Hamilton City Council is preparing to undertake work to protect a critical piece of the city’s water infrastructure, following erosion to the bank located on the western side of the Waikato River.

In 2020 a section of the riverbank near the water treatment plant, opposite the Hamilton Gardens, required emergency erosion works. During this work, further areas along the riverbank were identified as needing strengthening and since then Council has been actively monitoring the sites and working with engineering consultants on a way to fix these issues.

Over the past few months, changes to the river level and current have increased the level of erosion along this stretch, meaning work is now urgently required to stabilise the bank and protect the twin Western Bulk Water Mains located where the Mangakootukutuku Stream flows into the Waikato River.

Work to stabilise the bank will begin Monday 11 September and will see large rocks placed against the exposed bank and underwater to direct the current away from the eroded area. These repairs are expected to take around four to six weeks to complete, weather dependant.

The erosion work is not expected to impact the water supply, however there is the possibility of unexpected events while working so closely to critical infrastructure. Council has contingency plans in place to minimise any potential impacts that might occur to the water supply.

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