Dam Safety
The new Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022 came into force in May, covering dams of a certain height and volume threshold.
The project is in its fourth year and due for completion in October.
With the Wairau Aquifer in continued decline, Marlborough District Council (MDC) is working with Lincoln University on the project in order to develop Wairau River management solutions.
The work has shown that flood protection work on the Wairau River has resulted in a reduction in natural aquifer recharge rates in the Rapaura area.
This has likely been compounded by gravel extraction and a depleted natural gravel supply from nearby catchments since the 1960s, says MDC Senior Environmental Scientist, Groundwater, Peter Davidson.
There is a willingness to apply the lessons learnt from the study to "arrest and restore" the aquifer, he says.
In the longer term, that could result in changes to the river's gravel management plan and some adjustment to the width of the river, which has over time become constrained to one channel.
Peter says groundwater tends to be "out of sight and out of mind" but the aquifer is an extension of the river itself.
