Latest news with #Otago
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Otago Regional Council closely monitoring rising rivers as heavy rain is yet to peak
It comes amid flooding in other parts of the South Island, including Motueka. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee Otago Regional Council is closely monitoring rising rivers that are yet to peak in North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha. An orange heavy rain warning was in place for Dunedin and Clutha until 9pm on Saturday night. ORC flood duty officer Ann Conroy said the council was keeping an eye on parts of the Tokomairaro floodplain such as Milton, the Lower Taieri floodplain including Henley, the Lower Clutha floodplain and Middlemarch. "Flood infrastructure is doing its job and performing as expected. There were no significant issues overnight and surface flooding and ponding are likely in lower lying areas. "We are ready to respond to any issues that arise will continue to closely monitor river levels," she said. Dunedin's Water of Leith and Lindsay Creek were not expected to top their banks. The council said coastal Dunedin bore the brunt of rainfall overnight - approximately 25-50mm, with other parts of Otago getting 20-50mm. Rainfall had eased in North Otago but Dunedin could see a further 20-30mm and 30-40mm for Clutha, it said. The Silver Stream near Mosgiel was expected to peak at about 90-100 cumecs on Saturday afternoon and the Taieri River at Outram at about 400-600 cumecs in the evening. Flooding of unprotected areas downstream of Outram was likely. The Clutha River at Balclutha was expected to peak at around 1900 cumecs on Sunday morning. Flooding was likely in low-lying areas next to the river upstream of Balclutha and unprotected areas downstream of the township on the Clutha delta. A heavy snow watch was also in place for Central Otago, Southland north of Lumsden, inland Dunedin and Clutha until 7pm on Saturday night. It's snowy down in Central Otago. Photo: Supplied/ Cath Gilmo A number of roads in the Clutha district were closed because of flooding. The council said crews were placing signs in the worst-affected areas but conditions could change quickly and deteriorate before they reached them. There was surface flooding in a number of areas around Clutha, particularly Milton. Dunedin City Council spokesman Scott MacLean said there were some road closures in Dunedin, but the network coped well with heavy rain overnight. "Contractors responded to isolated incidents of ponding overnight. Our teams are inspecting the network for damage and flooding, and there are some temporary road closures in place." Meanwhile, Metservice said about 40mm of rain had fallen in Dunedin city and surrounding areas in the past 12 hours. Meteorologist Devlin Lynden said while it's not quite the totals seen in the Tasman District, there'll be some swollen gutters and potentially surface flooding in flat areas such as Mosgiel and South Dunedin. He said the Central Otago hills have also received a dusting of snow, while the skifields around Wanaka and Queenstown got a dumping of about 20-30cm. The wet weather was expected to clear on Sunday ahead of another cold front moving in overnight, Lynden said. Laura Hedley, chief mountains officer for Cardrona and Treble Cone, said it's been an "incredible morning in the snow" for Treble Cone's opening day. Other skifields in the area opened earlier this month. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Clutha council confident Mt Cooee Landfill won't run out of room
Mt Cooee Landfill. Photo: Facebook/Wasteco The Clutha District Council is confident a solution will be in place at a local landfill before it runs out of room. In February, the council reported the Mt Cooee Landfill area was critically close to capacity - it could need to stop accepting waste by August - and could cost an estimated $157,000 a month to ship waste elsewhere. Work has been underway to reduce, mitigate or eliminate that risk. That work included a 3D survey to figure out how much capacity was left and how long it would take to fill up and plans to build a general waste transfer pad so waste could be moved out of the district to another landfill until a decision was made about building a new landfill at Mt Cooee. The pad was expected to be finished by early September. "At this stage, council staff are working to define the detail designs required for the transfer station and then go out to tender for this urgent work," the council said. The council acknowledged it had not been smooth sailing as councillors expressed serious concern at the early advice. "Staff worked in the background on the risk and were successful in the various risk elimination measures," the council said. "Council is very confident that a solution will be in place before it is needed." The resource consent for the continued operation, expansion and progressive rehabilitation of the Mt Cooee Landfill was signed off by the Otago Regional Council in May. Work to enable an extension of the current landfill cell was nearly done, but existing cell had about 15 months of capacity left, the council said. The extension was expected to cost about $200,000. The total budget available for Mt Cooee upgrades was $7.1 million, which also included the transfer station and a possible resource centre. Building a new landfill cell was also a possible option. "Staff are intending to bring back to council a decision over the economics of operating Mt Cooee versus operating a transfer station as the long-term solution." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Three Landers players named to NZ U20
