Flood protection planning for Springfield
Selwyn District Council media release: 1st March 2022
A door-to-door assessment of every house in Springfield will help the Council to plan future flood protection for Springfield.
The Springfield township was hardest hit in the flooding event in late May 2021, which saw 200 people across Selwyn displaced from their homes. Around 380ml of water fell on the Springfield area and The Bishops Gully channel (the Upper Kowai water race) overflowed in several locations in the township.
Since the flooding the Council has been working with residents who were displaced or had homes flooded, and to repair the flood damage around Springfield and across Selwyn.
It has also started work to prepare for possible future events, working with environmental and engineering firm Tonkin and Taylor Ltd to develop a digital model of the May flood event in Springfield.
The model is now being refined with precise detail, as surveyors began going door to door in the township last week surveying the floor levels of every property. This will be among the detail refined in the model, to ensure it is as accurate as possible.
With the May event mapped and the ground accurately laid out, different flood mitigation options can be identified and worked through. The Council and Tonkin and Taylor will assess costs and benefits and the estimated timeframes for implementing possible options, with a view to presenting options to the community probably in April 2022.