The Canterbury regional council says there is virtually no risk of the Waimakariri or Kaiapoi rivers flooding despite extensive damage to stopbanks due to a strong earthquake which hit the region on 4 September.
Heavy rain is forecast until Friday but the regional council says engineers are undertaking urgent repair work and any risk of a breach is minimal.
Repairs for high-priority sites are expected to be completed over the next few weeks with preliminary costs estimated at $3 million.