1 Purpose and methodology
Dr Hamilton was engaged to evaluate the range of current, proposed and potential actions to manage the short-term symptoms and causes of water quality problems, particularly in Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, and provide a written report to the Secretary for the Environment. This work follows considerable concern about relatively large blooms of toxic blue-green algae which closed Lake Rotoiti from around 20 January to 15 March 2003. Only a few bays were closed in Lake Rotorua, but this was still enough to add to the community concern.
The work was undertaken by liaising closely with management, technical and scientific staff in Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP), Rotorua District Council (RDC), University of Waikato, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and relevant central government agencies. Valuable advice and information was obtained through this methodology, which enabled this report to be written.
A number of the recommendations in the report were underway or being considered, or have begun to be implemented during preparation of the report. This occurred in part because of the close working relationship that was developed between the author and officers from EBOP, especially Paul Dell, the Lakes Project Co-ordinator.
As a result, it is difficult to say which recommendations are entirely new and, accordingly, it is not the author's intention to try and separate each recommendation into a category of 'newness'. Rather, it is intended that this report and its recommendations support and extend EBOP's excellent approach to management of Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, and introduce the concepts of 'adaptive management' and a 'systems' approach.
