Heavy rainfall eases and rivers start to recede

Bay of Plenty Regional Council operations staff have been busy throughout the night maintaining pumps and monitoring critical sites as isolated heavy showers continue, but rainfall has generally eased across the region.

Rainfall totals for the past 48 hours are up to 280mm in the Rotorua Lakes catchment and up to 270 in the Rangitāiki River Catchment. Most other catchments have received more than 200mm of rain over the same period.

Regional Council Community Relations Manager Bronwyn Campbell said the Waioeka, Otara and Waimana Rivers had held their levels overnight, but had now peaked and were showing signs of receding. The Whakatāne River was continuing to rise and was expected to peak later this morning.

“The Waimana River at the Gorge peaked at 5.2m, the Waioeka River at the Cableway peaked at 8.0m, and the Otara River at Browns Bridge peaked at 3.3m,” she said. “The Te Rahu spillway is close to operating levels, and all farmers in the affected area have been notified.

“The Rangitāiki River continues to slowly rise and is expected to peak during the next 24 hours. The Matahina Dam (on the Rangitāiki River) has maintained the combined outflow of 365 cumecs overnight, and the dam level has risen slightly to 73.4m.

“The Lakes remain high, and streams which flow into the lakes have peaked and are falling quickly, especially the Utuhina and Puarenga streams. The Kaituna River at Te Matai peaked around midnight at 4.5m.”

Roads in the area remain closed due to surface water and river flooding. The Regional Council’s flood room will continue to operate throughout today to manage the high river levels.

Staff will be closely monitoring river levels as high tide times are reached today at 11.32am in Tauranga and 11.10am at Whakatāne, as strong winds could restrict rivers flowing into the sea.

In Rotorua Lake Rotoiti has stabilised below its maximum level, and Lake Rotorua passed through its maximum of 280.11m overnight. The Ōkere Gates have been opened to maximum flows from Lake Rotoiti into the Kaituna River.

ENDS

For further information on weather predictions please go to www.metservice.co.nz For live monitoring and regional rainfall data go to http://www.envbop.govt.nz/MonitoredSites/cgi-bin/hydwebserver.cgi/districts/details?district=3