Latest news with #HealthyWaters
NZ Herald
11-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Watch: North Shore homeowner fears raging backyard river, council says it can't pipe stormwater
This is how the stormwater drain at the Bayview home often looks when there is less rain. Photo / Arturo Gatmaitan The homeowners said the only acceptable solution is for authorities to pipe the entire open drain. They engaged barrister Patrick Senior to write to the council, saying the couple considers that anything less would not satisfactorily address the safety risks, particularly around the fast-moving water and the presence of an outlet pipe near their entrance steps. They argued via Senior that the council's role is to maintain public stormwater infrastructure in a way that protects the safety and assets of Aucklanders. The open drain has visible inlets from other properties, and is connected to about 20 other properties and five public stormwater catch pits within Manuka Rd, Senior noted. It is maintained by Downer for the council. But council lawyer Dale Nicholson told Senior that authorities had no legal obligation to pipe the stream or stormwater. The existence of the pipe outlet and inlet would have been clear to the couple at the time they bought the property in 2021, Nicholson said. Arturo and Maureen Gatmaitan have raised safety concerns about the stormwater flowing through their property. Photo / Arturo Gatmaitan The flood plain and flood sensitive area would also have been clear on any land information memorandum they bought or viewed at that time. The responsibility to ensure land is safe from hazards rests first and foremost with the property owner and there are simple steps they could take to mitigate or eliminate those risks, Nicholson said. But as a sign of good faith, a $5000 payment was offered so the couple could fence the stream. That offer was made without any admission of liability and would be subject to council viewing an acceptable quote that details the nature of the fencing, Nicholson wrote. The Gatmaitans fear for the safety of their children when the stormwater levels rise. Photo / Arturo Gatmaitan 'The rear of the property is located in a depression, with an overland flow path running through it. Most of the backyard is in a floodplain and flood-sensitive area,' he noted. The couple wanted the water to be fully enclosed in a pipe and Healthy Waters had explored the practicalities of piping the open drain. 'Piping of a stream is a non-complying activity under the Resource Management Act. To test the viability of this option, Healthy Waters has obtained pre-application advice from council's planning and resource consent team on the likelihood of a resource consent being granted,' Nicholson said. The initial advice was that resource consent for full reclamation would be difficult to support because: It will need to be demonstrated there are no practicable alternatives or an alternative method for undertaking the activity; A functional need will need to be demonstrated, which is defined as the need for a proposal or activity to traverse, locate or operate in a particular environment because the activity can only occur in that environment; Functional need in relation to this proposal means the activity can only occur in the location of the stream. It is considered it will be very difficult for complete reclamation of the stream to meet this requirement. Arturo Gatmaitan said there appeared no resolution. 'My family and I are not after the council's money but we would like them to resolve the issue instead,' he said, defending his preference for a pipe. He can get to his home without crossing the stream but said he had to 'jump' the water to get to the piece of ground he owns on the other side. He was reluctant to take the $5000 to fence the property so the situation had reached an impasse. Anne Gibson has been the Herald's property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
RNZ News
04-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Auckland stormwater specialist recognised for her mahi
Sarah Nolan knows a thing or two about the water issues facing Auckland. Sarah won the Stormwater Professional of the Year award at the recent Water New Zealand Stormwater 2025 conference. Her significant contributions to the industry, her Te Mana o te Wai advocacy, and her leadership in kaupapa Māori all impressed the judges. Sarah Nolan, a senior specialist on Auckland Council's Healthy Waters team, tells Jesse more. Sarah Nolan is a senior specialist on Auckland Council's Healthy Waters team Photo: Supplied
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Auckland floods: Competing plans for Takapuna Golf Course assessed