Three players from the Highlanders development ranks have been named in the New Zealand under-20 game day squad for their opening match against Italy in South Africa on Monday morning New Zealand time. Highlanders and Otago halfback Dylan Pledger has been selected to start in the No 9 jersey, while midfielder Tayne Harvey and Southland hooker Shaun Kempton will start from the bench. Promising lock Josh Tengblad is in the squad but has not been selected for the opening game of New Zealand's campaign to claim the world title for the first time since 2017. The powerful loose forward trio of Finn McLeod, Caleb Woodley, and Mosese Bason remains together following their performances in May, when New Zealand triumphed over South Africa to win the Under-20 Rugby Championship. A refreshed backline sees Stanley Solomon shift from fullback to wing, where he will join forces with sevens standout Frank Vaenuku, adding pace and flair to the outside channels. World Rugby U20 Champs Monday, 6:30am NZT New Zealand under-20s: Rico Simpson, Frank Vaenuku, Cooper Roberts, Jack Wiseman, Stanley Solomon, Will Cole, Dylan Pledger, Mosese Bason, Caleb Woodley, Finn McLeod, Jayden Sa, Xavier Treacy, Logan Wallace, Manumaua Letiu (captain), Sika Pole. Reserves: Shaun Kempton, Dane Johnston, Robson Faleafa, Randall Baker, Micah Fale, Jai Tamati, Tayne Harvey, Harlyn Saunoa. — APL
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Queenstown council wants Environment Court to make decision on discharge into Shotover River
The Shotover River where Queenstown Lakes District Council discharged 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater in March. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton The Queenstown Lakes District Council wants its retrospective application to discharge treated effluent to Shotover River to go directly to the Environment Court. In late March, the council enacted emergency powers under the Resource Management Act to pump at least 12,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater into the river each day from the Shotover Wastewater Treatment Plant after its disposal field failed. The council submitted a retrospective resource consent to the Otago Regional Council in May and asked for it to be publicly notified. The Queenstown Lakes District Council has now applied to the regional council to directly refer its resource consent to the Environment Court. District council property and infrastructure general manager Tony Avery said it believed that this would provide the most efficient and robust approach given the nature of the consent. "Shotover River is a significant natural resource and comes with considerable cultural and community values. "As such, we believe it is beneficial for the evaluation of and decision on council's application to be made in an experienced and well-resourced court," Avery said. If approved, it would mean the regional council would no longer be the decision-maker in the first instance - the Environment Court would. Earlier this year, the regional council took the district council to Environment Court over repeated resource consent breaches at the plant . It resulted in the [. district council being ordered to pay at least $235,000] in costs and fix the issues at the plant The Queenstown Lakes District Council said that meant the Environment Court was already well acquainted with the matter and "would help to provide an efficient and comprehensive decision from a neutral arbiter". Public notification, submission timeframes and assessing the application would still fall under the regional council's jurisdiction, and it would still need to provide that assessment and a report before the matter was heard by the court. The district council said the Environment Court would be able to properly test evidence to assist decision makers. "Referring the matter to the Environment Court would result in a faster decision, ensure access to the necessary resourcing in a cost-effective way, and provide a simple process that the public can engage with and take part in if they wish to," the district council said. "Rights of appeal would remain intact." If the regional council declined the request, it would stay as the decision maker and a council hearing would be held. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Otago scientist explores controversial phage therapy
Photo: AFP Phage therapy has been hailed as the next line of defence against the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. The therapy works by using viruses to kill and selectively target bacteria. It is not approved for use in NZ, and is seen as a controversial treatment. But as concerns about antibiotic resistance grow - The World Health Organisation has called antimicrobial resistance one of the top global public health threats - phage therapy is increasingly becoming of interest to scientists and the general public. Dr Leah Smith is a research fellow in the University of Otago's department of microbiology and immunology and has been researching how phages can be evolved.
