Millions of cubic metres of silt have been removed from some of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.
And almost 20 months on from the furious weather system – which brought death and destruction to parts of Hawke’s Bay – the Government-funded Silt Recovery Taskforce (SRT) is nearing a key milestone.
The taskforce – an initiative from councils within the wider Hawke’s Bay region – says it is “on track” to complete remaining silt, woody debris and mixed waste jobs by the end of October.
As of May 31, that had included removing and separating 2.76 million tonnes of flood waste from more than 800 properties affected by the cyclone.
The massive operation has also seen the taskforce collect more than two million cubic metres of silt and debris and a further 1.1 million cubic metres of woody debris.
Figures up to August showed the taskforce had completed 1071 of 1167 jobs.
“Once we have collected the remaining jobs, our site management teams will be working to remediate the sites by the end of the year,” the taskforce said.
“This involves levelling out sites to ensure drainage works, grassing and ensuring the landholders we have leased the land from are able to use their land in the future.
“For our two mixed waste processing sites in Esk [Valley] and Pākōwhai, this involves working to process the on-site material by screening to separate silt and debris, and then recycle or dispose of the debris screened, and testing the silt before sending it to the closest cleanfill site.”
More than 20 contractors around Hawke’s Bay had been involved in the SRT’s huge workload.
Local contractors made up more than 80% of those involved in the work.
“Some of our contractors have now started to finish up as we wrap up the jobs allocated, and we’re grateful for the mahi of our contractors and their staff who have worked extremely hard over the last 18 months to help our region recover.”
The Dartmoor and Esk Valley areas are among those where the SRT has faced a big workload.
The taskforce said the clean-up was vital “to returning land back into production and allowing landowners to get these damaged land blocks producing again”.
“We are looking to address some of the drainage issues as we determine what the silt levels and heights should be before we finish; this may result in some recontouring as we continue to update our modelling through the use of drone surveys.”
By August, the “bulk” of silt had been cleared from land and orchards around Dartmoor.
That included about 250,000cu m taken to the Sacred Hill vineyard.
“Some wood waste was also processed on-site, with most of it composted and ready to be spread over the land.
“The landowner was considering walking away from the property due to the extent of the damage, but can now look to the future and replant the area. This site was able to allow significant recovery to happen in Dartmoor.
“It’s great to see jobs completed of our work, especially our big jobs, and a reminder why we’re here.”
The taskforce had also provided the Napier City Council with 70,000cu m of silt – which had been comprehensively tested to ensure suitability for development – for fill for the Parklands development.
The silt had been sourced from Dartmoor and Esk Valley.
The taskforce has also been able to support the Wairoa community after it was hit hard by further flooding in June.
“The rainfall in June moved some woody debris around Hawke’s Bay’s northern coastline,” the taskforce said.
The SRT collected about 175,000cu m of woody debris around Wairoa since Cyclone Gabrielle, and nearly 100,000cu m since March.
“This generally involves collecting, stacking the recovered debris, and then arranging burning or shredding of the material. We estimate we are approximately 75% of the way through this work and expect it to be completed by November 2024.”
The taskforce has to date received about $44 million in Government funding.
It was created to repurpose, reuse or recycle materials collected from productive land impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Silt has been used to level out or elevate sites, woody debris has been mulched, composted or chipped for road cover, damaged orchard posts have been repurposed for 90km of farm fencing, and tyres and water tanks shredded and recycled.
In April, the taskforce was recognised by WasteMINZ – New Zealand’s waste minimisation body – by being awarded the Most Sustainable/ Innovative Waste Disposal Initiative award.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience
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