Wanaka Retirement Village resident Mary Gray is on the warpath for more awareness of proposed earthworks in the Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs Reserve.
Bullock Creek meanders through a QEII Trust covenanted wetland reserve, past the retirement village and old hatchery buildings, on Otago Fish & Game-owned land between Stone Street and Sapphire Spring Rise.
Since 2016, Friends of Bullock Creek (FOBC), the Department of Corrections and other volunteers have weeded and planted trees, created picnic spots under a large oak tree and built a boardwalk.
At the Sapphire Spring Rise end of the wetland, on the other side of the reserve fence, is an unfenced holding pond Mrs Gray describes as a "stagnant and foul" hazard.
It was put there about 10 years ago to prevent any stormwater overflow from the Alpha Series residential development getting into the wetland.
It hasn’t been very successful. At least 21 times in the last 10 years, during periods of high rainfall, sediment-laden water has burst through the fence and charged 2.5km down the creek to Wanaka’s lakefront near the Dinosaur Park.
Flooding from the Alpha Series holding pond into Bullock Creek has been a matter of record for the past decade.
Allied Press has reported on environmental damage, the growing delta in Lake Wanaka, and public calls for a solution.
Touted then as a long-term solution, the stormwater would have then been piped under Mt Aspiring Rd into an unnamed stream, and deposited into the lake near the swim buoy line, rather than near the Dinosaur Park.
However, all went quiet on that after the QLDC and Otago Fish & Game began working behind closed doors on a non-notified, "interim solution".
A discretionary activity consent is needed under the Otago Regional Plan (Water) for works within the creek bed.
QLDC consultant planner Kim Banks, of Paterson Pitts, said in the January resource consent application: "There are no special circumstances apply that would warrant public notification".
That bugs Mrs Gray.
She believes FOBC, her village friends and the wider community should know what is going on in one of the town’s special places.
This "appalling idea" for earthworks in the wetland "should be stopped", she said.
Before Mrs Gray came to the paper, she had been contacting various organisations involved in the saga.
She wrote to QLDC mayor Glyn Lewers, reminding him two years had elapsed since he told village residents the problem would be remedied.
She contacted Simon Telfer, the chairman of the Wanaka Upper Clutha Community Board.
Mr Telfer said: "I have been helping Mary attain access to maps of the proposed works and applaud her tenacity on this issue. Organisations in our community that continue to advocate for Bullock Creek protection and fresh water quality deserve to be fully consulted and engaged in this wetland proposal."
Mrs Gray also wrote to Otago Fish & Game and the QEII Trust with her concerns.
Bullock Creek neighbour Nancy Latham lives immediately downstream from the wetland and only recently became aware of the QLDC’s resource consent application.
Concerned that Otago Fish & Game was the only recognised affected party, she has applied to be an affected party too, hoping to find out how the earthworks project can protect the creek and the security of property alongside it.
Before development began above the creek headwaters, the water was pristine, levels stable and the bed was gravel, she said.
"Since 2015, I have witnessed many occasions when the creek has been totally discoloured by sediment and where water levels have been much higher than what I am comfortable with.
"Even during the 1999 flooding event in Wanaka, Bullock Creek did not breach its banks."
Her concern is, if the resource consent is approved without questions, that could undermine the urgency of future mitigating actions, and limit strategic alternatives available for stormwater treatment downstream.
"Unfortunately, this work is now scheduled later in the long-term plan and as a result we have been working alongside Otago Fish & Game to explore how the situation could be improved in the short term," he said.
The proposed works would see an outlet control structure installed, as originally intended in the design for the showgrounds solution, and the Alpha Series stormwater pond would be drained and replanted. Some minor shaping in the Otago Fish & Game land would create a path for stormwater flows between the two sites, he said.
"This area will also be heavily planted with suitable species adding to the amenity and also helping to assist with managing the quality of the stormwater flows," he said.
Information would be shared with other parties after the ORC process had been completed, before plans were implemented, he said.
The QLDC is subject to an active abatement notice issued in 2022 by the ORC regarding stormwater discharges into the creek.
ORC compliance manager Carlo Bell confirmed three $750 fines have since been issued to the QLDC.
Mr Mason said the QLDC would pay for the earthworks. The amount would be finalised once an engineer’s estimate is received this month.
Otago Fish & Game chief executive Ian Hadland said the rare urban springs and wetland was "an extremely important place" and the works would only be interim.
"Fish & Game are wetland experts and are comfortable that the proposed design will help mitigate occasional stormwater overflow during heavy rain events. The final plans will become known when consent is issued," Mr Hadland said.
QEII Trust regional representative Rob Wardle said the trust was not a party to the QLDC’s agreement with Otago Fish & Game.
That agreement did not require QEII consent, but did require the council to take all reasonable steps to minimise damage.
The covenant document contained a clause which specifically allowed for such works to be done, he said.
The QEII trust would monitor the outcome of the earthworks. If covenant values, including fresh water values, were compromised, the trust would require the landowner to work with council to remedy the situation, he said.
Guardians of Lake Wanaka president Don Robertson said he had seen the QLDC application, was pleased the Bullock Creek story was being made public, and did not know if there was any more information the Guardians should have.
It was not clear what other pollutants could be going into Lake Wanaka from Bullock Creek. Recent swimming closures in Roys Bay, due to high E coli, indicating faecal contamination, would suggest more than sediment was flowing into the lake, he said.
He said there was evidence of failure to manage the sediment for "at least the last decade" and he wanted to know how high sediment loading in the creek would be mitigated.
The Guardians did not have funding to take its concerns further but were "very supportive" of FOBC efforts to get a resolution, he said.
FOBC trustees declined to comment on the record. It is understood they support public notification.
Alpha Series developer Alan Dippie said, "We are not involved in this project and I have no knowledge of it.
"Alpha Ridge is now well complete with extensive stormwater mitigation and there is no risk of sediment or stormwater flows over the predevelopment natural catchment flows.
"Regular water sampling and testing has showed water quality has markedly increased since pre-development.
"This is due to a marked reduction in faecal matter and nitrogen entering Bullock Creek. The Friends of Bullock Creek have also done a great job restoring the wetland."
