Following major storms last year, community groups and Auckland Council have been getting on with the mammoth task of clearing stormwater networks and better preparing our region for future events.

As part of these efforts, Auckland Council will be accelerating its storm readiness work across Auckland over the next few months to restore the network back to pre-storm levels and carry out emergency blockage clearance. This will be funded through $6 million from the Mayor’s Storm Resilience Fund for Healthy Waters to carry out the works, and $2 million from the central government’s Accelerating Storm Readiness Fund.

The storm-readiness acceleration programme breakdown

$1.4m has been allocated to accelerated debris removal, $400,000 to community support and $200,000 to guiding and supporting residents with information on how to prepare their properties that includes education on overland flow paths. This information has been provided to those who flooded last time, as well as those properties that did not but may be at risk.

Today, Minister Mitchell, the Mayor, and a group from the council’s Healthy Waters team visited one of the stormwater projects in West Auckland.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says council teams are responding to community requests.

“I've been out speaking to residents who were flooded last time who are understandably anxious about repeat flooding this winter. This storm water acceleration programme is in response to this. Prioritising storm water recovery will reduce the severity of flooding in these at-risk communities while we build the foundations for the resilient future Auckland we all want and need,” he says.

“Our Making Space for Water programme has recently been given approval under the council’s new Long-term Plan. These are all essential pieces of the puzzle, and the government funding is a decent boost to all of this. We do need more of a national conversation about how we respond to future events, ratepayers are not insurers, and these events aren’t going away.”

Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says it’s all part of a joined-up focus on better planning for the future.

“Taking proactive measures to reduce the impact of severe weather events, particularly as we head into winter, is critical to protecting communities and keeping people safe.

“This Government has invested heavily to ensure councils in the areas most affected by last year’s weather events are supported to carry out the necessary work across their communities.

“It’s pleasing to see a body of flood resilience work underway in Auckland that will better serve its communities this winter, and into the future.”

Auckland Council’s Head of Sustainable Outcomes Tom Mansell says Monday night’s heavy rain and early Tuesday morning flooding is a stark reminder of the importance of this work.

“The Crown funding will go towards some of the heavy lifting we still have to do in our stormwater networks this year, and it brings forward a lot of this work. The $2m contribution will be around 25% of our storm water recovery spend for this financial year.”

“It’s not only pipes and catchments, but also considering overland flow paths and how they affect your neighbour too. This can include simple things like making sure fences allow drainage. Together with programmes like Making Space for Water and better planning around blue green networks, we can help limit the number of affected homes in the future.”

People are encouraged to check their address in the Auckland Flood Viewer Map to find out what their flooding risk is, and what they can do at home to prepare. It’s especially important that blockages and flooding issues are reported to Auckland Council on 09 301 01 01 to reduce future risk.

© Scoop Media