- Flood Risk Discussed.
Otago Regional Council staff received a grilling from the Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board during a discussion of flood risk on the Taieri Plain.
Otago Regional Council (ORC) general manager operations Gavin Palmer, engineering manager Michelle Mifflin and manager of the natural hazards team Dr Jean-Luc Payan presented detailed information on the Lower Taieri flood protection scheme.
This included discussion of historic flood incidences on the Taieri Plain, such as the May 1923 flood and records dating between 1968 and 2024 of times the Taieri River had broken its banks.
A report by Tonkin + Taylor showed what future flood events might look like, at varying degrees of severity.
The presentations also included proposed strategies to mitigate future flood risks.
The board asked probing questions of the council staff regarding whether the council had done enough to mitigate risk in the past and were critical of a perceived lack of urgency in managing the natural flood hazards of the area’s geography.
Mr Palmer said the risk assessment helped inform targeting specific areas for flood risk mitigation and it had a regular programme of river channel maintenance.
Board chairman Andrew Simms was in particular critical of what he saw as the extreme risk of Dunedin Airport "being washed into Lake Waihola".
He said it was "jaw dropping" that there was not a stronger reaction about the potential to lose a "vital piece of infrastructure"in a flood event.
Ms Mifflin said the Dunedin Airport had its own risk management strategies for potential flood events and the council was in regular communication with airport management.
Mr Simms highlighted the issue of the Gordon Rd spillway, which the ORC at present was seeking to reclassify as Hazard 1A, preventing homeowners extending or rebuilding houses in the event of a total loss.
That matter was being "thrashed out" between the Dunedin City Council and the ORC at the moment, he said.
He asked if the ORC anticipated other areas of the Taieri having future development curtailed as a result of the Tonkin + Taylor report of flood risks.
Mr Palmer said the the purpose of the report was to highlight areas of risk to ensure directing resources to where they were needed.
The intention was not to use the information to restrict development.
"But as part of our broader programme of work, we are looking at questions around what’s an acceptable level of risk for the Taieri floodplain for today’s climate and for the future."
