Positive test good news for boaties
Here’s hoping for a long, late summer.
In recent years Lake Rotokare, within the pest-free Rotokare sanctuary, has been closed to recreation for much of the prime outdoor recreation months due to high cyanobacteria levels. The water quality is tested monthly, and to the delight of the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust, the most recent test has come back positive - the lake is open to recreation, following formal acknowledgement from the South Taranaki District Council that cyanobacteria levels have dropped to an acceptable level.
‘‘This is great news for our community, and with the lake not due to close for power boats until the 30th April, there’s plenty of time for our community to enjoy a water-ski,’’ said Simon Collins, Rotokare Sanctuary manager.
‘‘These algal blooms are common throughout the country during the hot summer, usually due to a lack of water flow. We do quickly want to remind the community that checking their vehicles and boats for pests, especially rodents and aquatic pests like hornwart and didymo, is hugely appreciated.
Lake Rotokare is a completely enclosed catchment, surrounded by native forest within the nationally significant Rotokare Sanctuary. Recently a year-long research project has begun in collaboration with Waikato University to better understand the algal blooms, with the aim of developing an action plan to reverse the recent trend of high cyanobacteria levels.
‘‘In the late 1880s red-fin perch, a recognised game fish, were released into the lake,’’ said Simon Collins. ‘‘Recent sampling by Waikato University has shown that perch are incredibly abundant in the lake, and the current theory is that they are one of the probable reasons for these algal blooms. High naturally occurring phosphorous levels are also a probable factor in causing the blooms.’’
The current expectation is that the research work will develop practical methods of controlling the biodiversity within the lake to hopefully lessen the impact of cyanobacteria in years ahead.’’We are really excited to be working on this issue, and acknowledge that we’re not sure what the outcomes will be yet. One of the big factors for us as a charity is sustainability of any projects we undertake.’’