A fence that used to mark the border of a property hangs uselessly from the eroded dunes. February 2018, ex-Tropical Cyclone Gita scoured away metres of dunes near the Miratana track off Manga Pirau Street. It was February 2018 when ex-Tropical Cyclone Gita hit Waikawa Beach and caused massive erosion. For the coming season, the risk for an ex-tropical cyclone affecting New Zealand is considered near normal to elevated.
John Hewitson (centre) plants, next to Heather from HDC and another man. On 08 October 2022 a group of about 35 volunteers planted some 3,500 Spinifex and Pīngao plants along the Waikawa Beach frontage. In about 2.5 hours they covered an area that’s probably about 50 metres by 10 metres. Panorama of the planted area. Photo by Stephen Betts. Jeff from the Council drilled holes with an auger, and some people plied spades to dig holes.
Fierce winds in mid-September 2022, along with high tides at full moon have again created a drop at the end of the Miratana track to the beach. A chain has been put across the entrance, with a warning sign.
Swift action has restored the vehicle access to the beach through the Miratana Track. Sand has been moved to rebuild to eroded bottom end of the track, extra driftwood has been brought in to help protect the sand, and posts have been sunk, with wire to help hold the driftwood in place.
When the Waikawa Beach Community Committee first met on the 17th of July 2022 several action points were made and reported in the minutes. It seems timely to report on the follow up to these as below.
Action points from the Waikawa Beach Community Committee initial meeting
Action Point: Minutes / information to community so they are informed that action is being taken, although it may take some time and the need for the community to be patient while we work towards a long-term solution.
After exceedingly high rainfall this cabbage tree, usually metres away from the edge of a lake on Reay Mackay Grove, is swamped. The groundwater level is very high. Sea-level rise around Aotearoa New Zealand is speeding up, according to Stats NZ. That brings increased risks of flooding and erosion, drainage problems, groundwater levels increase, and possible intrusion of salt water into the underground aquifers.
According to Coastal sea-level rise | Stats NZ:
Driftwood plays an important role in protecting and building up the beach.
Enterprising members of the Beach Access Working Group recently added driftwood reinforcements to the beach end of the access track through Miratana land. With any luck the driftwood will help trap sand and more driftwood, while also stopping drivers from breaking down the sides of the ‘ramp’ the Council formed. Meanwhile, at the request of residents, the Horowhenua District Council have reinstated the bilingual ‘Private Property’ signs at the start of the track.
A few brief points of interest from the full Beach Access Working Group Meeting Minutes 17 July 2022 on Facebook: At the last meeting several members were tasked with finding out more information from council and others. … current beach access. Stormy weather last week prevented this work, but it will proceed once weather has settled. John Foxall of Horizons regarding the groyne cut. He noted that they cannot do any further work without Iwi consultation and that Iwi are currently very busy and it is difficult to get time with them.
On 20 July 2022 the Horowhenua District Council sent a digger to smooth out the track through the Miratana land at the end of Manga Pirau Street. Now those who want to get their vehicles onto the beach will be able to drive down. The concrete blocks have been put back in front of the illegal track from a couple of years ago.
In the past whitebaiting has begun on 15 August, however this year the law has changed. From the Summary of whitebait fishing regulations we learn that the season is: All of New Zealand except Chatham Islands: 1 September to 30 October inclusive.
In addition, Fishing is not allowed within 20 m of any … groyne
It's winter so lots of rain, gales, high tides and big swells out in the open sea are only to be expected. On 13 July 2022 a quick tour to all the beach entrances at high tide showed a full bay, with water right up to the dunes. Along the coast near the south track off Reay Mackay Grove the sea had been right up to the base of the dunes and there was a mighty pile of foam being blown around.
Diggers work with piles of sand on the beach in June 2018. A post on Facebook on 15 June 2022 by Debra Betts advised: At a recent meeting of the Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association it was discussed that it would be useful to form a community group with the aim of exploring how to maintain the beach access – (this was before recent events). As we know from previous posts, and the long history of interactions with Horizons and Horowhenua councils, this is complex long term issue, but it would be proactive to come together to explore what we could as a community do.
Screenshot from HDC budget with $300,000 for new vehicle access. Re: Recent query regarding new vehicle access to Waikawa Beach Thank you for your e-mail of 23 June 2022 and your patience in the matter. Council is fully aware of the competing views around vehicular access to the beach in the community of Waikawa. In response to your specific questions I would like to respond to your third bullet point first – 1) Council would be committed to providing opportunities for all of the community to comment on any proposals put forward in relation to vehicular access to the beach.
