7 April 2017

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Weather follow up

Inquiry

- Which areas are still affected by slips and when can we expect those to open?

- Are any roads expected to remain closed over the weekend?

- How long is the cleanup expected to take and how many staff are working on the cleanup?

- Has the council had to bring in extra staff to deal with the weather events?

- Is there any indication yet of the cost of the cleanup?

- I understand cleanup is continuing from the last rain event last month - where is this at and what is the estimated cost of the cleanup from the March storm?

- With two weather events in such a short time frame, will the council be changing any processes to better deal with these?

- Where is the investigation at with the waste water plant overflowing and how confident is the council that overflows won't happen again the next time there is a storm?

Response

Our story online was updated at 1.30pm with the latest info from the crews out on the roads.Waikite Valley Road is now open to one lane and is passable with extreme caution. At this stage Hamurana, Lake Okataina, Longview and Manawahe Roads will remain closed over the weekend.

Response from Transport and Waste Solutions Director Stavros Michael -

Council's contractors Fulton Hogan have been carrying out the physical works out in the district but no additional council staff have been involved in this week's weather event.

The clean-up of both last month and this week's weather events will be ongoing. The combined effect of the two storms will require works on two levels:

1. To clear debris from slips and flooding which will take about another week,

2. To fully reinstate failed road sides, stream embankments and establish new retaining and drainage structures which will be much longer term

In terms of clean-up it is too early to know what the costs will be.

Any events like these provide valuable lessons for council which are used to fine-tune our response in future emergency situations. It also helps council assess how well current infrastructure has performed and where improvements can be made such as pipe capacity and retaining structures.

These past two events were extreme cases which resulted in a breach at the Wastewater Treatment Plant which has not happened since 1999. We cannot guarantee there won't be future breaches but we are undertaking works to help reduce the flow into the plant to reduce the likelihood.

The current proposal to upgrade the plant over the next 2-3 years will increase its capacity to better deal with such events but in the meantime the public can help, by checking their gully traps to ensure they are compliant and by reducing the amount of water used at home during long and heavy rain periods.