Waikawa News July 2022
Kia ora koutou kātoa,
Putting the wai in Waikawa… What you can't miss as you go along Waikawa Beach Road or round the streets or past the paddocks is how much water is around. In July alone we've had about 180 mm rain so far (to the middle of the 21st), and the water table is pretty high. Puddles are appearing even in spots where I haven't seen them before.
Could this affect your septic tank? I'm no expert, but it seems logical that it could. According to How Your Septic System Works:
liquid wastewater (effluent) exits the tank into the drainfield … a shallow, covered, excavation made in unsaturated soil. … If the drainfield is overloaded with too much liquid, it can flood, causing sewage to flow to the ground surface or create backups in toilets and sinks.
Seems to me if the ground is saturated from all the rain and the high groundwater then problems could arise. Have you checked your septic tank lately?
Tsunami safety
It's no surprise that we beach dwellers live at risk of a tsunami. Now the Government has created a nationwide tsunami evacuation map that puts most of us in the Yellow or Orange zones. If we feel a long or strong earthquake we need to head for the hills. Note though that the whole area reached by going across the footbridge falls in the high danger Red zone. Read more at Orange tsunami risk for us beach dwellers.
Beach entrance through the Miratana land
Back around 13 June 2022 the beach entrance through the Miratana block was eroded again after storms, with a metre drop-off into the river. The Horowhenua District Council put concrete bollards in place so people wouldn't accidentally drive into the river.
On 20 July 2022 the Council brought in a digger to reform the track for vehicles to get down onto the beach again. See photos at Track for vehicles smoothed 20 July 2022.
Meanwhile a Working Group has been formed to deal with matters of access to the beach. Read more at Beach access Working Group and Beach Access Working Group update 21 July 2022.
Late last year a small group presented a petition about vehicle access to the Horowhenua District Council who decided to explore options and report back by the end of 2022. In Confirmation of community consultation around beach access you can read that whatever the Council come up with there will be extensive community consultation before any action takes place.
Foaming high tide
Around 12 July 2022 we had another big storm with gales, huge open sea swells and big tides. This coincided with a 'Supermoon' — a Full Moon that occurs around the same time as the Moon is at its closest to Earth.
When I went down for a look on the 13th I could see that driftwood was everywhere, and the tide had been right up to and through the tapes marking off the annual spinifex plantings by the north track off Reay Mackay Grove.
Tide and wind had also tossed driftwood into the dunes by the south track off Reay Mackay Grove and partly along the track itself. At high tide the sea was right up to the base of the track, along with a mountain of foam. See the photos at A foaming high tide, 13 July 2022.
That reminded me of the time that track had a 1 metre drop-off after tidal erosion on 25 July 2016. That was the storm that badly eroded the coast between the north and south tracks, creating 'cliffs' that were taller than me.
Ever wondered Why are there two high tides per day?
River water quality
Here are two items that could be of interest:
Whitebaiting season changed
This year the whitebaiting season starts on 01 September and ends on 30 November (a permanent change). There are some new rules too about nets and so on. See Whitebaiting season 2022.
The toilet block progresses
Work continues on the toilet block. The walls have been made higher, the concrete slab laid for the BBQ area and doorways put in. See the latest photos at Toilet block progress to 15 July 2022.
Wow Waikawa! websites, RSS, emails and the monthly newsletter
In case it's not completely clear, there are two Wow Waikawa! websites. One has News while the other is particularly about the amazing Environment here.
The absolute best way to keep up with them is to use a free RSS reader (one of tech's best kept secrets — it's like having your own personal, free, amazingly efficient, butler). I've given details at About Waikawa News.
The second best way is to get individual posts by email (I send them manually and might forget). Subscribe (free) to Hightide to get each post as it's published.
The free service called Blogtrottr send items out by email after they're published but includes all kinds of ads I have no control over. There are details on the info page about signing up for that.
The worst way is to visit the websites from time to time and see what's new.
This monthly Waikawa Newsletter is largely based on what's been published since the previous newsletter. I aim to send it out somewhere around the 20th of the month (ish).
The night sky
What will you see this month when you look up? Well, clouds probably…
That aside though, and to be fair we've had a few warm sunny days and clear crisp nights, take a look at the constellation Scorpius, Te Matau a Māui, the fishhook that Māui used to fish the North Island from the sea.
Museums Wellington says:
There is a direct relationship between the Southern Cross and Scorpius. When the Southern Cross approaches its highest position in the sky, Scorpius will rise in the east and when the Southern Cross is almost at its lowest position in the sky, Scorpius is setting in the west.
Be sure to watch the video on the page linked above.
In the early evening look East and you may see Saturn just above the horizon. Then look higher for the distinctive shape of Scorpius. That bright red supergiant star is Antares.
The screenshot from Stellarium shows the night sky with Scorpius delineated in pink, while the inset shows the original constellation.
If you have binoculars or a telescope take a look near the sting in the tail — round there you're looking at the centre of the Milky Way, our home galaxy.
Here's an interesting snippet from July 2022 Southern Sky Guide – Observations:
You may have noticed that the sky at dawn and dusk seems very bright at present – there’s a white glow covering much of the sky to the west after sunset, and to the east before sunrise. This is probably a result of the January eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano in Tonga. The eruption hurled ash and gas into the stratosphere (the high atmosphere) where, like a thin hazy cloud, it is scattering sunlight down towards the ground, and to you. The resulting brighter sky will make it harder to spot planets and crescent Moons close (a handspan or so) to the horizon. And the ash may remain up there for months to come.
Properties
Newly listed: 61-63 Manga Pirau Street, 22 Kristin Place.
Still for sale: 17 Drake Street, 58 Manga Pirau Street (relisted), 13 Arthur Street, 501A Waikawa Beach Road (3 lifestyle properties).
Sold: 686 Waikawa Beach Road, 40 Manga Pirau Street, 159 Emma Drive.
Unknown: 9 Kristin Place, 10 Arthur Street.
Bits and bobs
On the Wow Waikawa! Environment site:
If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at news@wow-waikawa.nz. If you want to suggest others subscribe to the newsletter please send them to: http://news.wow-waikawa.nz/about-waikawa-news.html.
Thanks everyone for the support. I've had a lot of great feedback recently on my newsletters. I really appreciate that.
Mā te wā,
Miraz Jordan