Seemorerocks
A
few days ago we had some rain which flushed the Hutt River. It also
brought the temperatures down here in Lower Hutt to a level that is
more “normal” just as the summer should be at its hottest.
As
you can see from the graph the flow rates are back to the sorry state
they were in before – all within about a day!
The photos below show that the lower reaches of the river are in a sorry state, with very little flow. At one point just before the Ewan Bridge the flow seems to almost peter out while the river immediately upstream seems to be like a rather shallow millpond.
It has been a pattern for the river to reach extremely low levels and then recover for a few days before returning to what they were before.
This does not seem seem to elicit any sense of emergency in the authorities – at least in what they are telling the public.
It damn well should!
And they should damn well come clean with the public.
At this point the Hutt River is reduced to a trickle.
This is the mighty Hutt River - lol! Reduced to a millpond that could easily be waded across.
This is the view looking downstream toowards the railway bridge
From
January 9 -
This
is what it has come to – CITIZEN scientists doing the job the
officials should be doing1
A
group of citizen scientists are taking the health of the Hutt River
into their own hands and testing the safety of the water on a regular
basis.
The
group of volunteers will look at how many rocks in the river bed are
covered in toxic algae, sample the water for E.coli, test water
temperature and keep track of rubbish.
The
health of the river is an issue for the community, with 12 dogs
having died since 2005 after coming into contact with a bacteria
called Phormidium, which has been prevalent in the Hutt River in some
years.
Phormidium
can grow quickly over summer, spreading over rocks and then peeling
off to float in poisonous clumps at the river's edge where dogs love
to play.
Meanwhile,
local and founder of Friends of the Hutt River, Pat van Berkel, wants
to see the health of the river improve so locals can continue
swimming there.
***
You just have to look at this DuckduckGo search to see who has been reporting on this in the last month!
Apart from stories about toxic algae ("now it's OK to sim,now it's not") the last time this was taken seriously was at the beginning of December.
I have added old text and my own comments to the following,
I have added old text and my own comments to the following,
Faucet open in Wellington and a drip comes out
It
was a phenomenon almost forgotten in the parched capital and when it
came many missed it.
After
more than a month with virtually no rain in the capital city, a
slight shower came down early on Sunday while many were still in bed.
It
will not offer any relief and won't end water restrictions. The Hutt
River is not about to gush in its former glory. Wellington's lawns
will not go from brown to green.
MetService
was forecasting a bit more of the same on Sunday - showers clearing
by the afternoon with strong and gusty northerlies and a 22degC high.
But
come Monday, the only feature of note is sun, followed by some late
showers on Tuesday.
It
was a more than a month ago - in spring - when Wellington last saw
rain.
(And how much rain have we had since then? - SMR)
That
was November 8 when 12.2mm of rain fell. There were hints - 0.6mm on
November 10 and 1.4mm three days later - but since then nothing till
now.
Wellington's
sprinkler ban has been in place now for more than a week but - as of
Friday - usage was continuing to outstrip supply and we were already
dipping into our emergency supplies at Te Marua in Upper Hutt.
Wellington
Water spokesman Alex van Paassen said the rain made "no
difference to our supply situation at all, with no appreciable
rainfall I catchment areas".
"We're
still using our lake savings, and river levels are still falling."
But
there was some good: "Grey skies, cooler temperatures and a spot
of rain definitely all help make a dent in how much people use
outdoors, and after [Saturday's] 159 million litres, which is bang on
target and a great effort considering how hot it was, we would hope
that demand stays at or below the 160 MLD level heading into
Christmas." (ha!ha! What cooler termperatures?! January set temperature records - the highest on record! - SMR)
***
I ask our negligent authorities and media - what has changed since this was written 2 months ago and why have there been no updates?
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