47 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 09 KEY OBJECTIVES 2012-13 REVIEW
9.1 REVIEW OF KEY OBJECTIVES FOR 2012–2013
TABLE 20 // Review of key objectives for 2012–2013
Outcome/Initiative and Objectives Action 2012-13 How did we do? Whanganui Iwi / Genesis Implement the Relationship Agreement Regular Relationship Group meetings; Implementation Plan and Energy Initiatives Agreement and develop and implement an 3 Year Work Programme drafted; Approved by the Governance Initiatives Agreement. Group in May 2013.
Ngati Rangi / Genesis Energy Implement the Relationship Regular Relationship Meetings held; Connected flow Relationship Agreement Agreement. implemented on the Tomowai; Approach agreed on how to progress the Tokiahuru; Successful celebration of connected flows with Ngati Rangi and Genesis Exec/Board; Lake Rotoaira Trust Implement the Relationship Relationship Group meetings held Lake Management Plan on Agreement Agreement. hold due to external factors and resourcing. Lake Rotoaira Trust employees contracted to assist with monitoring of Rotoaira dredging project. Genesis Energy and Lake Rotoaira Trust undertook regular aquatic weed surveys. National Whio Sponsorship Continue to implement the National Implementation well underway; Over 3600 predator traps Whio Investment Agreement. deployed; Targets for whio numbers on track; Genesis has partnered with Auckland Zoo for three years to raise awareness to New Zealand’s biggest population centre; Whio awareness month held with family days at Auckland Zoo. Biosecurity and Aquatic Pest Maintain or improve the current Lake Otamangakau Weed Cordon surveyed in April - no new weed Management biosecurity status of waterways within found; Monthly weed surveys conducted on Lake Rotoaira and a the TPS. new approach to weed management conceived. Boat wash-down facilities installed at Lake Rotoaira Motor Camp boat ramp; Tokaanu wash-down facilities maintained; Construction Debris Removal Remove any construction debris that This work is ongoing. Some debris has been removed on rafts; poses a safety hazard to river users or Larger more inaccessible areas will require helicopter work is visually obstructive. which shall be undertaken in Spring 2013.
Signage All signage is relevant and reflected in On-going. the Signage Management System.
Volcanic Activity Management Ensure processes and procedures are Volcanic Activity Management Plan was updated in May 2013; robust in the event of volcanic activity. Takes into account the wider central plateau mountains including Mount Tongariro and Te Maari Crater. Rotoaira Tuna Monitoring & Develop, implement and manage Contractor engaged; Training undertaken; 29 stranded tuna Management programme a hapu based tuna monitoring and recovered, tagged and released; H&S issues associated with management programme at Lake tuna harvest at Wairehu declined significantly; Otamangakau. Rotoaira Channel Dredging Successfully manage the environmental Ensure processes and procedures are robust in the event of compliance of the dredging cycle. volcanic activity. // 13 TONGARIRO 48 9.2 KEY OBJECTIVES 2013–2014
Key environmental objectives for the 2013–14 year build on many initiatives and programmes that are already underway.
TABLE 21 // Key objectives for 2013–2014
Outcome/Initiative Objective Action 2013 -14 Whanganui Iwi / Genesis Implement the Relationship, Initiatives Complete the Implementation Plan and give effect to the 3 year Energy Initiatives Agreement and Resourcing agreements. Work Programme.
Ngati Rangi / Genesis Energy Implement the Relationship Work with the Ngati Rangi Trust and their Environmental Unit Relationship Agreement Agreement. to implement the Ngati Rangi / Genesis Energy Relationship Agreement; Continue with the implementation of the Tokiahuru ‘agreed flows’ project. Lake Rotoaira Trust Implement the Relationship Continue to work as part of the Relationship Group to implement Agreement. the mitigation agreement and assist the Trust to develop and implement the Lake Management Plan; in particular water quality monitoring and aquatic weed management. Biosecurity and Aquatic Pest Maintain or improve the current Work with Lake Rotoaira Trust to trial and Implement new weed Management biosecurity status of waterways within management options on Lake Rotoaira; undertake annual survey the TPS. of Lake Otamangakau weed cordon; Obtain Section 52 Permit from MPI for weed management at TPS. Construction Debris Removal Remove any construction debris that Following on from the removal of debris below the Poutu Intake poses a safety hazard to river users or further debris will be completed between Rangipo Dam and is visually obstructive. Poutu Intake include the Whakapapa Stream and Mangatepopo Stream in Spring 2013. Signage All signage is relevant and reflected in Review signage to ensure consistency with other Genesis Energy the Signage Management System. generation assets. Ensure Signage Management System is up-to-date and robust procedures are in place to ensure it is kept up-to-date.
Moawhango flushing flows Reassess timing and flows of Work with local residents and MWRC to assess and implement and Rangitikei River Moawhango flushing flows. ways forward regarding to manage the effects of the Moawhango flushing flows on the Rangitikei River.
RCMS Reporting Enhance RCMS reporting capabilities. Review RCMS reporting requirements and work with IT to ensure that a reporting system is developed that meets those requirements. Trout Centre Sponsorship Implement new Trout Centre Work with DOC and the Trout Centre Society to ensure that Agreement Sponsorship Agreement. the new Trout Centre Sponsorship Agreement is implemented successfully.
DOC Works Approval To establish a works approval with DOC Work with DOC to finalise a Works Approval with conditions for for General Maintenance to existing routine maintenance of TPS structures. structures Genesis Energy on DOC administered land. Environmental Management To review and update the company- Complete review of EMS and roll-out across company. System wide EMS. ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT // 13 ENVIRONMENTAL 49 50 TONGARIRO // 13 Genesis Energy. Auckland. ClientReport,JobRefNo:27156,Prepared for Monitoring Programme 2012-2013.Tonkin &Taylor Limited, Tonkin &Taylor Limited, 2013:Tongariro Power SchemeRiver Christchurch. quantification oftheeffect ofincreased residual flows. NIWA Ltd, Suggested biological metricto meetconsent requirements, and Suren, A.,Biggs,B.andWeatherhead, M.2002:MoawhangoRiver: Unpublished Reportto GenesisEnergy. NIWA Hamilton. 43pp. NIWA ClientReportHAM2012-063.NIWA Project: GPL12203. Whanganui River Catchment below theWestern Diversion –2011. Baldwin, T., Boubee,J.,andSmith,2012:FishintheUpper Genesis Energy. 9pp. and GameCouncil,Palmerston North.UnpublishedReportfor June 2013.Reportto GenesisPower Limited. Wellington Fish Pilkington, S.,2013:Rangitikei River Catchment Trout Monitoring, Data File 2012.172pp. Ministry ofEconomic Development, 2012.New ZealandEnergy Report, GenesisEnergy, Tokaanu, Environmental Report–1July 2011to 30June2012.Unpublished Genesis Power Limited, 2012:Tongariro Power Scheme–Annual Assessment ofEnvironmental Effects. Genesis Power Limited, 2000:Tongariro Power Development – Taupo. 90pp. Unpublished Reportfor GenesisEnergy. ChealConsultants Ltd, Monitoring Survey Report.ReportNo.2013-061,11June2013. Cheal Consultants Ltd,2013:Lake Moawhango,Waiouru -Erosion 10
REFERENCES TONGARIRO POWER SCHEME MAP // 13