Backyard creek turns milky white

A Rotorua resident is annoyed the clean water in a stream that runs through his backyard has been turned into a murky mess.

When Mike Satchell woke up on Monday after his night shift, he was shocked to see the normally clear, blue stream in his back yard had changed to a murky white.

"I went down and had a look and thought that's not right. It was murky, it looked like milk had been tipped into the stream; it was all the way out to the lake. I went for a wander down the road and it was out there. I don't know what it will do to the rest of the creek.''

The local regional council inspected the problem, which had disappeared by the time they got there, and assumed it had been caused by workers in the area accidentally putting fine gravel in the stream.  

Mr Satchell said the stream, called Waiwhero Stream, had run white for about half an hour before it started to clear up, not long after he contacted the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

He said there had been a similar incident 10 years ago and he was angry no one seemed to want to do anything about it.

Mr Satchell, who has lived in the  house for 35 years, said he and his family loved the stream and when his children were younger, they used to feed the trout.

``We are quite conscious of our creek; it is a spawning creek. We get a lot of trout coming up here every now and then. This is really going to stop them, they won't come up here any more this season. Last time, all the koura [fresh water crayfish] died.''

Bay of Plenty Regional Council pollution prevention manager Nick Zaman said an officer visited the site soon after a call was received on the pollution hotline.

``When he arrived at the stream a short time later, it had returned to its usual colour. While we cannot be certain, it's likely the change in colour of the stream may have been caused by a small amount of fine gravel sediment getting into the stream from some minor works happening nearby.

``Due to the size of the stream, even a small amount could have briefly changed the water's colour.'' Mr Zaman said the officer spoke to those concerned and gave some advice to avoid sediment entering waterways.