Alpha series stormwater pond overflowing onto Fish and Game Hatchery Springs land and into Bullock Creek
The pond which collects stormwater from 10 hectares of the Alpha Series subdivision is overflowing on the Hatchery Springs land and into Bullock Creek.
This is after moderately heavy rains - we’ve had 82.6mm over four days, but nothing that could be described as a one in 20 or 50 year event.
The pond which is ultimately designed to attenuate stormwater from one third of the area of the Alpha Series subdivision is full to the brim and overflowing at a rapid rate.
So much so that by 9am this morning, Thursday 30th May, it was ponding across a large area of land adjacent to the Wanaka Retirement Village, up to 200mm deep and creating a flow alongside the boardwalk, at much the same rate of flow as Bullock Creek on the other side.
Untreated stormwater from the overflow eventually enters Bullock Creek.
Friends of Bullock Creek is deeply concerned that the stormwater attenuation pond will never be able to handle the amount of stormwater from 10 hectares of residential housing on the Alpha Series subdivision. It cannot contain the runoff from a few days rain, the stormwater drain from the catchment into the pond is underwater - and that’s before all the hard, impermeable surfaces of houses, rooves, driveways etc are built or completed.
The environmental threat to Bullock Creek and Lake Wanaka is major as is the threat of downstream flooding to properties along Bullock Creek.
FOBC has registered its detailed, researched and factually based concerns to Council and we will be meeting the Mayor and Chief Executive, Mike Theelen on June 12th to discuss how QLDC can prevent the destruction of Bullock Creek and risk of flooding to property owners’ land through Wanaka town.
We believe this is a stormwater time-bomb with the capacity to devastate both Bullock Creek and Wanaka.
You can register your support via our Facebook page but more importantly by contacting council and expressing your concerns as a matter of urgency.
Thank you
Andrew Waterworth, President - FOBC
