Dam, ponds burst, cause flooding in city

Heavy rain has caused stormwater ponds on the outskirts of Hamilton to fail, sending floodwaters down city streets in Glenview.

The ponds and dam are privately owned, but managed by Waipā District Council. They are used to hold stormwater and protect downstream areas from flooding.

Council’s water services manager Martin Mould said the dam or ponds probably failed during the night or early morning after a night of heavy rain. He could not estimate how much water has escaped but said it was the first time this infrastructure had failed.

Experts are now on site investigating, he said.

Council was advised of the failure at about 9am this morning. Hamilton City Council staff and contractors are already at work in the impacted streets, dealing with the flooding.

Mould said he did not have any further detail yet on what had happened or why but confirmed last night’s heavy rain last night was “an inevitable factor”.

“We’ll get to the bottom of it very quickly but right now our focus is limiting any further flooding and making it safe.”