Council stormwater department Healthy Waters' proposal for the month-by-month leased site came after the Government promised funding for flood mitigation, with a final decision on what happens in the hands of the local board or full council. But after the golf club presented an alternative plan that retains the course's 18 holes and uses a 'dry basin' approach to create a flood retention zone, both ideas are now being looked at by engineers and other experts from Healthy Waters and the club. At a public meeting at Eventfinda Stadium in Wairau Valley on Wednesday, Kaipātiki Local Board deputy chairwoman Danielle Grant told the Herald 's Simon Wilson there was a series of 15 tests the plans must pass. 'And [she said] at this point, deep in the process, both measure up,' Wilson wrote in his Love this City column today. Greenslade Reserve, in the neighbouring suburb of Northcote, was altered before the 2023 floods to be a sports ground also able to act as a stormwater detention basin, protecting properties from being flooded. There were four main criteria for the eventual chosen plan, Healthy Waters sustainable outcomes boss Tom Mansell told the crowd of several hundred residents, golfers, business owners and sport clubs' representatives at Wednesday's meeting. 'The first is that the chosen project will be big enough to hold 500 million litres of water – both options will do this,' Wilson wrote of Mansell's comments. On Auckland Anniversary weekend in 2023, rainfall totalled 500 million litres. The drains and water management system operated by Healthy Waters can cope with 60 million litres. The remaining three criteria were affordability, buildability and ability to be maintained, Mansell told the crowd. A report was due by early July and decisions would follow quickly after. Healthy Waters and wider council staff heard a range of views at Wednesday's meeting, from those desperate for a prompt solution amid fears of future floods – there were flood events again at Easter and this month – and those against the golf course being reduced from 18 holes to nine. 'Why didn't you start from the position of keeping the golf course?' said a man called Simon, to applause. The council's 'prime consideration from the start' was to 'protect life and property', said council executive Barry Potter, to no applause. Another man said if the golf course closed – of which there'd been no suggestion – there would be 60,000 golfers 'with nowhere to go'. He was responding to a North Shore Basketball member who said 5000 kids a week used the stadium, which was out of action for seven months because of damage from the 2023 flooding. Others worried a wetland would attract biting insects, rubbish and crime, and reduce property values, and were countered by fears of insurance problems in the event of future floods. 'The sports will go,' said Eventfinda chief executive Brian Blake of the prospect future insurance could be denied if another major flood occurred, after insurers paid out millions in 2023. Everything was moving 'way too slowly', said Anna, who runs the Coffee Lab shop next to the stadium. 'I cannot for the life of me think why you would want to save the golf course when homes and businesses are being ruined.'
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Why did it take so long for an emergency alert to be issued during Auckland's Easter floods?
An emergency alert was sent on 19 April. Photo: RNZ / Nik Dirga Auckland Council has released to RNZ a detailed timeline of its response to the Easter storm last month, which saw parts of the city receive more than month's worth of rain in just over an hour. Council's data showed the peak intensity of the Easter storm had marginally exceeded that of the Auckland Anniversary flood two years ago - with more than 100mm of rain recorded in some suburbs. Healthy Waters' head of planning Nick Vigar described the Easter storm as a "short, sharp burst" which had an overall similar severity as the Auckland Anniversary flood - both one in 100 year weather events. Auckland Council and MetService had been under fire for failing to issue weather alerts and warnings before the Friday night storm that saw streets and garages flooded, power outages and two people trapped in cars by floodwaters. Information provided by the Council showed Healthy Waters received its first alert of heavy rain around 10.29pm on Friday, however, it wasn't until 12.42am on Saturday that Auckland Emergency Management issued its first warning to the public - following MetService's storm watch issued at 12.07am. Vigar said their data showed that the most intense period was between midnight and 1am - where around 81.5mm rain fell within an hour. According to Auckland Council, the storm on the night of 18 April and the early hours of 19 April resulted in 10 families in Mount Roskill and Whau catchment area being displaced after their homes were flooded. They include two homes that were marked as category three properties following the Anniversary flood and Cyclone Gabrielle, that have not yet carried through with the buyout process and were flooded again. Council received a total of 87 requests for support, and of those, 23 homes were assessed as Category 3 properties following Cyclone Gabrielle. Healthy Waters responded to 193 stormwater related callouts between 19 and 21 April. Friday 18 April, 10.29pm: Healthy Waters' on-call duty manager received the first automated alert when rain levels reached 15mm/hour Friday 