Advocate spoke out to protect the rivers
champion for water rights b December 29, 1940 d June 24, 2019
Murray Rodgers loved being in nature so much that he spent his life advocating to preserve New Zealand’s unique environment for future generations.
Described as being decades ahead of his time and a ‘‘passionate Kiwi’’, the outdoor enthusiast and keen astronomer died at Wellington Hospital on June 24, 2019, aged 78.
Son-in-law Phil Rossiter said Rodgers’ death was a ‘‘generational loss’’.
‘‘He was one of those figureheads that is just imbued with so much integrity, honesty and incredible intelligence.
‘‘Quite frankly he was quite a trailblazer in everything he thought of, he was probably a decade or two ahead of his time on some of the environmental issues,’’ Rossiter said.
In a newsletter, former Christchurch mayor Garry Moore likened Rodgers to the Dr Seuss character the Lorax (who spoke for the trees), saying he spoke on behalf of Canterbury’s water.
‘‘Murray was a voice for the rivers and . . . was fearless and respectful. I had many meetings with Murray when I was mayor and nominated him to go on to one of the panels which was considering water issues in Canterbury.
‘‘I wish to acknowledge that we owe this man so much. He was the Canterbury Lorax speaking for the water. He was a real gentleman and is a great loss,’’ Moore wrote.
Rodgers, the eldest of five, was born in Stratford, Taranaki, in 1940 to parents Jim and Faith Rodgers. The family grew up on a farm in Happy Valley just outside Tuatapere, in Southland.
When Rodgers was 13, the family moved to another farm in St Andrews, just south of Timaru, and he attended Timaru Boys’ High School.
After finishing school, he completed a bachelor of arts majoring in economics at the University of Canterbury, then a master of arts in economics.
Rodgers was an avid astronomer. In 1962 he took a role with the University of Canterbury assessing observatories. He was posted to Mt John in Tekapo, where he met Jenny Nicolson. The pair married in Christchurch three years later and had two daughters.
One of Rodgers’ most passionate hobbies was fishing and he could often be found fly fishing for trout.
During many of these fishing
expeditions he observed first hand the degradation of freshwater in Canterbury. Fearful these precious water resources may not be around for much longer, Rodgers helped found the Water Rights Trust in May 2003 – an advocacy group set up to champion the protection of Canterbury’s freshwater resources.
Rodgers spent most of his life advocating with this group. He served as chairman for a time and was a trustee until he moved to Wellington last year.
Friend and former trustee John Sanders said Rodgers was passionate about preserving the environment for future generations.
‘‘He grew to love the environment. It was just a personal love for the back country and water and the resources New Zealand has and the fear that what was going on with the intensification of farming in the country – particularly with dairying – that the environment and our resources . . . were going to be affected in one way or another.’’
Rodger’s impact within the environmental field was so huge that the trust considered nominating him for a
New Zealand Order of Merit, Sanders said. ‘‘[He was] a very straight thinker, [a] very kind man, who always had praise for people who had done good work.
‘‘He leaves a legacy of somebody who was passionate about New Zealand as a whole . . . he was a passionate Kiwi.’’
Alongside his environmental work, Rodgers had a long and successful career in business management working for several large companies. He progressed into business consulting, establishing his own firm in 1979, which was later named Rodgers and Partners Consultants.
Rodgers was rewarded for his business management skills and extensive work in the local, central and commercial sectors when he was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management in the late 1980s.
Rodgers was also a keen writer and wrote extensively on water degradation and other sustainability issues. He published four books and numerous opinion pieces in newspapers throughout New Zealand.
Rodgers is survived by wife Jenny, daughters Hilary and Diana, sisters Marlene, Jill and Carolyn, and brother Graham.