Staff in our Whitianga and Paeroa offices will be working but the offices closed for public enquiries from 4.30pm on Thursday, 17 April until 8am on Monday, 28 April. If you require urgent assistance during this time, please phone 0800 800 401.

Close alert

Island Block fish passage pumps

  1. Council »
  2. About us »
  3. Flood resilience programme »
  4. Island Block fish passage pumps

Funded: $1.68m
Total cost: $5.2m
Project starts: 2024/25
Project ends: 2026/27

This project involves replacing a 1960s pump station with a new one to increase pumping capacity to meet climate change projections. The pump station is within a catchment identified by the council as a priority for providing safe passage for eels (tuna). The new pumps will enable their safe migration to sea, while maintaining the required level of flood protection.

Project benefits
This work will reduce the likelihood of the impacts from flooding to productive farmland around Meremere and to the Whangamarino Wetland, which is a RAMSAR site with high environmental and cultural value. The Archimedes screw design of the pumps will enable safe downstream passage for tuna which migrate to sea to breed.

The infrastructure upgrade is critical for ongoing flood protection. By renewing the infrastructure with high-capacity pumps to accommodate climate change, it will continue to provide the level of protection it was designed for and agreed to by the communities at risk. 

The project allows for continued employment within the agricultural sector of this area, which in turn supports the local economy. 

This project site was prioritised for renewal as part of the council’s fish passage project, Pathways to the Sea.   

Status update:

  • Concept design near completion.
  • Site enabling works to be completed at the start of 2025.
  • Procurement of pump is expected late 2024/25 financial year.
  • Procurement of construction service expected for tender early 2025/26 financial year, for works to start in October 2025.

Island Block pump station site.

You might be interested in reading

Fish passage pumps project

This project upgraded two pump stations critical to the ongoing flood protection of productive farmland to enable safe passage of native fish, and undertook scoping for three other sites.

New pump allows tuna to swim another day

Tuna (eels) in the Aka Aka catchment safely passed through the council’s new enclosed Archimedes screw pump to swim another day.

Pirates fail to sink pump station upgrade

Waikato Regional Council’s two biggest Archimedes screw pumps made it through the Suez Canal and across the Red Sea mere days before pirates forced ship operators to re-route, and have been installed on time and under budget near Te Kauwhata.