Supplied
A view of the at risk stop bank next to the old Franz Josef dump on Wednesday morning.
Urgent moves were made to divert water away from the old Franz Josef rubbish dump after residents expressed concern the Waiho River could cut through as floodwaters started to rise.
Amidst the stormy weather on Wednesday, authorities were actively monitoring West Coast rivers in case of possible flooding but by Thursday morning the worst had passed without any significant issues in the region.
There had been some “significant” hourly rainfall totals on Wednesday, particularly in the Westland ranges, West Coast Emergency Management Group director Claire Brown said.
West Coast Regional Council staff were monitoring rivers, especially the Waiho, and on Wednesday engineering staff decided to act on temporary protection of a vulnerable floodwall between Canavans Knob and Rata Knoll, downstream of the township.
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The bank protects the closed rubbish dump from the river and was the subject of a heated discussion between council engineering staff and Waiho Flat members of the rating district.
Waiho Flat farmer Richard Molloy said the risk to the stopbank on Wednesday was “extremely severe”, as it had already been compromised by a flood in April “and then left” by the council.
This week’s weather only exacerbated the risk as the river was the highest it had been for some time, with risk of the main channel turning towards the undermined protection bank, he said.
“We’ve got a real bad situation down here, they’ve done nothing with this bank. The risk is extremely severe.”
James Bell
The Waiho River reached more than 8m at Franz Josef during an orange heavy rain warning on Wednesday.
He claimed council staff at the site told landowners it was “too late” to do anything, but he believed a decent digger could do a lot, even at that late stage.
“Of course you can turn the river – it’s not the main body of the river, but a significant channel.”
It appears the council listened before releasing a press statement later in the day.
“Some short-term protection by a local contractor has been arranged for later this afternoon to ease some of the pressure in a localised area and provide assurance to the community,” acting chief executive Rachel Vaughan said on Wednesday.
“This is a temporary fix and long-term solutions for the Waiho continue to be investigated.”
Kelsey Porter
Rubbish is continuing to surface after the Fox landfill was breached in March 2019, and local Kelsey Porter is upset officials are not doing more to clean it up. (First published March 2020)
Molloy said on Thursday that despite nearly 1400mm down the Waiho on Wednesday, the worst had past.
At mid-afternoon Wednesday, Franz Josef area Civil Defence controller Wayne Costello said the Waiho River at the bridge had been running at about 8.3m at the first level alarm at 6.45am, and by early afternoon it was still around that level.
“It is actually flowing quite hard under the bridge at the moment and the full width of the bed,” Costello said at 2.30pm.
Costello said they had also checked to ensure any visitors to the town were forewarned, with about 300mm expected overnight in Franz Josef.
