Too much water for the ferry

The Tuapeka Mouth Ferry is out of action as the Clutha River's flow hits its highest level near Balclutha since last October.

The Clutha District Council said the ferry was stopped from operating as the river flow reached over 900cumecs.

Otago Regional Council duty flood manager Michael Goldsmith said the river flow rose above 1140cumecs on Monday night, which prompted a flood warning for the Balclutha area.

However, there was no need for concern and the water flow was dropping off slowly, he said.

Mr Goldsmith said high water flows coming from catchments inland contributed to the rise.

The water outflow from the Roxburgh Dam was also increased to flush out sediment, he said.

"That lowers the levels down by the dam and creates a steeper velocity so it basically sucks out the sediment.''

The last time the river reached a similar flow near Balclutha was October last year.

"If it was to continue to rise, it would be something of concern but we are certainly monitoring it,'' Mr Goldsmith said.

Tuapeka Mouth Heritage Hub secretary Margaret Sowry said the river was quite high at the crossing.

She said the water was "lapping'' on to the road on Monday night.

It took about eight hours for water in the river to travel from Roxburgh to Balclutha.

The Clutha District Council said the punt would resume operation once the water flow dropped to an appropriate level, and that depended on the weather.

According to the MetService, some rain is expected today and over the weekend.

The ferry usually crosses the Clutha River about 30km northwest of Balclutha several times a day from 8am.

samuel.white@odt.co.nz

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