Residents Colleen and Mike O’Hagan say stormwater flows off a Whakatāne stopbank “like a river” during heavy rain.

Now, the couple face paying up to $10,000 to have water pumped from their home at Riverside Drive to the road.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s refusal to control stormwater coming off its stopbank is a “dereliction of responsibility”, the couple say.

However, the council says the residents need to set up an alternative system to remove stormwater from their land as their current pump is unconsented.

The O’Hagans say they are one of many property owners adjoining the stopbank who have had to install pumps to cope with stormwater flowing from the stopbank.

These either pump the water to the road, or, as in the O’Hagans case, back over the stopbank.

The O’Hagans' stormwater pipe, buried just below the surface of the stopbank, will be removed as part of the regional council’s Safeguard Our Stopbanks project, removing structures and vegetation that risk the integrity of the stopbanks protecting Whakatāne.

The project is in the third of four stages with work taking place on Riverside Drive properties between Awatapu Drive and to the west of James Street.

For the past three decades, responsibility for the stopbanks, such as mowing up to the riverside crest of the bank, has been left to residents of adjoining properties.

The O’Hagans say pumping the water through the stopbank has been a better option than pumping to the road because, in past floods, the Whakatāne District Council stormwater drains had been overwhelmed, making pumping to the road pointless.

“The regional council are saying it is our responsibility to pump water from our property but they won’t take responsibility for the water coming onto our property from the stopbank,” says Colleen.

The couple say they've asked the regional council on numerous occasions to include a discharge drain on the landward toe of the stopbank as part of their Safeguard Our Stopbanks project, rather than expect residents to pump stormwater to the road.

A diagram of a stopbank from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s website shows how a drainage trench could be included in the design. Image supplied.

“Their own website image of a typical stopbank clearly shows such a drain,” says Colleen.

“It would have many advantages. It does not require power as water will move by gravity … and residents will not be forced to pay out large sums of money to solve a regional council-created problem.”

They say their property has sufficient drainage via soak holes to naturally drain water from their roof and section, but the run-off from the stopbank was responsible for flooding.

Residents have been told that the cost to pump stopbank water from the rear of their property to the road, including all the necessary pipes, will be at their cost.

Colleen says the council has supplied them with some quotes that ranged from $7600 to $10,100.

She says some residents have installed drains to protect against flooding and these drains will also be removed.

“Considering that the water in question is stormwater directed on to residents’ properties by the regional council, it appears a gross dereliction of responsibility for them to say that the residents have to pay for the solution to the problem.

“As the regional council is currently working on the landward side of the stopbank, now is the perfect time to include a discharge drain. All the manpower and machinery is already on site meaning the job will never be cheaper than it is now.”

Regional council rivers and drainage asset manager Kirsty Brown says the O’Hagans’ current pump system is unconsented and uncontrolled.

It will need to be removed as it poses a risk to the integrity of the stopbank during a significant flood, she says.

“They will then need to set up an alternative system to remove stormwater from their land. To support them through this process, we have connected them with Whakatāne District Council to provide further information and advice about landowner responsibilities.

“With regards to the stopbank diagram, this is a generic diagram showing the various components that could be incorporated into a stopbank design."

A photo taken in March shows how the difference in the stopbank since stage three of the project started.

Those components have different functions and their inclusion in a stopbank depends on location constraints, available construction materials and foundation conditions, she says.

"Every stopbank is different and may not require all of these components in order to maintain structural integrity."

The council has been communicating with residents in the area for several years in the lead-up to the work, she says.

"We’ve also made sure that staff have been made available should residents require more information.”

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