18 April, 11.35pm: AEM received its first alert Saturday 19 April, 12.07am: MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch Saturday 19 April, 12.19am: AEM's general manager Adam Maggs sent texts to a stakeholder group, including the mayor, deputy mayor, advising them that AEM is monitoring the thunderstorm cells passing over Auckland and are in contact with Fire and Emergency (FENZ) and council's call centre to monitor the situation Saturday 19 April, 12.37am: AEM duty team undertook its standard operating procedure - including emailing stakeholders including all elected members, monitoring FENZ callouts, rainfall gauges, liaising with Healthy Waters and council's call centre Saturday 19 April, 12.42am: AEM issued its first weather warning to Aucklanders through social media. Saturday 19 April, 1.35am: Maggs messaged the stakeholders group advising that the Incident Management Team is being activated due to the intense thunderstorms hitting the Mount Roskill area, and that they're looking to open a shelter there for community members. Saturday 19 April, 4.08am: Maggs messaged the stakeholders group to advise that a Civil Defence Centre will be opened in Three Kings around 4.30am. The Emergency Response Coordination Centre was activated to monitor and coordinate with FENZ. The council has 72 telemetred rain gauges across the city. When a significant volume of rainfall is reached, automated alerts are sent to the relevant teams. Healthy Waters, which has the lowest threshold for an alert to be triggered, is the earliest to be alerted. Meanwhile, there are also 168 hotspot sites that the council knows to be prone to flooding - 51 of those sites have remote cameras that can be monitored 24/7. Healthy Waters' operations team manager for central, Phillip Johansen, said multiple rain gauges were triggered on the Friday night of the Easter storm. The first alert received by Healthy Waters was at 10:29pm on 18 April. Alerts continued to be generated and sent through to the early hours of the morning of 19 April. Johansen said an on-call duty manager for Healthy Waters was getting alerts and monitoring the situation, and they first made contact with AEM between 1 and 2am. When asked why Healthy Waters didn't alert AEM when it received its first alert at 10.29pm, Johansen said their team alert AEM when dwellings begin to get flooded, but don't see it necessary to talk to AEM when some some catchments get blocked at a rain level of 15mm/hour. Vigar said up until midnight, less than 20mm of rain fell, and it wasn't until midnight that the rain intensity ramped up. When RNZ shared Auckland City Councillor Shane Henderson the different rain-level thresholds for triggering automated alerts via rain gauges, he said he feels there needs to be a conversation around these "trigger points" and where improvements can be made. Henderson said he thought the response to the storm largely went okay, but he had concerns about the issue of communication and warning to the public - including the reliance on MetService to trigger alerts to the public during weather events. "I'm a bit concerned about that point where we're relying on metservice to make those calls before rolling things out, I just encourage us to look at that," he said. Henderson said there needed to be a nation-wide conversation around how councils could diversify the information they rely on during the lead up to potential severe weather events. Henderson was one of the first councillors to publicly raise concern about why weather warnings weren't issued earlier. Speaking to RNZ this week, Henderson said his main criticism was directed at MetService's delayed warning. He said he believed council's emergency management had done a "fantastic job" and was a stark contrast to the handling of Cyclone Gabrielle - "I think we've shown some clear improvement," he said. When RNZ approached Auckland Council for comment on Henderson's calls, Maggs responded in a statement that the national CDEM plan - a statutory document - specifies MetService as the agency who maintains a weather forecasting service, issues weather warnings to the public, and contributes to the management of public information about weather hazards and associated emergencies. Maggs said MetService is responsible for providing scientific advice to the National Crisis Management Centre, agencies and civil defence groups. RNZ had also asked council whether it would consider giving more weight to Healthy Waters' alerts for heavy rainfall and its own rain gauge monitoring system, to trigger council's communication with the public about potential severe weather. Council's director of resilience and infrastructure Barry Potter said in a statement that AEM had responded appropriately to the Easter storm, drawing on a complex feed of weather reports, rainfall data and network information. "The wellbeing of Aucklanders is utmost in our planning and response, and we continue to optimise our processes, working closely with our response partners in readiness for future events," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
