Kaituna River

Kayaking and Rafting

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Kaituna River is a river in the Bay of Plenty region on the North Island of New Zealand. He is the outflow of Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti, he then flows 45 km to the north, crossing the State Highway 2 and flows south-west of Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty. The river is divided onto a branch of the river opens into a northerly direction into the sea, the other is to the west, a lagoon -like estuary, Maketu Estuary.

Dispute over dirt

In the 1970s, the Lake Rotorua suffered from increasing eutrophication. Therefore, suggested the Ministry of Works before, to capture a portion of the wastewater and discharged directly into the river. The local iwi Māori complained, however, the Waitangi Tribunal. They complained of an offense other iwi, would be lost by the own mana, and the destruction of the mauri ( life force) of the flow, which leads to their faith to the fact that the ability of the river to get water would destroy living organisms. The opinion of the Ministry of Works noted, however, that the concept of " maui " essentially religious in nature and is not scientifically fundierbar, on the other hand, the dilution of the effluent would avoid excessive pollution and keep costs at an acceptable level. The traditional culture of the Māori, however, makes no distinction between religion and science, as do today's western cultures.

Ultimately, the decision was made in 1990 but, with the Rotorua Country Treatment Scheme to improve the wastewater treatment so far that 80 % of the nitrogen and phosphates from wastewater in the inflow of the lake and the rates of application of agriculture are removed to reduce the eutrophication and to meet the cultural needs of Māori.

Power generation

At the headwaters of the river there was a small hydroelectric power plant, which was operated from 1901 to 1936 and the first built by the New Zealand government hydroelectric power plant was. There were several plans for larger power plant that have not been realized because of the high costs.

Recreational use

The headwaters of the river with its white water is used regularly since 1991 for kayaking and rafting. Here are traversed with the rafts and the 7 m high Okere Falls. Also trout fishing is possible.

Access to the upper canyon is equipped with a slalom course, which was used by teams for their training ahead of World and Olympic championships.