The Board has been working with the Otara Waterways and Lake Trust, (southern Auckland), and Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters division, to begin long term restoration of a 50 hectare tidal lake and over 2.5 km of upstream waterways
The lake and waterways represent some of the most polluted waters of New Zealand, following over six decades of neglect, dating back to the start of Otara’s housing development on former farmland.
The lake and waterways are the end of the journey for rainwater which falls on a 3,500 hectare catchment extending far beyond Otara’s boundaries. The 45 billion litres of annual rainfall have carried over 200,000 cubic metres of silt, laden with heavy metals into the lake, preventing as far back as the 1980’s any swimming or other recreational activity.
The Otara Waterways and Lake Trust intend to return the lake to swimmable and recreational condition with guidance from Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters team.
