Olympians hit back against Kaituna River plans

Olympian Luuka Jones is standing up against a proposed dam on the Kaituna River. Photo: Supplied

International paddlers and New Zealand Olympians are joining iwi and environmental groups in opposing the possible fast-tracking of a Bay of Plenty river energy project.

But the Māori landowners group proposing the project said people were jumping to conclusions and running wild with ideas about what the project is - or isn't.

Whitewater New Zealand's Mike Dawson said the Kaituna River is one of the top five rivers in the world for paddlers and draws visitors to the country.

"[It] flows out of Lake Rotoiti, down to Maketu, to the coast, through three stunning gorges," he said.

One of these gorges, Pari Whakahihi (Awesome Gorge) will be flooded at the top and have less water flowing at the bottom, making it unusable for paddlers.

"It will effectively stop kayaks being able to make that journey through the gorges from top to bottom," Dawson said.

He said that the organisation has had paddlers from around the world asking what they can do to help fight the proposal.

Olympic silver medalist Luuka Jones grew up paddling the Kaituna River and said the loss would be devastating.

"I have spent so much time on this river, it's a taonga and we need to protect it," Jones said.

Documents seen by RNZ about the proposed project show that the Māori incorporation of landowners, Taheke 8C, believe putting in a weir to divert some of the river water is an important part of generating clean energy for the area. They say it could generate 80GWh of clean energy which could power 10,000 homes.

Dawson acknowledged that New Zealand does need to ensure good energy supply.

"However, rushing through something as impactful as this [weir] on the lower Kaituna is not the way to do it," he said.

Taheke 8C acknowledges building the weir will change the river flow.

"The project involves the placement of a low-level structure on the bed of the Kaituna River, the impoundment of water behind the structure and a reduction in flow immediately below the structure with resultant effects on the natural character values associated with the site," one of the documents said.

A similar scheme on the river was proposed by Bay of Plenty Electricity in 2007. Taheke 8C said the current hydro generation proposal is a significant redesign of the 2007 plan to fit better with their values of katiakitanga.

Taheke 8C also attempted to get the weir onto the schedule of projects included in the government fast-track bill last year, but were unsuccessful.

Okere Falls on the Kaituna River. Photo: CC BY 3.0 / Pseudopanax@wikimedia

Some concerns incorrect

Chief executive of Taheke 8C Peter Mason said they have heard lots of concerns about their proposal, many of them incorrect.

"Apparently we're going to stop water. We're gonna create algae bloom. We're going to make the water worse. And the simple reality is that for a kilometre stretch of river it is going to have a reduced flow.

"That reduced flow, in our expert reports, is sufficient enough to maintain the health of the river, to improve the aquatic life and aquatic diversity of the river, and the water coming out of our system would be cleaner than the water coming in," he said.

Asked why the group was pushing to fast-track the project, Mason said the resource management process was far too slow.

"We estimate if we went own a traditional RMA process that would take somewhere between four and six years. The fast-track approvals act should hopefully take between nine and 12 months," Mason said.

However, Dawson said that the project wasn't nationally or regionally significant and fast-tracking it wasn't appropriate.

"To rush something through like this, that has a huge impact on the community, on the river, and very long-lasting impacts. We feel that it should be slowed down and council, iwi, all the stakeholders, should be appropriately consulted."

Forest and Bird has longstanding opposition to fast-tracking resource consents, calling them undemocratic.

Regional conservation manager Dr Chantal Pagel said fast-tracking meant the wider community couldn't have a say in resource management, even if they had legitimate concerns.

"That's a huge issue for us, because that's essentially what we do, we defend nature in court hearings at local government and central government state, and with fast-track that's not provided," she said.

Pagel said allowing rivers to flow freely was best for fresh-water ecosystems and prevented impacts from climate change and erosion.

"So if you alter the river flow and the river ecosystem, it really puts a strain on the river," she said.

Pagel pointed out that New Zealand had many fresh-water species on the brink of extinction.

"Damming a river certainly wouldn't help," she said.

At a meeting of Te Maru o Kaituna River Authority on 14 March 2025 members said there was "unanimous opposition" to the project, especially from Tapuika iwi, and that Taheke8C was asserting property rights above customary rights.

Mason wasn't at the meeting and did not want to respond to the comments out of context but said that rights came in a bundle.

"It's all the rights within that bundle that should be talked about… economically this project is OK, but what it does as far as improving environmental outcomes, creating employment opportunities, being a sustainable energy generation, improving energy security and opportunities for regional development are all considerations," he said.

In a letter to the Te Maru o Kaituna River Authority on 3 March, Taheke 8C Limited chair Aroha Campbell said they will likely seek referral via the Fast Track Approvals Act 2024 process for the weir project.