The Tauranga City Council is taking water samples from the harbour today, with test results due within the next 24 hours.

This testing is to establish whether the water is still contaminated from the sewage spills into the harbour two weekends ago.

Health warnings remain in place for parts of Tauranga Harbour as water testing continues this week.

The spills occurred owing to flooding of the city's sewerage system and with flood waters bringing in contaminated water from rural areas.

Testing last week cleared the water at Pilot Bay, Kulim Park and Maxwells Road areas as safe.

Areas still being tested are Turret Road, Kopurererua-Waihi Road, Carmichael Road, Beach Road, Burrows Street and Waikareao Estuary.

This information from Tauranga City Council weekly bulletin for the week beginning Monday, February 7, published below.

City Waters / Parks and Leisure

Analysis of a cyclone – 28/29 January 2011

It wasn't a Category 5 but it did keep us busy. Between midnight and 5am on Saturday, up to 150mm of rain fell over the city and into the drinking water catchments. Council contractors City Care Ltd worked throughout the night and into the following days cleaning up and responding to the large number of calls (120 plus) from customers.

Parks and Leisure: Landslips

The ponga track at McLaren Falls Park suffered a large slip and needed to be closed to public access. A few other areas still require clean up. Whilst Mauao has drawn significant attention through the media and customer feedback, the parks team as a whole have been busy getting equally important repairs organised across the city.

Mauao was closed due to severe landslips and has remained closed. Parks staff had to evacuate Mauao and secure the site on Saturday morning. It has been difficult to convey to the impatient public just how unsafe the mountain has become as a result of the storm. Several days later the ground water streams were still in full flow despite dry weather, which showed that the mountain was still draining after its large dose of rain. The land remains saturated and unstable. Parts of the base track will be closed for several months where three large landslips occurred. Limited summit access should be opened within a fortnight.

This year's Waitangi Day dawn ceremony on Mauao is cancelled due to Mauao being closed.

Water Supply: Keeping the taps running

At midnight on Friday/Saturday the first of our two Water Treatment Plants was shutdown because the water coming through the intake was excessively dirty and turbid. An hour later the second plant was shut down. This meant the city was now reliant solely on whatever was in the reservoirs.

A major mains break on Maleme Street, notified at 10am, severely compromised what was left of the city's reservoir supplies. High winds had uprooted a tree which in turn had damaged the water main. We were able to shut down this main at 1pm for repair work. It broke once more before repairs got it back on line at 8.30pm. This mains break alone cost the city about 20 per cent of the total Oropi Reservoir capacity (two reservoirs at Oropi).

Another effect of the mains break was degradation of water quality for some customers in the immediate area. We were only able to do limited mains flushing to clear out the dirty water because of the low water reservoir levels. After-hours staff were called upon to contact customers directly.

Yet another issue was landslips on Mauao which raised concerns about security of the water main that feeds the Mount reservoir (which is located on Mauao).

As a precaution this main was turned off, limiting water supply to the Mount area to one water main.

Meanwhile debris in the water supply stream had blocked the Joyce Road treatment plant's water intake. The blockage had to be removed, the intake had to be de-silted and a pipe had to be repaired. The plant was restarted at 4pm. A close watch was kept on conditions all night. Oropi was not able to be restarted until 8am on Sunday morning.

Water supply to the city began to get back to normal by midday on Sunday.

Drainage: Dealing with dirty water

The city's two wastewater treatment plants coped well despite massive flow increases. Wastewater flows into the Chapel Street plant shot up from the normal daily average of around 17 million litres to 44 million litres. The Te Maunga plant's flow increased from the usual 9 million litres to 26 million litres.

The network of wastewater pipes across the city was filled to bursting and overflowed in 11 places. This extra flow was not caused by people getting extra excited and flushing their toilets four times more than usual. It would have come predominantly from stormwater and flood water infiltrating the wastewater network through gully traps.

In addition to sewer overflows a tremendous amount of contamination poured into the Tauranga harbour from rural areas and catchments outside of Tauranga City. Swollen rivers bring in a huge amount of water that has crossed farmland and inundated septic tanks. Flood waters may also pick up contaminants like oil and chemicals stored in and around commercial and industrial sites. Around the city there were several roads and properties flooded. This water also eventually made its way into the harbour. This is why the ‘stay clear of flood waters and waterways for 48 hours' message is so important. Sewer overflows are not insignificant but they are only a small part of the reason for harbour contamination.

