Environment Southland has replaced the aging Stead Street pump station with a new state-of-the-art facility housing two fish-friendly pumps. The pump station is part of a comprehensive flood protection scheme that helps to protect Murihiku Southland’s largest urban centre, Waihōpai Invercargill (population 57,000+) and nationally critical infrastructure (Invercargill airport) from inundation. Stead Street also provides an essential transport link between Otatara and Invercargill.
‘Te Kupeka o Waimātaitai’ is the name gifted by Waihōpai Rūnaka for the Stead Street pump station redevelopment. Waimātaitai refers to the mix of coastal sea and fresh waters that make up the brackish waters of an estuary. Kupeka is a long fishing net. Unlike the original pumps, the new pumps allow for the safe passage of native fish, including valued mahika kai species such as tuna, as required by the introduction of the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater in 2020 to manage fish passage. Their design is based on Archimedes' screw pump technology, where fish are transported up through the pump without getting harmed. They are very light, so they don’t require a lot of power to operate, and they are very simple, requiring much less maintenance.
This pump station is critical to the 116 properties in the immediate area and is a lifeline for the airport, supporting 320,000 passengers plus freight each year. The project aims to protect the area from inundation for the next 50 years.
Environment Southland took delivery of the twin pumps in early September 2022 and construction on the new pump station commenced in October of the same year. The pumps were commissioned in July 2024, and Te Kupeka o Waimātaitai was officially opened on August 16, 2024.
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