A large unconsented trench, dug by a Hokio Beach farmer without permission, has caused outrage among neighbouring landowners.
The trench, which is reportedly over 300m long, was cut with a digger in an attempt to reduce the water levels of Lake Rokohama, a small, privately-owned body of water that has been home to eels and fish for many years, a source says.
The lake is privately owned, but borders land owned by the farmer who reportedly dug the trench, and recent high rainfall had been flooding that land as the lake overflowed.
![Silt and sand covering a paddock after a trench was dug to reduce the water level of a lake at Hokio Beach.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/FYIGH3ZN4FZ5Z5EPF6CPEG3A34.jpg?auth=1a1aa8fed1c74ed1e1266d9b02ba00234c741e6a93791997e932531cb89c0048&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)
One of the lake's owners, Allan Jacobs, said the lake had risen by up to 1.2m in recent months, and may well have naturally breached somewhere if left alone, but that the farmer had decided to take matters into his own hands without permission.