Crackdown on dirty contractors | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Boaties love them - but so do local contractors and that's causing big problems.

Two new boat washdown facilities at Tokaanu Marina, to help boaties protect the Taupo fishery and avoid spreading weeds from lake to lake, have been greeted with enthusiasm by boat users.

However, contractors have also discovered the washdowns and are using them to clean their equipment, with the result that dirt and toxic residues are being washed directly into Lake Taupo.

Department of Conservation community relations officer Dave Conley says the boat washdowns were only installed a fortnight ago, but contractors and truckies found them almost immediately and began using them wash to down their vehicles and equipment.

The boat washdowns were installed at the marina as part of a joint biosecurity project between the Conservation Department, Genesis Energy and the Waikato Regional Council, to protect the water and fish in lakes in the local area, with the Taupo District Council also contributing by providing water at no charge.

Dave explains that the purpose of the boat washdown is to encourage boaties pulling their boats out to wash off weeds such as hornwort, lagrosiphon and egeria so they won't be transferred to other fishing lakes in the area, such as Otamangakau, Kuratau and Rotoaira.

Boats and other recreational equipment are the key means of transferring pest weeds from one waterway to another.

In terms of fishery health, egeria and hornwort are real threats to Lake Otamangakau because it is a shallow lake. Egeria in particular could ruin Otamangakau's trout fishery because the weed grows right up to the lake's surface, and would restrict water flow and fish movement.

But Dave says right now it's Lake Taupo that is suffering because people are not using the boat washdown for its intended purpose. "Suddenly local contractors have cottoned on to the fact that there's a great big high-pressure hose there with easy access, and they're washing contracting equipment down at the boat ramps which is washing mud and muck, diesel residue and weed spray stuff into Lake Taupo, which is absolutely not what we wanted.

"Most of these activities need to happen where there's an interceptor system to contain the residues and allow them to be treated, not just washed into the lake."

The boat washdown did not need a resource consent because it is simply returning water to the lake, but Dave says anyone using it for any purpose other than washing down their boat is liable for an instant $750 fine from the Waikato Regional Council for allowing a contaminant to enter Lake Taupo.

He hopes that boaties at Tokaanu will help protect Lake Taupo, and its trout, by letting others know it's not okay to use the boat washdown for cleaning vehicles or equipment.

"What we hope is that if boaties are here and they see a vehicle washing down, that they'll take a photo, note the vehicle's registration for a prosecution, and let the Waikato Regional Council know."

Signs will also be put in place next to the boat washdowns.

Dave has a plea for any locals thinking of using the boat washdown for anything other than cleaning their boats.

"Please don't do it. It's damaging our environment and potentially toxic residues are getting from this equipment into the lake. If you want to wash down, then go somewhere appropriate to manage these nasties."