Canterbury is better prepared for extreme weather and rainfall, three years on from devastating flooding, the regional council says.

Environment Canterbury has completed significant work to restore the region's resilience to extreme weather events.

Heavy rainfall in May 2021 prompted a region-wide state of emergency as flooding caused extensive damage to homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure such as stopbanks, riverbanks, and flood protection vegetation.

ECan carried out $22.6 million worth of work, with the National Emergency Management Agency contributing around $8.3m.

Councillor Ian Mackenzie said the project's completion was a significant milestone for the council.

‘‘This achievement not only protects our residents, but also ensures the long-term sustainability of our infrastructure."

He also said ECan is committed to serving its communities by continually improving preparedness for environmental challenges.

ECan river engineering regional lead Shaun McCracken said the response to the May 2021 floods initially focused identifying damaged infrastructure across the region and design repairs for each site.

Restoring the resilience was the aim, but on some sites, engineers were able to mitigate the increasing challenges posed by climate change, he said.

It included developing the ‘‘room for rivers concept, which reduces pressure on flood protection assets and provides for a healthier waterway”.

ECan has completed more than 400 individual repair jobs across the region, including fixing more than 5kms of stopbanks, planting more than 60,000 native and exotic trees, erosion and scour protection he said.

Some sites remain vulnerable and will continue to be closely monitored, he said.

ECan is planning to invest $25 million a year, over the next 10 years, to boost flood protection as part of the 2024/34 long-term plan.

By Jonathan Leask