Potential Moutoa floodgate opening

Horizons Regional Council will have a Moutoa floodgate operations team on site from 5am tomorrow morning for a potential gate opening at approximately 7am.

Horizons Regional Council will have a Moutoa floodgate operations team on site from 5am tomorrow morning for a potential gate opening at approximately 7am.

Horizons incident controller Craig Grant says that while tonight’s rainfall and river level modelling indicate the usual gate operation level may not be reached, uncertainty around the weather pattern, localised rainfall, saturated river systems and full tributaries within the Manawatū catchment have warranted a precautionary approach.

“The peak flow is predicted to make its way down towards the Moutoa floodway between Foxton and Opiki in the early hours of tomorrow,” says Mr Grant. 

“Horizons duty officers have rung affected landowners to ensure their livestock is cleared before nightfall this evening.

“Our gate operators will be in place from 5am tomorrow when another assessment will be made with regards to whether or not a gate opening will be required.

“We also continue to monitor river systems across the wider Manawatū-Whanganui Region, where significant localised rainfall resulted in the closure of the Makino floodgates in Feilding at 11pm last night to divert water away from the township.

“As the water in the Manawatū District began to recede today, these gates were reopened.”

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