The Wyndham stop banks guard the town against the Mataura River to the north, west and south and its tributary, the Mimihau Stream, to the north. They were built in the early 1970s following widespread flooding in 1968 and were raised after severe flooding hit the region again in 1978.
As with the towns of Gore and Mataura, the February 2020 floods in Murihiku Southland saw stop banks in Wyndham tested by floodwaters to near capacity, with all residents requiring evacuation.
Wyndham's stop banks have been made wider with flatter side slopes. Increasing their width strengthens the stop banks and means that they can be easily raised in future to accommodate larger floods resulting from climate change.
The work was completed in May 2024.
Read more about the Wyndham Flood Protection Upgrade project.
