Drainage wil l be of crucial importance to the success of the development proposals for the Boa Plain. Flooding is caused by a combination of heavy local rainfall and overflow from the rivers that flow across the plain. A separate drainage strategy is needed for the northern sector between the two largest rivers, the Meme and Mokoko, where floods, particularly from the former, are much larger and last longer than elsewhere. In this sector a number of major drains leading west, by the most direct route to the sea, wil l be required — with some remodelling of the Mokoko.
