The Rangitāiki Floodway is a multi-stage project designed to take pressure off the Rangitāiki River in a flood event, by diverting some of its flow, via a Spillway, into near-by farmland between stopbanks (known as the Floodway) and out the Rangitāiki River mouth at Thornton.
Construction to increase the capacity of the Floodway began in 2011 and was completed in 2023.
Upgrades that have been undertaken on the Floodway include:
- Sections of the existing Floodway channel have been widened.
- Stopbanks have been reconstructed to raise the bank heights.
- Culverts have been upgraded to support the new stopbank design.
- Greater seepage control beneath the ground has been installed.
- A new bifurcation cut was made at Thornton Hall Road. This allows water from the Floodway to exit into the Rangitāiki River mouth at two places, instead of one.
- A road bridge was created over the new Floodway exit and a wetland was established between the two exits as an ideal spot for inanga spawning.
- Four swing gates at McCracken and McLeans Road were constructed to maintain the same stopbank height of the Floodway, to convey the water out to sea in a flood event.
As of April 2024, works are now underway to complete the Spillway. When the river reaches a certain level, the Spillway allows water to pass over a section of lowered stopbank (fixed crest weir) and into an area of paddock near Hydro Road. This water is then channelled into the Floodway and out to the Rangitāiki River mouth.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council received funding from Central Government’s Crown Infrastructure Funding. The funding covers:
- Stage 6 of the Floodway - $8.175M
- Part of the Spillway - $2.1M