Information today from Craig Kidd, Parks and Property Officer | Āpiha Papa Rēhia, Rawa of Horowhenua District Council: We were looking at rebuilding the beach access for pedestrians and vehicles and have asked contractors to delay this work until next week, until the current weather system passes as we may be in for strong westerlies, which are being forecasted.
An excellent 8 minute video by Dr Becky Smethurst, astrophysicist, explains how the Sun, Moon and Earth contribute to the tides: We all learn that the tides are caused by the Moon pulling on the Earth’s oceans. So how come there’s two high tides per day but we only have one Moon? Watch the video on YouTube: Why are there TWO high tides per day?
It’s complicated…
50 cm drop-off at vehicle access to beach. The storms this month have again changed the course of the river. Again it has pushed up against the end of the vehicle track from Manga Pirau Street and created a 50 cm or more drop-off. Then there are only a few centimetres of sand before you’re in the river. The Horowhenua District Council have advised they will put concrete bollards in place on 16 June 2022 to prevent unwary drivers from ending up in the river.
The bay is full, 2 hours after high tide. Well, we are in winter, after all. The first couple of weeks of June 2022 have been all about the weather. We’ve had gales (one gust even 97 Kph, back from the beach), a 6 metre swell in the open sea (rising to 6.9 metres), plenty of rain (128mm so far), hail, and thunderstorms, oh so many bright and loud thunderstorms!
The storms at the end of May 2022 ate away at the Manga Pirau Street beach entrance again, causing a 40 cm drop-off into driftwood. And they brought driftwood, large and small high onto the beach. It reached as far as the blue post at the beach end of the north track off Reay Mackay Grove, and into the area of new dune growth where that track leads to the river.
After the storms and high tides in the latter part of May 2022, the Manga Pirau Street beach entrance has a drop of about 40 cm and the beach below is covered in driftwood. Photos as at 03 June 2022. Waikawa Beach resident and Facebook group admin, Charlie Strivens reported this drop-off to the Horowhenua District Council. Craig Kidd, Parks and Property Officer | Āpiha Papa Rēhia, Rawa, replied: Many thanks for forwarding the photo of what the large tides have been doing.
Kāpiti Coast District Council have just released (May 2022) a pile of Coastal science information. They say: We asked independent consultancy Jacobs New Zealand Limited to assess our district for coastal hazards, from Ōtaki in the north to Paekākāriki in the south. The assessment updates previous coastal hazard assessments of the Kāpiti Coast District shoreline. It identifies areas susceptible to current and future coastal erosion and inundation under various potential magnitudes of sea-level rise over 30, 50, and 100 years.
Wellington Region Emergency Management Office says: Swell Warnings explained! 🌊 For those of you who have seen the swell warnings come out and are wanted to know a bit more about how these work - take a look at this great explainer video put together by @MetService.
Essentially: waves come in all different heights. To get “significant swell height” they look at the size of the largest one third of all waves over a point.
A visit to the Manga Pirau Street beach access on 04-May–22 showed a new warning sign: CAUTION Access to the Beach is only suitable for tractors and four wheel drive vehicles It’s not clear where the sign came from, but let’s hope people pay more attention to it than they do to the nearby sign warning of soft sand.
Map and graph showing effects of different combinations of climate scenarios and land subsidence. NZ SeaRise Programme. We’ve all heard about sea level rise, but it’s also important to know that parts of Aotearoa New Zealand are subsiding, including Waikawa Beach. Add that to the sea level rise and the forecast effects become a bit different. Sea level rise isn’t uniform around the world — the science over recent years has shown that things are more complicated.
A coach full of people outside a white building. The coach is drawn by a team of horses. Cobb and Co. coach, Palmerston, Otago. Wikimedia Commons (see body of article). The beach has always been a road — so says anyone around here. Numerous tire tracks in the sand, heading south. In my mind, that meant that occasionally a coach would manoeuvre its way along the sand. But apparently Waikawa Beach used to be fair thronging with travellers, as the following excerpt from a very interesting book makes clear: From Foxton to Wellington in Cobb and Company's coach was a long day's journey, in winter a journey of infinite difficulties and delays, but in summer one of the pleasantest trips which could be undertaken.
Waikawa river mouth, as seen by drone. SirWB on Twitter, April 2022. Twitter user SirWB recently posted several drone photos of the Waikawa Estuary and river mouth. It’s very interesting to see the area from above — it’s changed so much in the last few months. Looking south, with river mouth on the left and Kāpiti Island in the distance. Waikawa river as it nears the sea.