Dunedin City Council Plans To Combat Rain Events

A series of mapping and modelling exercises associated with the DCC’s 3 Waters Strategy has identified areas of the city most at risk in a one in 100 year rainfall event and these results will be discussed at next week’s Infrastructure Services committee.

These exercises have helped to develop Integrated Catchment Management Plans (ICMP) which are a multi-faceted planning and management tool for both the DCC’s Water & Waste Services department and other Council services.

Committee chairman, Cr Andrew Noone, says of the Integrated Catchment Management Plans (ICMP) “These plans contain valuable information about the performance of the existing networks allowing us to target areas for capital investment, inform land use and development decisions - and all against the increasingly important factor of climate change.”

The ICMPs contain a variety of information relating to the performance of Dunedin’s stormwater system, including flood hazard information.

All of this information has helped to form a baseline understanding of catchment characteristics and performance, subsequently enabling the identification of key stormwater management problems and issues for the catchment.

The analysis of 14 theoretical scenarios undertaken for the stormwater system has also identified areas of the city most at risk in a one in 100 year rainfall event, and will be discussed at next week’s Infrastructure Services committee.

“This is not a Doomsday book,” added Cr Noone. “This is prudent exploration and forward planning against a worse-case scenario event.

“Let’s be frank - we’re damned if we do and we’d be damned if we didn’t acknowledge certain possibilities. It is important for the Council to be aware of the existence of this information and explore ways to manage its use and dissemination without alarming residents.”

The ICMPs will also be used to address resource consent requirements under existing stormwater discharge consents.