Urban flood solution will cause temporary muddiness

The Waiarohia Stream which winds around central Whangarei's fringe is about to be muddied for the sake of a clean-up.

In January Northland Regional Council will start a $176,000 Whangarei river bank maintenance work to reduce urban flooding.

Diggers will be a common sight in the Waiarohia Stream over summer as about 8000-10,000cu m of gravel is extracted from the stream's lower reaches, Northland Regional Council's rivers programme manager Joe Camuso said.

"This work is part of our ongoing aim to reduce the impact of flooding on our communities by clearing out problem areas along a number of Northland rivers and improving water flow in them."

Diggers will be used in the Waiarohia Stream itself and to stabilise its banks, both of which may cause stream water to look a bit discoloured and churned up for a while.

Mr Camuso said previous work over the past couple of years had shown muddiness in the water lasts only while the machinery is working.

"We'll also have a number of protective measures, including silt curtains, in place to reduce the discoloration as much as possible."

The river maintenance work is part of an ongoing Whangarei flood works programme funded by a targeted rate on the Whangarei catchment.

Maintenance on the stream will begin between Port and Woods Rds in mid-January and will end near Whangarei Boys High School in March or April.