Dam proves worth in soaking

The old maxim "every cloud has a silver lining" proved to be the case in Masterton during the weekend polar blast.

A retention dam built on Masterton District Council-owned land in Fifth St got its first test and passed it with flying colours.

The dam, which was built last summer to trap stormwater during intense periods of heavy rain, did just that and allowed the collected water to be channelled in a controlled manner into a water-race that runs below Fourth St, through some private properties to Wairarapa Hospital, Colombo Rd to Henley Lake.

The dam has two pipes that run below Fifth St to the creek, with each being at a different height, and such was the collection of water on the weekend that both pipes were activated.

Council chief executive Wes ten Hove said yesterday initial reports from staff on the ground had been favourable.

"The second pipe was running, so that showed the dam was getting towards capacity," he said. The purpose of the dam is to limit the flooding risk, especially to Lansdowne, by storing stormwater and controlling its release.

Mr ten Hove said that, overall, the wet weekend had shown the Masterton stormwater system worked fairly well, although the town still had some outstanding stormwater issues to solve.