Redirecting stormwater is essential if you live in an area susceptible to heavy rainfall. Without taking steps to minimise floodwater, your garden, plants, decking, sheds, and home could be at risk. Indeed, here on the Coffs Coast, we regularly experience sizable downpours, resulting in burst riverbanks and overwhelmed drainage systems. Unfortunately, this is even after Coffs Council have recently spent big on flood mitigation measures. So, what can you do to ensure you’ll be safely redirecting stormwater away from your property?
Safely Redirecting Stormwater
Firstly, try to see where the water is coming from. Is it surface runoff or coming through the soil? Is it coming from a neighbour’s property or off council lands such as the road or pavements? Ideally, you’ll need to observe this yourself during heavy rain. It’s a good idea to draw a basic plan with water directions. Next, if the water is coming from a neighbour’s property, make sure they haven’t made any structural changes that may be affecting the situation. If not, then you’ll need help to install some drainage solutions. On the other hand, if the stormwater origin is council land, call them immediately as it may be their responsibility to fix it.
Stormwater Drainage Solutions
Redirecting stormwater can be safely achieved with a variety of structural landscaping solutions. Firstly, consider professionally built retaining walls. Retaining walls are used to terrace sloped sections of land to prevent water from flowing rapidly towards your property. Properly built retaining walls incorporate drainage systems to direct the water away from your property and dissipate harmlessly. Secondly, consider gravel filled drainage trenches. Strategically placed culverts will absorb and redirect stormwater. Plus, they allow excess water to drain safely into the soil. Thirdly, direct excess water off your property with concrete channels. Moreover, make these channels look like streams with river stones and aquatic planting. Lastly, remember that it’s illegal to direct more stormwater onto another property. Consequently, you need to make sure the redirected stormwater is draining into the stormwater system, gravel pits or runoffs.
