Lake Moana-nui to receive a facelift

Following several months of investigation and cost analysis, the council has committed to spending $629,000 on repair work at Lake Moana-nui in Tokoroa.

" Essentially there are two problems with the lake, a build of silt at the southern end and seepage through the dam at the northern end," council special projects manager Roger Fisher said.

" Effectively the council has decided to fix the seepage through the dam, remove the silt that has built up since the lake was constructed in 1973 and to do some work around preventing further silt build up."

The silt at the southern end of the lake will be scraped up to form an island in the middle of the lake, around which a one metre deep channel will run. This work will begin next month depending on the availability of the contractor. The estimated cost of this portion of the project is $108,000.

The repair to the face of the dam to fix the leaking problem is expected to start in early February. The final design is under way by dam engineering specialists Tonkin & Taylor. The council will then work through the resource consent and building consent process with Waikato Regional Council. The physical construction work will be put out to tender. This portion is estimated to cost $453,000.

"Doing this work fixes the current problems at the lake," said Mr Fisher. "However it doesn’t stop the silt building up again; so the council has committed a further $68,000 to creating a silt trap or forebay in the vicinity of the walking bridge at the southern end of the lake." This work will be undertaken in conjunction with the silt removal.

Until the work is complete, the lake will remain in its near empty state. The council is aware that the lake is visually unappealing; however given the level of funding that is required to fix the problems, the council needed to conduct an extremely thorough investigation into all the options before committing to this, deemed the best course of action.

A noticeboard is soon to be installed near the dam which will provide a plan of the lake and reserve area and will show where the construction works will take place.

The council has put up signs and barriers warning people of the potential danger in the area. The soft mud is dangerous. Several people have ignored the warnings and have had to be assisted by emergency services personnel. The council encourages residents to adhere to the warning signs and barriers. They are there for a reason.

During the period of work, the areas will be classified as construction sites for authorised personnel only, the public is required to stay out of these areas.

The council reminds residents that there could be a smell nuisance, especially during the silt removal process.