Public reports of flooding following recent storms have deluged Auckland City staff…but they are not complaining.

City Works chair Doug Astley says there’s been a great response to his request for public information about flood damage following June’s heavy storm and subsequent isolated downpours.

“We’ve had about 50 letters and hundreds of phone calls with information that is vital to our future stormwater catchment management planning,” he said.

“We need this data so that we can track areas of flooding and figure out how best to avoid future problems. It’s an important part of the catchment management plans we are preparing for all of the isthmus over the next five years.”

All reported flooding incidents have been logged on to a summary map which indicates the incident type and severity and provides important information for prioritising future works projects through planning, asset management and annual plans.

“Basically, the June storm dumped on the west where some suburbs experienced a one in 50 to 100 year storm while some eastern suburbs hardly had any rain,” Cr Astley said. Page two

“Another bout of heavy rain was confined to the eastern suburbs during July and caused a number of flooding incidents in the Meadowbank/St John’s area.”

A report will be sent out to all people who wrote into the council about flooding problems after the storm and the council will contact the letter writers again in November with an update on issues related to their specific incidents.

Cr Astley says the council is investing $16.8million in stormwater works in the next 12 months, representing a 25 per cent increase on the previous year’s allocation.

The programmed works are currently under way in suburbs all over the isthmus, with some targeted in areas affected by the most recent flooding.

“Within two years, we’ll have doubled the spend with a $23 million allocation for stormwater works in the 2002-03 financial year,” Cr Astley said. “Auckland City is actively working to upgrade its stormwater systems so that flooding incidents happen far less often.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media