The lakebed, dewatered zone, islands and the Hokio Stream are owned by beneficial members of the Muaupoko tribe 1511 of them in 81 shares, as determined by the Reserves and other Lands Disposal Act (ROLD) 1956. The lake waters Muaupoko Domain, dewatered zone and one chain reserve strip in front of the Muaupoko Domain are vested under the Reserves Act 1977 in the Horowhenua Lake Domain Board. To date they have achieved nothing and even today sewerage is released into the Horowhenua Lake by the Council when it is overloaded? The Horowhenua Lake has sediments on the bottom so pronounced with toxins that the Council and Horizons have neglected in their responsibilities over many years. Algael blooms form which are caused by super dangerous cyanobacteria and are everywhere and weeds choke the Lake-- you cannot swim in this Lake let alone walk in it as one of our Kaumatua nearly drowned near the Weir by the oulet to Hokio Stream due to the sludge that has piled up in this Lake.

Supreme Court To Rule On Lake Horowhenua
Hot on the heels of the Maori water rights claim, the Supreme Court will be considering another contentious property rights issue; this time the right of owners to protect their own property.Such is the significance of this case that Law Professor Dr Gerard McCoy QC SC, who is currently on a retainer to the Hong Kong government will be flying back to New Zealand to argue this case.The Crown has contended that the owners of the privately-owned Lake Horowhenua have no more rights than any member of the public who wants to use the lake on their property. The trial Judge and Court of Appeal each overlooked and therefore gave no weight to recognition by Parliament that this place has always been owned by the local iwi.Nobody can reach Lake Horowhenua without crossing land that has belonged to Mua-Upoko since 1893. This title also includes the bed of the lake, where the bodies of warriors slain in battle with Te Rauparaha's Ngati Toa lie. Since Parliament placed control of the lake in the hands of a Government-appointed Domain Board, the once-pristine waters have deteriorated to the extent that the lake is now rated one of the ten worst lakes in the country. NIWA scientist Max Gibbs reported last year that the water is so toxic that a mouthful could kill a child.Dr McCoy's submission will be filed with the Supreme Court tomorrow.

Under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 the government confiscated 1.2 million acres (486,000 hectares) of Maori land in late 1864. Kemp in The Horowhenua was forced to give and sell land to the Government agents who wanted legal fees, cheap grazing and survey costs which were unknown at the time. Maori lost a great deal of its lands

As at Lake Horowhenua battle to Supreme Court Monday March 11, 2013

Lake Horowhenua long forgotten by Govt, Council, Farmers and all concerned as a waste pit for sewerage and runoff has now gone to the Supreme Copurt facing 5 Judges - its over our ownership rights. An owner Philip Taueki is appealing one assault conviction after a confrontation with two boaties on the grounds he has a right to forcibly evict boaties if they are misusing the lake owned by the Muaupoko tribe. Crown Law was adamant that the Lake Domain Board has control over this Lake Horowhenua which is wrong and therefore is in peaceable possession of Lake Horowhenua. In other words, the owners and the Trust have no rights whatsoever and we have a Domain Board with proxy Maori members only intent on what they can get for themselves.

Gerard McCoy QC said he did not cause bodily harm to the boaties but stated 'that this is his land', now he was unequivocally conveying you could not come across my land, the boaties well knew they had a dirty boat and the boat was too big." The case is a significant test case for the 5 Judges of the Supreme Court & our owners rights of ownership over this lake that has purposely been left as a catastrophic sewerage waste mess.

1511 with Muaupoko ancestry are owners in this Lake of over 400 hectares as at 2012. The Crown argued Taueki had rights to use and fish in the lake but no rights of possession yet he is an owner in common with 1510 other owners in this lake.

Crown Lawyer Fergus Sinclair said: it was the Lake Domain board who controlled it. It says an agreement between the Crown and local iwi in 1905 to create a public reserve took control of the lake away from the trust and gave it to a Government appointed board who are in fact useless and are to blame for what has happenend with the leasees, the effluent they will not dispose of and sit in limbo etc and the various altercations that have occurred the Domain Board is to blame for being silent. [ Read Domain minutes ]

Sinclair said "It also makes clear that those rights cannot be exercised in a way that interferes with the public enjoyment of the area," Well that just means the owners are not owners on there own land. It is one of the country's most polluted and a clean up is desperately needed. Lake bylaws don't allow motorboats on the water unless they are rescue craft and stipulate that all boats must be washed down so the 2 who wanted to put their boat on the Lake did so with disregard. Dr McCoy said Mr Taueki was in "peaceable possession" of the land & he is Muaupoko, and his position as guardian gave him authority to protect the lake and evict the Browns, who were trespassing. "If Maori is unable to defend its own land, then the value of ownership has been reduced to an absurdity," Dr McCoy said. Dr McCoy told the court anybody could bring private prosecutions if the lake bylaws were breached.

