Dannevirke dam work delay seen as a plus

Repairs to Dannevirke's dam have been postponed.

Plans to drain and repair Dannevirke’s impounded supply (dam) have been postponed to the start of January.

The reason for the delay was explained at the Tararua District Council infrastructure, climate change and emergency management meeting last week.

The committee was told it was taking time to get consents for the process and a peer review was needed before it takes place.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is predicting a drier spring and summer which will help with excavation and welding of the new liner as it needs dry conditions to seal, hastening the whole process.

Advice that the water table being so high will be good for farm and domestic usage is also encouraging and people are advised to carry out activities which need a lot of water like water-blasting to do it from now while there is plentiful water.

Meanwhile, action is taking place to apply to Horizons Regional Council for a greater water take from the Tamaki River at low flow.

Councillors are beginning to contact possible users of the water who are not registered, three quotes for additional storage are being assessed, three suitable contractors have been identified to carry out the earthworks and land acquisition processes are starting this month.

Drilling for water as an additional supply for The Alliance Meat Works and the town supply is being carried out and Geotech testing results for both the east bank and west bank of the dam to establish their resilience are due next week which will indicate how much work will be needed to mitigate any problems.

With the departure of Chris Chapman, a new group manager infrastructure has been appointed.

Hamish Featonby is coming from his role as group manager transport and development at Palmerston North City Council. The report states: “Hamish brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in the infrastructure domain making him the perfect fit for this vital position.” He starts on October 2.