Emergency measures to help Ōkāreka residents
Emergency measures to help Ōkāreka residents
23 June
2017
Good news for Lake Ōkāreka residents: Bay of
Plenty Regional Council has invoked emergency measures to
ease problems caused by high lake levels.
These emergency
measures involve increasing outflow from Lake Ōkāreka
above the consented maximum flow, to prevent flooding as a
result of high lake levels. If necessary this regime will
remain in place until the lake level is brought under
control. A variation to the resource consent may need to be
sought to authorise this activity, depending on its
duration, and it may be appropriate to seek a more permanent
change to the resource consent so this situation can be
addressed more easily in the future.
Lake levels on
Ōkāreka are extremely high, with the outlet for the lake
at maximum flow since March, and this has been causing
issues for residents and other users. Groundwater aquifers
are fully charged, catchments are saturated and there is so
much water that new springs have been popping up throughout
the lakes district.
The Lake Okareka outflow to Waitangi
Stream is controlled through a gravity pipeline managed by
the Regional Council. The existing maximum flow from Lake
Okareka to the Waitangi Stream was set following
consultation with the community and considered erosion,
water quality and ecological issues (such as fish
passage).
These emergency measures have been invoked
under Section S330 of the Resource Management Act. The
higher flows will be monitored and measured and will assist
in a potential review of the existing consent.
The
regional council is also modelling the capacity of lake
structures, particularly in light of impact of climate
change and changes and improvements that will feed into the
Asset Management
Plan.