Rotorua council tries to delay geothermal bores shut-off

Press, 27 June 1987, Page 6

Rotorua council tries to delay geothermal bores shut-off

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

Last-gasp efforts to defer the June 30 shut-off date for all geothermal bores within a I.skm radius of Whakarewarewa are being made by the Rotorua District Council. The Mayor of Rotorua, Mr John Keaney, met the Government on Wednesday to plead for more time.

He told the Minister of Energy, Mr Tizard, that many of those affected were elderly, had relied on bores all their lives, and had been encouraged by the Government of the day in the 1950 s to use geothermal power because of electricity shortages. , i . ’ Many of those who had shifted to Rotorua and invested in bores had done so for health and therapeutic reasons, Mr Keaney said. He could understand Government concern about the, inefficiency of many bore> operations,

and that perhaps only three users of 20 connected to a bore actually needed it, but a blanket prohibition penalised everyone equally. In April the High Court rejected a claim by the Rotorua Bore Owners’ Association against Government plans to close down all bores within the I.skm radius. The D.S.I.R: has told the Government that because of widespread use of geothermal resources in Rotorua the Whakarewarewa tourist field is failing and is at risk of extinction. That has led to the precipitate action by the Government to close ;all . geothermal use near the ' fields' i . Keaney said.. ther.e was a great deal of supposition about the scientists’ case. He quoted the famous Guide Rangi to support the case that Whakarewarewa was going through a lull rather than dying.

“I. cannot say that I have seen much material change among the geysers in my lifetime,” said Guide Rangi, who was bom in 1890 and was a guide from 1922 to 1965 after several years of nursing and teaching. Whakarewarewa seemed to go through a cycle, but it was doubtful if any human lived long enough to see a complete cycle. . ■, “To the. average observer, the geysers seem to wax and wane in a most irregular fashion,” she said. y She cited the example of Waikite geyser. Throughout 1881 the geyser had. played almost incessantly;/ then it sitopped, only to revive .afteiL'the Tarawera eruption of 1886. ' ; The geyser then played incessantly for eight years, only to cease abruptly in 1894, . the day Richard John Seadori officially opened .the railway line to Rotorua.2/ : • 1V Waikite , had .2 played

again after the 1931 Napier earthquake, only to go into recess again. It had erupted in 1940, 1952-53 and in 1956. After a long rest, it resumed in September, 1966, played for five months, and had been

quiescent since. Wairoa, quiescent today, used to erupt to 200 ft. Guide Rangi said it was one geyser that responded to “soaping” — placing a cake of soap or a. packet of washing powder to make it “eo off.”