Work is underway to remove swamp cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) growing along The Strand Canal between Pyne Street and the McAlister Street pump station. The trees are being removed as part of the Apanui catchment stormwater upgrade, which began with the installation of a new four-metre by two-metre box culvert under The Strand late last year, which quadrupled the culvert’s capacity.

The work is being carried out on the drainage channel up and downstream from the new culvert – between Pyne Street in the south and the McAlister pump station on the riverbank. The tree removal will enable the widening of the canal to increase the system’s stormwater detention capacity.

The tree removal and canal recontouring will be followed by the final phase in the Apanui catchment storm water upgrade – a large-scale upgrade of the McAlister pump station which will significantly increase the station’s pumping capacity.

Once the work has been completed, the reserve will be landscaped, and native Kahikatea will be planted.