Urgent move to stop floodwater entering former Franz Josef dump

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Urgent moves were made to divert water away from the old Franz Josef rubbish dump after residents expressed concern the Waiho River could cut through as floodwaters started to rise.

Amidst the stormy weather on Wednesday, authorities were actively monitoring West Coast rivers in case of possible flooding but by Thursday morning the worst had passed without any significant issues in the region.

There had been some “significant” hourly rainfall totals on Wednesday, particularly in the Westland ranges, West Coast Emergency Management Group director Claire Brown said.

West Coast Regional Council staff were monitoring rivers, especially the Waiho, and on Wednesday engineering staff decided to act on temporary protection of a vulnerable floodwall between Canavans Knob and Rata Knoll, downstream of the township.

The bank protects the closed rubbish dump from the river and was the subject of a heated discussion between council engineering staff and Waiho Flat residents.

Waiho Flat farmer Richard Molloy said the risk on Wednesday was “extremely severe”, as the stopbank had already been compromised by a flood in April “and then left” by the council.

This week’s weather only exacerbated the risk as the river was the highest it had been for some time, with risk of the main channel turning towards the undermined protection bank, he said.

“We’ve got a real bad situation down here, they’ve done nothing with this bank. The risk is extremely severe.”

He claimed council staff at the site told landowners it was “too late” to do anything, but he believed a decent digger could do a lot, even at that late stage.

“Of course you can turn the river – it’s not the main body of the river, but a significant channel.”

It appears the council listened before releasing a press statement later in the day.

“Some short-term protection by a local contractor has been arranged for later this afternoon to ease some of the pressure in a localised area and provide assurance to the community,” acting chief executive Rachel Vaughan said on Wednesday.

“This is a temporary fix and long-term solutions for the Waiho continue to be investigated.”

Meanwhile, plans for flood protection work elsewhere on the West Coast are continuing to progress.

A $2.5 million project to lift the height of the existing Greymouth floodwalls will be under way towards the end of March.

The added height would allow the wall to cope with an even more extreme event than the big twin floods of 1988 that prompted construction of the floodwall

The West Coast Regional Council decided to upgrade much of the existing wall structure to a new 50-year flood level, with concrete work to be upgraded to a 150-year flood level.

Infrastructure project leader Scott Hoare said the project had been split into five stages.

Overall, the walls on both sides of the Grey River and in the suburbs of Cobden and Blaketown would be raised by up to half a metre in most places. They would also be widened by just over 1m to accommodate the extra height.

It had to go through design and budget before being tendered.

Addressing the weak point in the Hokitika River stopbank near Westland Milk Products will also be prioritised in the first stage of a proposed project to top up the flood defences from Kaniere to the river mouth.

Just before last month's local election, now retired Westland mayor Bruce Smith warned the weak point in the bank, just above the dairy factory, should be urgently addressed by the regional council to avoid “litigation flying”.

Smith also warned both councils would want to avoid being sued, as happened after the Waiho (Waiau) River overtopped the stopbank at Franz Josef in 2016 and flooded Scenic Circle's old THC Hotel.

Council infrastructure projects leader Scott Hoare said they were now reconsidering the order of the planned Hokitika protection works.

The council had to consider the “mobilisation and demobilisation” costs of engaging a contractor specifically for a temporary fix as opposed to getting on with the permanent improvement and keep to the budget, he said.

“It does add extra costs when you split it up.”

In Westport, a business case for a $56 million flood protection scheme has yet to be seen by Cabinet.

The town has just endured another storm watch in the past 24 hours – with residents again on tenterhooks, spurring “bloody panic”.

Snodgrass Rd resident Paul Reynolds said people were still struggling after the 2021 flood, which left a $100m trail of destruction in its wake.

“We can't get on with life because we've got a $100m threat every time we've got heavy rain,” Reynolds said.

Regional council chief executive Heather Mabin told councillors the Department of Internal Affairs had advised there had been a delay in getting the business case to Cabinet. The full proposal was submitted with the Government in June.

Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty said the Westport case was “under active consideration”.

“Every time we get these flood events, as we have just had, there's bloody panic at Westport,” regional council chairperson Allan Birchfield said.

“Really, [the Government] need to get on with it. The people up there can't live like this – a constant state of emergency every time it rains.”