"We are fools to listen to the groundwater experts who don't know anything about our history."
The swamp, he said, had effectively served as a header tank, forcing water up the Aupōuri Peninsula.
"The commissioners [who last year granted consents to the Motutangi-Waiharara Water Users' Group] didn't have a clue about the swamp that we have spent the last 100 years draining," he added.
"The North is now covered with impervious layers that water can't penetrate, preventing the aquifer from recharging.
"Look at photos from the early 1900s and the lake looks like a harbour. I think people have forgotten just how big the lake was, and the problems with flooding in Kaitaia."
There was further evidence that the aquifer had been damaged. His father had told him of a river that had flowed across 90 Mile Beach at The Gap (Nga Tamarawaho), in the Waihopo area, which had disappeared long ago.
"Something more than just the pine trees has changed the beach," he said.
■Aquifer discussion today — page 4