heathcote
06-22-2012, 12:45 AM
Winter! It's bloody winter again! I used to enjoy winter, winter by the stream was quiet, peaceful and soothing to the soul but not so now. One and a half years on since the NZ Christchurch earthquakes some of the true costs are becoming apparent. One of my favourite spring creeks has had remedial work done to remediate damage from the February earth quake. This damage lifted the stream bed by up to 30 cm and the banks had latteral cracks up to a meter deep amd many more long. The remedy by regional council decree is to put in heavy machinery and start from mid stream and drag back bed, bank, trees shrubs to an average of 20 meters back to form a nice even uniform slope of 20 degrees of bare earth. Where once were willows dipping to the stream surface dropping all sorts of trout goodies into the flow, where sedge and rank grass overhung undercut banks to shelter the fish. where beds of water weeds fed and sheltered a myriads of shrimps and nymphs, where rippling shallows fed pools and deep corners is now no more. This stretch of stream held many fish and was bliss to fish with nymph or dry fly. Now it, and the fish are all gone
Before the first snow I walked the new bank, along a fishless, totally baren piece of water. A contractor greeted me and being informed that I used to fish here said in all honesty that he hoped I enjoyed the new snag free open banks which were much improved! He was quite offended by my reply which I dare not put into print here.
Yet another weekend saw me going to look at the spawning brown trout in the headwaters of an urban stream. Usually an awe inspiring sight as cock fish into double figures vie to procreate with the biggest and best of the females. Disaster! There were fish, mostly dead fish with ugly white mould and huge open sores. From the car I got a landing net and waders and retrieved a large female, This was Jac, short for Jackaline, a nice 7 lb fish which was known to all the locals as it would feed along with the ducks as bread was thrown from the foot bridge. Carefully watched by a family feeding ducks she was wrapped in a plastic sack to take home to go into the freezer to await a P.M.
The Dept of Fish & Game was phoned first thing Monday morning; yes they knew all about that, it was due to an accidental diesel spill in the upper headwaters a fortnight ago. What were they going to do about the incident? I asked; nothing we don't have any spare cash to investigate and if we don't investigate we can't do much about the situation. Try the pollution hotline at the regional council was the advise given. The regional council was rung and yes they too knew all about the spill and the dead trout and the dead eels too. We are investigating the circumstances of the spill to see if a prosecution is a possibility. Would that if successful include damages to restore the river fish stocks and clean up I ask? No that is the resposibility of Fish & Game or The Dept of Conservation to bring a separate prosecution. Did they want the trout for evidence I wondered? No we have water samples and that is sufficient for council. So what to do with Jac? The most constructive advise came a few days later from NIWA. If it don't smell of diesel plant it in the vegetable garden for fertiliser.
Now the exciting work begins; I have a whole load of damaged trees to remove that the snow bough to ruin. Still at least I will have next winters fire wood organised early.
Before the first snow I walked the new bank, along a fishless, totally baren piece of water. A contractor greeted me and being informed that I used to fish here said in all honesty that he hoped I enjoyed the new snag free open banks which were much improved! He was quite offended by my reply which I dare not put into print here.
Yet another weekend saw me going to look at the spawning brown trout in the headwaters of an urban stream. Usually an awe inspiring sight as cock fish into double figures vie to procreate with the biggest and best of the females. Disaster! There were fish, mostly dead fish with ugly white mould and huge open sores. From the car I got a landing net and waders and retrieved a large female, This was Jac, short for Jackaline, a nice 7 lb fish which was known to all the locals as it would feed along with the ducks as bread was thrown from the foot bridge. Carefully watched by a family feeding ducks she was wrapped in a plastic sack to take home to go into the freezer to await a P.M.
The Dept of Fish & Game was phoned first thing Monday morning; yes they knew all about that, it was due to an accidental diesel spill in the upper headwaters a fortnight ago. What were they going to do about the incident? I asked; nothing we don't have any spare cash to investigate and if we don't investigate we can't do much about the situation. Try the pollution hotline at the regional council was the advise given. The regional council was rung and yes they too knew all about the spill and the dead trout and the dead eels too. We are investigating the circumstances of the spill to see if a prosecution is a possibility. Would that if successful include damages to restore the river fish stocks and clean up I ask? No that is the resposibility of Fish & Game or The Dept of Conservation to bring a separate prosecution. Did they want the trout for evidence I wondered? No we have water samples and that is sufficient for council. So what to do with Jac? The most constructive advise came a few days later from NIWA. If it don't smell of diesel plant it in the vegetable garden for fertiliser.
Now the exciting work begins; I have a whole load of damaged trees to remove that the snow bough to ruin. Still at least I will have next winters fire wood organised early.