Fix for flooded river on the way

WILLIAM WOODWORTH

Marlborough District Council staff are set to start work on Blenheim’s overflowing rivers soon. The weed cutting boat is set to be back in the water on May 1 after undergoing yearly servicing. And the move can’t come soon enough after 64.6mm of rainfall in Blenheim over the last fortnight.

Rivers and Drainage Engineering Manager Andy White says recent heavy rain events, weed growth and erosion have all contributed to flooding.

“The last cut was in late January, and we have had an abnormal amount of rain since over the last few months with obvious subsequent effects”, says Andy.

“We must take the weed cutting boat out for a service every year due to its age which we do at the end of every summer.

“This is now complete and our riverbank cutting programme will restart in earnest very shortly”.

Heavy rain caused similar issues across the country, but Andy and his team are ready to remedy recent issues here he says. Silt is playing a part in the high-water levels, he says.

“I suspect that silt and debris deposits is the main contributing factor to the overflowing rivers

– we expect the current amount of water flowing to generally be contained in the existing channels from our last waterway surveys.

“We will be conducting a survey of silt deposited since January before clearing out the deposits where necessary and continuing to monitor Marlborough waterways with our environmental team throughout winter”.

“Our environmental team, alongside local assistance, are examining where the Ōpaoa and Taylor interconnect with the Wairau and have seen major debris and silt deposits.

“Clearing these will help clear the flow the whole way up the rivers”. However, Andy has seen positives out of the increased rainfall that Marlborough has received.

“The ecological health of the region’s waterways with flourishing wildlife despite all of the silt really pleases our team, and the weed growth has meant local eels,