Stormwater drainage maintenance and upgrades

McGougans Lane drainage works Mullumbimby 600x400.png

We have two streams of stormwater drainage works.

  • Planned drainage maintenance and renewals.
  • Reactive or immediate repairs and maintenance.

In this year’s budget we have allocated $920,000 to undertake urban stormwater drainage maintenance.

Approximately 30% of the budget is allocated to reactive maintenance. 

Find out more about how we maintain and upgrade stormwater drains across the Byron Shire.

Planned maintenance works

Planned urban maintenance works are currently being undertaken in:

  • Mullumbimby
  • South Golden Beach.

Our maintenance crews work progressively through these areas dealing with customer requests and routine works.

Planned maintenance works include

  • Cleaning drowned outlets to piped drainage systems.
  • Cleaning open drains with an excavator.
  • Inspecting problematic piped drainage systems with remote controlled cameras.
  • Replacing failed sections of underground piped drainage. 
  • Cleaning blocked gully and inlet pits, cross drainage on floodways and roadside culverts.
  • Cleaning inlets and outlets to wetlands/basins.

Reactive or immediate repairs and maintenance 

Reactive or immediate repairs and maintenance works happen in response to things such as sediment build up. 

When reactive works are required, crews will be redeployed, and consequently planned maintenance time frames and programs are adjusted.

Works are generally prioritised on a risk basis.

Who is responsible for maintaining driveways?

Residents are responsible for keeping their driveways and driveway crossovers clear and maintained.

Keeping driveway crossovers clear of debris can help to prevent blocked drains and flash flooding during heavy rain. 

New stormwater pipe

New stormwater drain

(PNG, 471KB)
Stormwater drainage pipe

Stormwater drainage pipe

(PNG, 548KB)
Stormwater drainage pipe

Stormwater drainage pipe

(PNG, 524KB)

How are works identified?

Stormwater drainage assets that need maintenance are identified by:

  • Inspections by Council Officers
  • Customer Service Requests through Report IT or phone calls.

How we budget and prioritise stormwater drainage works

In this year’s budget we have allocated $920,000 to undertake urban stormwater drainage maintenance.

Approximately 30% of the budget is allocated to reactive maintenance. 

As our budget is limited, we must carefully consider the areas that most need attention and maintenance.

 

Stormwater drains and flooding

Urban drains are not designed to cope with the force and quantity of water that we experienced during this year’s floods. 

The sheer volume of rain meant that no drains, including stormwater or urban, were able to cope.

 

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