February 12, 2018
Eel slaughter prompts pump action
Waikato Regional Council is looking at ways to address the high mortality of native fish in its flood control pumps – but it wants other parties to help meet the costs.
Councillors have agreed to fund just half of the $1.4 million requested by staff.
Trials have shown that 100 per cent of migratory female eels more than 600mm in length died as they went through the pumps.
Council chair Alan Livingston says many of the pumping stations were installed by central government years ago and with little consideration for their impact on native aquatic ecology.
He says the issue is not unique to the Waikato, but it has the largest number of flood pumps in New Zealand.
Last year the council installed an imported 'fish friendly' pump at the Orchard Road drainage scheme in the lower Waikato floodplain, with initial monitoring indicating survival rates may be higher than 95 per cent.
The council is planning a three year trial of potential technological solutions, and it expects to work closely with iwi and other groups on the project.
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