Funded: $1.68m
Total cost: $5.2m
Project start year: 2024/25
This project involves replacing a 1960s pump station with a new one to increase pumping capacity to meet climate change projections. The pump station is within a catchment identified by Waikato Regional Council as a priority for providing safe passage for tuna (eels). The new pumps will enable their safe migration to sea, while maintaining the required level of flood protection.
Project benefits, adaptation, resilience and collaboration
This work will reduce the likelihood of the impacts from flooding to productive farmland around Meremere and to the Whangamarino Wetland, which is a RAMSAR site (wetland of international importance) with high environmental and cultural value. The Archimedes screw design of the pumps will enable safe downstream passage for tuna which migrate to sea to breed.
The infrastructure upgrade is critical for ongoing flood resilience. By renewing the infrastructure with high-capacity pumps to accommodate climate change, it will continue to provide the level of protection it was designed for and agreed to by the communities at risk
This project allows for continued employment within the agricultural sector of this area, which in turn supports the local economy and is co-funded by Waikato Regional Council and central government through Kānoa’s Regional Infrastructure Fund.
This project site was prioritised for renewal as part of the council’s fish passage project, Pathways to the Sea.
Productive agricultural and commercial land continues to be protected to design levels from flooding, which supports the local, regional and national economy. Tuna, which are a taonga species for Waikato and Hauraki iwi, will be able to pass through the new pumps unharmed, whereas with the existing pumps their survival rate would be very low.
