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Published on 21 February 2025
On Monday 24 February 2025, work will begin on removing silt from the Oamaru Public Gardens Mirror Pond.
This work is anticipated to take around eight weeks, and will involve relocating fish and eels into the Top Pond before the Mirror Pond is drained down.
This is the first desilting of this pond since Waitaki District Council was formed in 1989, and Council has no record of it having happened in the last 50 years.
Surveys of the Mirror Pond indicate that there is an average of 0.95m of silt, with depths varying from 500cm to 1.4 metres across the pond.
The total calculated volume of silt is around 1,391 cubic metres.
Project Manager Mark Burgher says: “This is an important job in maintaining the pond. By removing the silt, we will be increasing the depth – allowing the Mirror Pond to return to its original glory. However, uplifting a lot of silt may be a bit smelly, so we appreciate everyone’s patience while we get on with this”
No work will be undertaken over long weekends, including Otago Anniversary Weekend in March, however there will be diversions in place around the Alps 2 Ocean track and pathway when a truck is entering or leaving the gardens. Aviemore Irrigation will be desilting the Mirror Pond, while Traffic Management Control Ltd. will be managing the entry and exit routes for trucks and plant.
We appreciate public cooperation while this work is ongoing.