Community plants wetlands a decade after country's worst waterborne illness outbreak

It's been 10 years since a campylobacter outbreak in Hawke's Bay killed four people, infected thousands of others, and led to major nationwide changes to how drinking water is managed.

The Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry concluded that sheep faeces were the likely source of infection - with heavy rain flooding paddocks and allowing contaminated water to enter the aquifer, which was then drawn into a bore supplying water to the town.

It caused what's believed to be the largest waterborne outbreak of its type, with more than 5000 people falling violently ill.

In the years since, the community has been working hard to develop wetlands along the Mangateretere stream, where the town water supply was sourced from the aquifer via a bore.

In the years since, the community has been working hard to develop two wetlands in the area. After the outbreak Eileen and Mike Lawson, who live near the bore site, encouraged the council into planting a wetland upstream which is called Wahaparata.

"So all of the neighbours got together and had a meeting at our place with the regional council and they came up with a plan on how to manage it," Eileen said.

That was stage one, and now stage two was well underway at the back of the Lawsons' property.

"I've always had a bit of a love affair with the stream because when we bought it I set a whitebait net down the back, and just overnight I caught an eel, a trout, a kōura and a couple of surviving whitebait all in the same net - so I thought this is a pretty special place," said Mike.

A special place that's grown into a thriving wetland, the project is being driven by Alice Rule from the Karamu River Catchment Collective.

"Wetlands are just nature's natural kidney, it filters everything and it's needed," she said.

The 0.6 hectare wetland is nestled alongside the Mangateretere stream and is in a unique situation because it's surrounded by apple orchards and cropping land. Nine organisations are involved in the project and this month 70 volunteers including local students and RSE workers helped plant 1600 native plants in just two hours.

Rule said with so many changes to local government and the RMA reforms, catchment groups were more important than ever.

"There is so much uncertainty in this environmental space and I see catchment groups being the thread that holds everyone together - they're the trusted groups," she said.

And while the nearby bore had been decommissioned, Rule believed that one day the town might just need that water supply again.

"We have to be cleverer around how we protect and look after our water as it becomes more and more scarce.

"If we can put nature based solutions around a really protected high value ground water source that supplies all of Havelock North, then we should be doing that," she said.

'It was a travesty'

An inquiry into the campylobacter outbreak resulted in massive changes to how drinking water is managed in New Zealand - including mandatory chlorination of public drinking water supplies, and regular testing.

It also led to the creation of a Water Service Authority. Head of operations Steve Taylor said 10 years on, he's taking a moment to remember.

"It was a travesty - the fact that the contamination event resulted in so many people becoming sick and four people dying is really a black mark that we need to take account of, reflect on and remember ... ensure that we learn and avoid a similar situation happening again," he said.

The authority has been working with council drinking water suppliers to ensure all water is treated to kill any possible contaminants. As a result, 432,000 more New Zealanders now have access to safer drinking water. But Taylor said there was always more work to do.

"It's an ongoing journey - it's not a once and done. And it'll require continued diligence, particularly from those providing the drinking water," said Taylor.

Minister for Local Government Simon Watts said under the water reforms - known as 'Local Water Done Well', which replaced the controversial three waters proposal - there's a bigger focus on local decision making.

"We are in a significantly better place than where we were in the past and we should be because of what occurred.

"I don't think our work is ever done in this space - we've got the foundations in place now and have a much stronger and accountable system.

"That will mitigate the issues we've had in the past - but there is significant focus required going forward around the ageing assets and infrastructure, and pressures on the system," said Watts.