KEY POINTS:
The Northland Regional Council is proposing works costing nearly $2 million to try to reduce risks to the flood-prone Far North township of Kaeo and its properties.
A programme of staged, ratepayer and Government-funded projects worth about $1.8 million is proposed over the next 12 months, but the council acknowledges progress on all work depends on funding.
Council land operations manager Bob Cathcart estimates at least that much money again will also need to be spent by the community itself to repair houses, driveways, and public and private infrastructure damaged in two major floods this year.
New and improved stopbanks are planned, along with channel-widening and raising homes, schools and commercial buildings.
Kaeo was hit hard and cut off by major storms and flooding on March 29 and again on July 10 - at one stage being deluged with more than 250mm of rain in 24 hours.
Under the council programme, first stage work involves controlling stream-bank erosion in the Green Lane area and opposite Kaeo School and Whangaroa sports grounds.
An overflow will be built across a river upstream of the two schools to lessen the risk of stopbanks being over-topped by floodwaters.
Mr Cathcart says low spots in the stopbank adjoining the schools will be raised and discussions are under way with the Ministry of Education about raising some school buildings.
About 800m of new stopbank is proposed linking the end of the school stopbank either directly or across to State Highway 10 and then alongside the highway to the police station, to reduce the risk of floodwaters from the Kaeo River flowing across and along the highway into Kaeo.
New stopbanks are also planned to reduce large flows coming down the river or backing up against the tide and spilling into the town between Waikara Creek and the fire station.
The council is designing stopbanks for the Kaeo River and channel works in Waikara Stream, and hopes to start some of the work under an existing resource consent as soon as ground conditions permit.
Mr Cathcart says the council is also considering installing new rain gauge equipment in the hill country between Kaeo and Matauri Bay to enable more accurate flood warnings to be issued.
In the meantime, the council has already started work on long-term investigations into catchment management options.
While the finger has been pointed for sediment run-off at both exotic forestry and pastoral farming within the catchment, those two land uses occupy less than 40 per cent of the total land area, Mr Cathcart said. Nearly 60 per cent is in native bush and scrub.
