Awanui flood scheme progress celebrated

Ongoing work on the multimillion-dollar Awanui flood scheme is offering much greater flood protection to Kaitaia and Awanui, helping to safeguard lives and millions in property, the Northland Regional Council says.

Speaking to attendees at an event in Kaitaia on Friday, 28 November 2025 to celebrate progress on the scheme to date, council Chair Pita Tipene paid tribute to those who had helped make the $15 million-plus, multi-year project a success.

"This scheme would not be the success it is without the work and support of previous and current councillors, the many members of the Awanui River Management Liaison Group - including our tangata whenua partners - some dedicated contractors and of course some very generous funding from Central Government."

Minister for Regional Development Shane Jones - who also spoke at the event - was thanked for his role in facilitating $11.1M of support for the project, which has significantly reduced the amount the local community has had to pay directly.

"This project is a great example of what can happen when central and regional government and our communities work together for the greater good," Chair Tipene says.

He says the council had assumed responsibility for the scheme 20 years ago and work on the upgrade had begun in earnest with the adoption of the council’s Long Term Plan in 2018.

Work that had been carried out to date included 6km of stopbanks, 5km of benching, 2.2km of spillways, 1.2km of scour protection, 200 metres of timber floodwalls, 750,000 cubic metres of earthworks, 15,000 cubic metres of rock stabilisation, the replacement or upgrading of 24 floodgates and more recently, the installation of an extra span at the Quarry Rd bridge.

While there was still $2.5 million more work planned over the next two years to remove a weak point from scheme on the Lower Whangatane Spillway at Kumi Rd near Awanui, the work to date was already paying dividends.

Chair Tipene says during a catastrophic flood of 1958, floodwaters more than a metre deep had inundated Kaitaia.

During that flood the Awanui River was flowing at 220 cubic metres a second. During a storm in mid-2022 the area had seen up to 320 cubic metres a second flowing down the river - roughly 45 percent more water - but there had been no flooding in Kaitaia.

"The scheme performed well, as designed, potentially saved lives and essentially spared Kaitaia from millions of dollars’ worth of potential damage."