Extra pumps tackling floodwater

Additional heavy duty pumps are being sourced from around the country to help dewater the flooded lower Taieri plain.

The Otago Regional Council has permanent pump stations at six locations in the Taieri. All but one are already working round the clock and the sixth, at Silver Stream, will be activated once water levels drop far enough to make pumping there effective.

ORC’s Director of Engineering, Hazards and Science, Gavin Palmer, said there was an estimated 35 million cubic metres of water in the upper ponding area of the Lower Taieri, which was designed to hold back floodwater as part of the Lower Taieri Flood Protection Scheme.

The permanent pumps are at Waipori, Ascog, Mill Creek, Henley, Scroggs and Silver Stream.

Some of the additional heavy duty pumps were installed yesterday and today. Others are being sourced from Clydevale and the Bay of Plenty and will be brought into service as soon as they arrive.

There are also gravity-fed drains within the system. Some of these had to be cleared of floating debris, including bales of silage washed away by the floods, before they could operate effectively.

ORC staff and contractors are working 24 hours a day at the pump stations to ensure the dewatering goes as quickly as possible, Dr Palmer said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media