Big bill for riverbank, flood repairs
Frequent floods this spring and summer have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to river trails and flood defences in the Wellington region.
Consistently, high water levels had also delayed repairs scheduled for the traditionally calmer period, Greater Wellington regional council (GWRC) flood protection team leader Alistair Allan said.
A programme of works had been planned for this summer to repair damage from the 2015 winter and the one just gone, ‘‘but we haven’t been able to do that’’, Allan said.
‘‘We need to be able to see what we’re doing and we don’t want the rocks to wash away.
‘‘That might sound like a silly concept but when these rivers get up they can pick up concrete blocks that are a metre by a metre.’’
Waikanae River has experienced four major floods so far over the spring and summer months – twice the number recorded for any spring-summer period since 1977.
Meanwhile, the Hutt River flooded twice, rivalling the highest number for a September-February period in 40 years.
One of the Hutt River floods led to the drowning of 19-year-old Rory Smith, who reportedly entered the swollen river to help a friend who had slipped from the rocks.
The regional council estimated that repairs around the two rivers would cost $500,000, including heavy bills to fix trails, remove debris and reinstate banks.
At Otaki, homeowner Tanja Gerritsen’s property has been under water three times in 18 months – the latest after a one-in-eight-year deluge flooded Otaki River on February 3.
After that flooding, the Rangiuru Rd resident chose not to notify her insurer for fear that her premiums would skyrocket.
‘‘The carpet was new, it had been in a few months. The walls were repainted and rejigged, my daughter had been back in her room a couple of months and it happened again.’’
Gerritsen said her options were limited, and she now had trouble sleeping whenever it rained heavily.
Just down the road in Kapiti Lane, Greg Eves was also woken in early February by a neighbour phoning to say his home was under water.
It was the first time water had entered the main dwelling on his property in three decades.
Eves counts himself lucky that his insurance bill was $30,000, just a shade of what he said his neighbours faced.
A GWRC spokesman said the total bill for all the flood repairs in the region was hard to calculate due to the scattered nature of the damage.
However, he estimated more than 12 large rock-type assets required repair work – including rock lines and groynes – 9km of paths and trails had been damaged, and bank edges needed attention along the length of several rivers.
He said Kebbells Bend Trail beside Waikanae River had borne the brunt of the regular flooding, with the recently-gravelled pathway now a boulder field. Flood defence repairs would take priority over fixing that trail.