Contamination of aquifers could be prevented if their sacredness within the Maori belief system was respected, a local leader says.
Marei Apatu, Te Kaihautu (chief executive) for Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, one of six Taiwhenua of Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc, said if councils and communities held aquifers in the same regard as the Maori belief system then it could prevent contamination similar to that in Havelock North last year.
Water is a taonga (treasure) and many of our traditional beliefs are based around water, he said.
Rain comes from the tears of Ranginui (sky father) pouring on to Papatuanuku (earth mother) and turning into rivers and streams which are her veins and then out to Te Moananui A Kiwa (the sea).
Some of the surface water from the tears seeps into the ground and becomes muriwaihou, which are aquifers, Mr Apatu said.
Muriwaihou are sacred because they resemble Papatuanuku's womb and amniotic fluid when she was carrying Ruaumoko (god of earthquakes, volcanoes and seasons) at the time Ranginui and Papatuanuku were split apart by their children.
"We liken it to a mother carrying a child, this is what makes our [aquifers] so important."
The crucial aspect of muriwaihou is that it acts as the cleanser and purifier of new life and energy, he said.
Therefore when water is taken from aquifers at too fast a rate contamination can occur because the water has not had time to age and purify, he said.
"It's like straws coming in and sucking fluids out of Papatuanuku's puku or belly.
"Aquifers or muriwaihou have the same value.
"It's about sustainability and security, if aquifers were treated with the same respect as an unborn baby in a mother's puku and looked after, such as having safe limits with effective rules on the amount of water taken in conjunction with robust land use management practices measures and standards, it would eliminate the risk and be harder for the water to be contaminated," Mr Apatu said.