The way we see it we are not even owners of our own land yet we have titles?? The Supreme Court will ultimately decide who has the right to manage the lake--- but why are we being dictated by this useless Government body called a Domain Board. We will publish more regarding this. The Maori reps do not put it upon themselves to convey back to the tribe any matters of concern as they are manipulatede by the council members. The Horowhenua Council know the problem????. The Domain Board has done nothing in all the years

Lake shoreline Pic taken March 3rd 2012

Independent Niwa Fresh water Scientist Max Gibbs in Feb 2012 said if a kid drank the water they would probably die? Due to what Mr Gibbs did nothing has been achieved since with the Domain Board & the Iwi Maori members of this Board still do not have input of their own???? The Lake is choked with weed, sediment and manures from horticulture and dairy farm run offs account for 50% of the water runoff and this Lake is No 107 of a total 114 most contaminated Lakes in NZ by the Ministry of the Environment. Once rich in food sources from mussels to kakahi it has now been reduced to a contaminated mess. Although Gibbs carried out an analysis he did not seek the advice of those elders who know this Lake & have them accompany him--thus he lost valuable information.

Source: Horowhenua Mail 16th Feb 2012

Pākehā settlers would occupy the confiscated land while successive governments would bring in new laws like the Public Works Acts to confiscate even more lands. The Government in 2012 will not negotiate with the direct descendents hence urban authorities with indirect links to our direct descendent lines are now taking place yet it is an injustice to Maoridom. Letters to Ministers as of March 2nd 2013 have gone unanswered with even our Maori MP's turning a blind eye. All efforts to address the Horowhenua Lake have fallen apart due to too many committees & trustees who are not skilled at enacting the necessary plans to focus on the recovery efforts of this Lake.

Lake Trustees are never united; Horizons interested only in the farmers & Horowhenua District Council who would rather not talk about the issues of sewerage and overflowing of waste into the Lake. There are no meetings of all parties rather individuals are notified within Trusts while others are left out. eg. the Secretary of the Lake Trustees doesn't write up agendas for meetings before meetings are held nor presents minutes from last meetings as has occurred?? These are ongoing issues that should have been sorted out years ago--- the Chairman of the Lake Trustees needs to liase with his Trust before comments are made to the media --- which has occurred in articles in the Horowhenua Mail and Chronicle.

But efforts although positive continue to flounder as each organisation does their own thing. To date the MTA [ Muaupoko Tribal Authority ] have kept well out of any dialogue with the Lake due to their relationship with the Horowhenua District Council --when in fact they should have input if they are what they say they are, but of course we all know what the MTA is about--- --will it change in 2013---lets see. We are awaiting comments from the Ministers..................!!!!!!!!!!

Lake Horowhenua contamination from sewage plant confirmed
Last updated 12:50 03/10/2008
Horizons Regional Council confirmed in 2008 Lake Horowhenua was contaminated by Levin's waste water treatment plant during winter flooding. The results were not unexpected, compliance manager Alison Russell said. Earthworks were done around the swollen ponds to reduce contaminants entering surrounding groundwater, surface water and the lake. However, nitrogen, which is highly soluble in water, can leach easily through soil, Ms Russell said. "There was a zone of nitrogen leaching apparent in lake waters in the vicinity of the Levin STP [sewage treatment plant]." The effect was difficult to quantify because Lake Horowhenua constantly had extremely high nitrogen concentrations, Ms Russell said. The lake already suffered from eutrophication, as serious environmental concern throughout the country. "Consequently, any increase in nitrogen leaching into the lake waters has the potential to increase the risk, duration and frequency of toxic algal blooms and other eutrophication effects in lake Horowhenua," Ms Russell said. Samples taken from the lake near the plant on September 4 showed high levels of E coli, which confirms faecal contamination occurred. But the lake would have still been within safe swimming guidelines and Horizons' Proposed One Plan, an environment proposal covering air, water and land objectives, policies and rules, Ms Russell said. Total nitrogen exceeded the Proposed One Plan standard for the lake and soluble inorganic nitrogen was elevated. Both nutrients were significantly higher at incident sites compared with reference sites away from the plant. Incident samples were compared with water quality data from different sites, which are tested monthly for state of the environment purposes. Horowhenua Mayor Brendan Duffy would not comment on the results as he had not seen them. - © Fairfax NZ News