‘It’s a cop-out’: Father pleads for swim ban
Frustrated dad lashes out at council inaction after daughter’s death
The father of a young woman swept to her death on the Waikato River says it’s a “cop-out” for two local councils to ignore a coroner’s recommendation to ban swimming in the dangerous stretch of water.
Rachael de Jong, 21, was swimming with friends about 200m below the Aratiatia Dam, just north of Taupo¯ , on Waitangi Day 2017 when the floodgates opened. Within minutes, the tranquil water turned into a torrent.
Although Rachael scrambled to safety, she put herself back in harm’s way to help others and was swept downstream.
Coroner Wallace Bain hailed her selfless bravery and thousands of people voted her the Herald’s New Zealander of the Year in 2018. In his report, Bain “strongly” recommended a complete ban on swimming in the rapids to prevent another tragedy.
The dam floodgates are opened four times a day in summer for “tourist spills” — filling the rapids for visitors to see in a natural state — which are part of Mercury Energy’s resource consent for the power station. Sirens warn of the release of water, as well as signs in the official Department of Conservation carpark and tracks to the fenced viewing areas. However, Rachael and her friends parked in a layby on the side of the road and walked down a wellworn, unofficial track to the river.
Since Rachael’s death, DoC and Mercury have put up barriers to block the unofficial track, and removed a rope used to climb down to the water.
But Bain said other swimmers had been caught unawares in the river and more could be done.
“It also seems clear to the court that swimming in the area should be absolutely prohibited.”
Bain recommended Mercury, DoC and the Waikato Regional Council meet to discuss how swimming could be banned, even if a law change was needed. He also recommended Mercury consider how to visually monitor the water, perhaps by cameras or a drone, before water is released.
Mercury has ruled visual checks impractical after commissioning a safety expert to investigate the idea. In fact, it would give swimmers a false sense of security, it said.
“Mercury’s view remains that the best path for minimising the risk of a similar event occurring is for access to the rapids area to be prohibited by law,” Mercury chief executive Fraser Whineray wrote to Bain in August.
The company believes a Waikato Regional Council bylaw that prohibits swimming within 200m of a hydro structure can be extended to the rapids area quickly. But the council said the bylaw was designed to stop swimmers getting near a hydro dam to avoid “conflict” with maintenance vessels and couldn’t legally be extended to the area.
Emails released under the Official Information Act show the Taupo¯ District Council does not believe it can introduce a separate bylaw for public safety reasons under the Local Government Act. Even if swimming at the rapids could be banned, a senior TDC manager had “serious doubts” it would make the area safer.
Rachael’s father, Kevin de Jong, supports Mercury’s push for a total ban on swimming below the dam, which he says is necessary to reinforce just how dangerous it is.
He was frustrated at the inaction of the councils.
“It’s a cop-out and very typical of bureaucrats. This is just rubbish,” de Jong told the Herald on Sunday.
“How hard can it be? If you can’t amend the bylaw, just put an entirely new ban in place. If a council can make a bylaw to make dog owners pick up dog poo, they can ban swimming in a dangerous spot.”