The Government will provide $100,000 in funding toward a beleaguered Hawke's Bay waterway, it has been announced.
Regional Economic Development minister Shane Jones made this announcement today at the launch of the Tuawhenua Provincial Growth Fund in Gisborne, alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
The Provincial Growth Fund will invest in planting 88,880 mānuka trees at Whakaki Lake to support a re-circulating wetland to filter water.
The $100,000 funding will help establish a mānuka plantation over the next five years on 80 hectares of retired land next to the Wairoa Lake.
"This is an investment-ready proposal that has buy-in and funding support from key stakeholders – Wairoa District Council, Hawke's Bay Regional Council, Whakaki Lake Trust, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Ministry for the Environment, the Department of Conservation and Whakaki landowners," Mr Jones said.