Accordingly the entire harbour was notified as not being suitable for contact or swimming. One week later only three areas (Pilot Bay, Kulim Park and Maxwells Road) were tested clear. The remaining areas will be tested on Monday with results 24 hours later.

Transportation

• Annual Resealing Programme: Resealing work is continuing on various streets around the city.
• Devonport Road: Southern Pipeline pipe laying work on Devonport Road between 12th and 15th Avenues continues. There will be some minor temporary road closures in place. Expect delays and please use an alternative route if possible.
• Hairini Link Advanced Works: Some tidy up work continues on the reconstruction of the Fraser Street and 15th Avenue (State Highway 2A) intersection. Work also continues on the shared footpath at Burrows Street, 15th Avenue, Mayfield Street and Turret Road. Construction of the pedestrian crossing at Burrows Street/15th Avenue also continues. Shoulder closures maybe in place.
• Hollister Lane: Work to install speed cushions and a new pedestrian refuge island is due to start at two separate sites on Hollister Lane next week. Please take care when driving through the area.
• Inner City Bus Stops: Works on the new bus stop facilities on both sides of Willow Street are continuing. All road users are asked to take particular care in the work area.
• Kairua Road: Work on the next stage of the reconstruction of Kairua Road is due to start this week. Minor delays are possible.
• Maleme Street / Oropi Road: Southern Pipeline pipe laying work continues from the intersection of Maleme Street along Oropi Road. Expect delays. Please take extra care when driving through this area.
• Pyes Pa Bypass: Traffic is expected to be diverted onto one arm of the new roundabout on State Highway 36 this week while the existing highway is excavated to join the new road. This work is expected to take eight weeks and the roundabout should be fully functional by April. The NZTA thanks road users for their patience and cooperation during the works.
• Tara Road: Work to build the new roundabout at the intersection of Doncaster Drive and Tara Road continues. There will be traffic management changes over the next month while the new road is constructed.
• Tilby Drive: Work to alter the existing pedestrian refuge adjacent to the shopping centre and install new speed cushions is underway. Motorists are advised to take care when driving through the area.
• Tilby Drive / Ferguson Park Entrance: Work to create more formal road parking and install speed cushions at the entrance to the park is underway. Motorists are advised to take care when approaching this area.

Democracy

Strategy & Policy Committee – Tuesday, 8 February at 9am

• Draft Submission to Alcohol Reform Bill (DC 6) - To consider the proposed content of Council's submission to the Alcohol Reform Bill.
• Draft Submission to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill (DC 32) - To consider and provide input to a draft submission to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill.
• Water Remissions (DC 25) - The purpose of this report is to enable the Strategy & Policy Committee to consider these cases of remission of water rates due to leaks.
• Assessment of Development Feasibility for the Wairakei Urban Growth Area (DC 23) - Formal adoption of the joint Council staff, consultant and developer report which assesses financial viability of urban development within the Wairakei urban growth area in Papamoa East.
• Active Reserves (Sports Parks) Level of Service Review - Discussion One (DC 24) - To introduce, discuss and provide direction on the process and information that will be used to determine what the future provision of active reserves (sports parks) and associated level of service should be.
• Tauranga City Council Submission on Proposed Regional Policy Statement (DC 35) - The report is to seek the Committee's support for the draft Council submission to the proposed Regional Policy Statement to be formally lodged with the BOP Regional Council.
• Council Submission on 'Building Competitive Cities” Document (DC 16) - The Purpose of the Report is to provide a copy of the TCC submission, submitted under delegated authority, to the Ministry for the Environment on their recent discussion document 'Building Competitive Cities”.

Hearing Before Commissioner - Wednesday, February 9 and Thursday, February 10, 9am (both days)

• Ryman Health, 84, 110 & 112 Carmichael Road (RC15254) - Publicly Notified Application for Land Use Consent under the Resource Management Act 1991 - To hear and determine a public notified land use consent application pursuant to Section 88 of the Resource Management Act 1991 made by Ryman Healthcare Limited.