The much awaited, and needed, rains finally arrived with a vengeance during the last week and while the full impact was primarily confined to the Newcastle/Maitland area most parts of the Sydney area suffered, although to much lesser extent.
Given the ongoing drought in most central parts of the state and the still depleted dam stocks it seems churlish to even think about the effect relatively minor storm damage in most of our built-up areas, although a billion dollars plus worth in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley region is a real disaster by any reckoning.
Adversity often produces its own heroes and villains and in addition to all the marvellous emergency workers the Iemma Government should be applauded for its prompt action with the introduction of the ‘one stop’ emergency relief centres.
Time will tell how reasonable the big insurers will be this time round although one would have thought the perennial saga involving the interpretation of the contract clause about when a storm actually becomes a flood i.e. not claimable, would have been well and truly sorted by now.
But in many of our own backyards minor H2O related disasters are played out and recurring themes emerge, including:
Who is responsible for runoff discharging from an uphill residence onto a neighbour’s property below?
Is it reasonable to expect no water damage in a storm?
Is it council’s duty to keep open drains clean?
When main stormwater drains can’t cope with large downpours should the council upgrade the systems? And if they do who pays?
From a practical point of view the original developer of a block is responsible for all stormwater related issues during the actual construction and maintenance periods, but once the maintenance is signed off the local council assumes all the major responsibilities involved, although there are instances where they may rightly deflect or at least attempt to share responsibility with the developer, his engineer and/or his contractor.
Anecdotal evidence suggests most on-going problems fall into the grey area of what is reasonable to expect your council to do in unusual but recurring circumstances, viz, every time there is a storm.
Given the usual delays involved in pursuing relatively minor complaints with the council bureaucracy and the overt deficiencies of our legal system there is a significant incentive to sort these types of problems out on the ground, face-to-face with your neighbours.
Common sense they say is becoming increasingly uncommon but the requirement for same is particularly needed when dealing with storm damage at the residential level.
It is useful to remember :
- If rain falls at the top of a hill it will ultimately flow to the bottom
- Diverting or channelling water from its natural water course in your property will leave you open to legal claims if damage downhill is caused as a consequence of the changes you made
- Most engineering works are built to sustain rainfall of a known intensity e.g. 20 or 50 year floods. This means they are not designed to handle larger flows in which case under certain circumstances council’s original approved design criteria could be challenged at law.
- If a significant stormwater problem exists which you usually handle yourself, let your neighbour/s and council know so the information can be considered when future or remedial works are undertaken.
- In many instances minor housekeeping and regular ground maintenance will mitigate the damage caused.
And finally, if you are a practising civil engineer, or have been one at some time (like me), resist the temptation to advise your neighbours on how to fix their stormwater problems since if they go wrong they will be able to sue you - even if they didn’t pay for the advice in the first place.
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