Moutoa floodgates opened to relieve pressure

Horizons Regional Council emergency management staff opened the Moutoa floodgates at 11.30pm last night to relieve pressure on the lower reaches of the Manawatū River.

Horizons controller Ged Shirley says the gate opening allows water that is still coming down from the upper gorge in the Tararua District, and into the Manawatū River, to flow out.
 
“At this stage the gates will remain open until mid-morning tomorrow and gate crews will remain there should the situation change,” says Mr Shirley.
 
“The repair to the Ōkuku drain gates that were completed yesterday didn’t perform as well as we hoped overnight and some water made it through the gates. This didn’t cause any damage, however, to reduce pressure on the temporary repair we opened the Moutoa earlier than initially forecasted.
 
“We are also maintaining a slightly lower river level of 7.5m at Moutoa to manage flows and help with that pressure at Ōkuku. A full repair will be completed when water levels have receded enough.”
 
Mr Shirley says river management teams are heading out this morning to assess drainage and flood assets.
 
“Our infrastructure is currently performing as expected, however, people can expect to see considerable surface flooding across the region,” he says.
 
“All rivers across our region have reached their peak and are receding. We are still expecting some rain across the region, however, not in quantities to cause concern.
 
“We are also not anticipating deploying the Foxton flood barriers as the high tide is remaining within expected limits. We will continue to monitor and be on standby, alongside Horowhenua District Council, to deploy the flood barriers if needed.
 
“There is still a considerable amount of water around and high winds being experienced across the region so people should continue to take care. There is also potentially more weather coming our way later in the week so we will start turning our thoughts to that over the next couple of days as well.”
 
Up-to-date information on river heights and rainfall is available via Horizons 24-hour toll-free Waterline 0508 4 FLOOD or via our website www.horizons.govt.nz.
 
Updates will also be posted to the Manawatū-Whanganui Civil Defence page: https://www.facebook.com/civildefencemanawatuwhanganui/.
 
For weather forecasting information please see www.metservice.co.nz. For road closures, delays, and warnings please see https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/manawatu-whanganui/