2 June 2023
Media: Local Democracy Reporter and Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: High lake levels at Rotoma and Rotoehu
Enquiry
Local Democracy Reporter followed up after last night’s community meeting at Rotoma with the following questions:
I've been told lakes council would know the answer - how many people's properties at Rotoehu have been flooded?
Have any been deemed uninhabitable yet, and if so, how many?
The Rotorua Daily Post requested information about lake levels from BOP Regional Council yesterday and the Local Democracy Reporter followed up with BOPRC today, also regarding lake levels.
Response
We provided the following information:
We are aware of six homes in the Rotoehu – Rotoma catchment and one business premises in Rotoehu that has been inundated. Council has not deemed any homes uninhabitable.
Information provided by BOP Regional Council:
Our Lakes Operations Manager Andy Bruere shared a PowerPoint with this information at a community hui last week. Here is the link to that information: Water Level: Lake Rotomā and Rotoehu (boprc.govt.nz)
[NOTE: This was shared at last night’s community hui]
To answer your questions below, yes we do keep that data and it is publicly available here: Data - Bay of Plenty Regional Council WebPortal (boprc.govt.nz). Just select the location and explore the data sets along the left hand side.
You will find in the PPT a graph that details the lake levels over the last 12 months for four lakes, we can provide data sets on other lakes but would need to know which ones you want in order to create that data set.
This is now the highest both lakes Rotomā and Rotoehu have been since 1971.
The Local Democracy Reporter also spoke with BOPRC Lake Operations Manager Andy Bruere who provided detail regarding a ‘normal’ Rotoehu lake level.