Quakes cause costly river repairs - Ecan

Silt in the Avon River. Photo / Geoff Sloan

Repairs to Canterbury's quake-damaged rivers will cost millions, Environment Canterbury (Ecan) says.

Damage to the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi Rivers, following the February 22 quake, was likely to be about $2m, Environment Canterbury's principal river engineer Ian Heslop said.

However, that was on top of an estimated $3m in repairs following the region's quake in September.

The Ecan team aimed to complete the work by June.

Damage to the Halswell River, following the February quake, was estimated to cost $60,000 in repairs to restore normal river flows and drainage.

Ecan had already agreed to a three-year restoration programme to dredge and widen the river, remove trees and stabilisation the river bank, which would cost about $3m.

Ecan was continuing to monitor catchment rainfalls and river flows, he said.

Meanwhile, Ecan has deferred the introduction of navigation safety bylaws, which were to come into force tomorrow, to June due to delays caused by the February quake.

The new navigation safety bylaws aim to ensure public safety on the region's lakes, rivers, harbours and coastal waterways.

- NZPA