Kelly Hodel/Stuff
It’s getting “increasingly complex and increasingly expensive” to keep up with flood protection infrastructure, Waikato Regional Council’s Greg Ryan said.
A bid for $43 million in Government cash aims to shift the cost of Waikato flood protection and climate change-related work off ratepayers.
The work – spanning 14 projects around the region – is already included in the council’s long term plan over three years from 2023-24.
The bid follows the earlier granting of $18 million in Government funding to the council for “shovel ready” projects after a call for proposals in 2020.
Integrated catchment management director Greg Ryan said in a statement the request for the $43 million in next month’s Budget was about trying to ease the burden on ratepayers.
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“The maintenance and renewal of our flood protection infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex and increasingly expensive, with costs currently falling on our ratepayers and, in particular, those that directly benefit from our schemes.
“Securing government funding is an essential step towards alleviating the impact of these increasing costs on our community, while also supporting the council to maintain existing flood protection schemes with healthier and more resilient catchments, and infrastructure that is able to cope with a changing climate,” Ryan said.
Details of the bid were spelt out in a report to Thursday’s council hui.
Waikato Regional Council
The channel control gate by Lake Waikare is part of the flood control infrastructure in the lower Waikato River catchment, where $8.7 million in funding is being sought for stopbank work.
Some of the bigger ticket items on the list of projects include $8.7 million for lower Waikato River catchment stopbank work, $5.4 million for an upgrade of Piako River emergency ponding zones and $5.1 million for a Kirikiri Stream stopbank upgrade near Kōpū.
The report noted each project “has been confirmed as able to be delivered within existing resources”.
However, the report is cautious about the bid being fully accepted.
“The amount of government funding that would be made available to these projects remains to be confirmed. However, as a guide, the current shovel ready work programme generally received 64% government funding.”
