Gisborne District Council has had to open the emergency sewer valve on Oak Street into the Taruheru River. Photo: Supplied / Gisborne District Council
A pollution warning has not stopped one of Gisborne's waka ama clubs from getting out on the water.
It has been two days since an emergency sewer valve into the Taruheru River had to be opened after a sewer pipe was backing up.
Contractors checked a number of manholes in the area before finding cut-up branches blocking a manhole on Dalrymple Road in the suburb of Mangapapa.
Due to the health risk, the council has advised no contact with the water, fishing, or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least five days after the valve has closed and warning signs are removed.
It is more bad news for the city which has been hit by heavy rain, slash debris, and clogged waterways in the last fortnight.
And even worse news for the Horouta Waka Hoe club ahead of the 2025 National Sprint Championships on Sunday.
Horouta Waka Hoe is based at Marina Park in between the Waimata River and the Taruheru River, and will have around 200 paddlers heading to Lake Karāpiro this weekend.
President Walton Walker said the club would usually take heed of these cautionary notices, but it could not afford to this time.
"We need to get some training in before we go away," he said.
The council's acting community lifelines director David Hadfield said it was also turning a blind eye for the club.
Horouta Waka Hoe is still reeling from the loss of Kiwi Campbell at the end of November.
"Everyone loved her, everyone knew her, and she was quite a big influence on the club, and she herself was a paddler," Walter said.
The club also have a title to defend after winning the 2024 National Sprint Championships, as well as having held the shield for 11 of the 12 years it has been awarded.
'A sense of disappointment'
Hadfield said contractors are using CCTV camera to locate the blockage but have not yet been able to find it.
The contractors will begin the search again at first light on Wednesday, with the weather forecast to be fine all morning.
"The teams will go back and try reflushing the pipes and hopefully we can get the camera down," he said.
"The problem is some of the pipes were still quite full in terms of water and wastewater, and so the imagery coming back wasn't all that clear."
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said this was the last straw for Gisborne.
"There's a sense of disappointment that we are finding ourselves in this situation again by someone's act of selfishness," she told RNZ.
"We have had enough this summer already. We have been tested by the weather. We have had our unfair share of challenges. We do not need someone in our community to trip us all up.
"We need to make sure we all follow the rules so that at the end of the day, we can enjoy our beautiful beaches and our beautiful rivers."
The manager of a motel near Waikanae Beach, who did not wish to be named, said it was disappointing for the people staying there.
"It really reflects badly on Gisborne, and I do wonder about our businesses in the years to come as people say 'Oh, don't go there, every time there's a bit of rain they have to close the rivers, and the beach, and so visitors can't swim.'
"And it's embarrassing having to explain to guests that they can't use the beach."
Another, who also did not wish to be named, said it was a "real shame" that people were not able to swim, especially with an influx of around 20,000 festival-goers for Rhythm and Vines, but it had not affected the motel in terms of business.
